Almost every element of finance in football right now is going in one direction. Up. The primary example is transfer fees, followed by wages, TV agreements, sponsorship deals and more.
Another example is kit manufacturers. There are certain clubs in football that suppliers will pay frightening amounts of money to make the kits for, and the record was broken once again recently when Manchester United struck a new deal with Adidas to make their kits until 2035.
Manchester United are not the only team in the Premier League that reaps the rewards of a lucrative kit deal. Here are the biggest contracts from across the league ahead of the 2023/24 season.
READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMOURS & GOSSIP
This new arrangement for Manchester United is a ten-year extension on the existing deal that they had with Adidas and easily takes the crown as the most expensive in the history of the Premier League.
It is said to be worth around £900m in total. Adidas resumed making United kits from the 2015/16 campaign onwards after 23 years in Nike’s shadow. The previous deal was worth around £75m a year – the previous record high.
It will be intriguing to see if United’s new agreement leads to other teams reevaluating their deals, given the chasm compared to the rest of the Premier League.
The only deal on the list that does not feature Nike or Adidas. This is one metric in which Manchester City have not been able to surpass Manchester United, although things are only going in one direction.
Given the deal is four years old now and United have just moved the goalposts, don’t be surprised if City decide to have a little renegotiation in the near future with Puma.
Fans have certainly seemed pleased in recent years with the Puma shirts, although an endless trophy haul can endear supporters to almost any design.
The only team that could stake a claim for topping Manchester United’s deal from an international popularity standpoint, Liverpool also may think that a new kit arrangement is in order given they are now £35m behind the Red Devils despite boasting a far more successful past decade.
The general rule that Liverpool and Nike seem to have is that there will be two popular kits and one that massively splits opinion each year. It is the green and white shirt that fans are not so sure about in 2023/24.
On exactly the same deal as Liverpool, but with a much longer timeframe, Chelsea could also be due a renegotiation given they signed with Nike six years ago.
Many people are not a fan of this season’s home shirt, but it is likely that Chelsea have got enough on their plate at the moment without trying to secure a new kit supplier. The current deal is the largest commercial agreement in the club’s history.
Arsenal have had some very nice kits in recent years and seem to get praise even from some rival fans, so they are likely happy with the work that Adidas have been doing.
Regardless, the deal is up in a year’s time so Arsenal will already be thinking that they can get a bigger fee now that they are back into the Champions League and in the mix for Premier League titles.
A significant chunk further down the monetary ladder, Tottenham Hotspur really signed up for the long haul with their Nike deal, as it runs from 2018 to 2033.
Whilst it would be unreasonable for Tottenham to expect the same level of funding for their kit deal as other teams on this list, they might expect to get more than 50% of what Arsenal are earning. Everyone on the list might fancy a renegotiation, but Spurs could be the first to pull the trigger.
Former Italy international Arianna Criscione, Dulwich Hamlet’s Brittany Saylor and Football for Future founder Elliot Arthur-Worsop join Katie Cross to have football’s climate conversation about the Women’s World Cup and tournament football’s carbon footprint. Pledgeball’s Heather Ashworth also gives an update on the Pledgeball’s new Women’s World Cup initiative.
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
