Manchester United Record-Breaking Adidas Kit Deal And History Of Past Kit Suppliers Contracts Since 1945
Manchester United and Adidas extended their 'Kit suppliers' deal till 2035 in what is the biggest kit deal in Premier League history. Adidas will pay United a total of £900 million ($1.1 billion) over new 10 years contract (2025/35). Manchester United and Adidas signed their initital 10-year deal back in 2015 which was worth £750 million over 10 years. This financially improved new deal is largely down to Manchester United woman team becoming main-stream since their introduction in 2018. We breakdown how the new Manchester United-Adidas kit deal is structured financially and why United not qualifying for Champions League will hurt them financially.
Numbers behind record-breaking Manchester United-Adidas kit deal:
The new contract comes with yearly payment of £90 million a-year for Manchester United which covers both men's and women's teams at all levels. However, their is also performance related clauses in the deal. The most important one being if United fail to qualify for Champions League in two or more consecutive years Adidas can reduce the yearly payment by 30% (£27 million a-year) until United qualify for the Champions League again.
| KIT DEAL CONTRACT | DETAILS |
| Duration | 10 Years (2025/2035) |
| Yearly Payments | £90 million a-year |
| Team Performance Bonuses | Extra £3.7 million for winning any of the major trophies (EPL, UCL, FA CUP, CWC) |
| Penalties | £27 million a-year (penalty if United fail to qualify for UCL in 2 consecutive years) |
| Which United team included ? | Both Men's and Women's teams on all levels in all competitions. |
| Do United get their own Merchandising ? | Yes. United share the revenue from team branded apparel sold via their physical and online stores. |
History of Manchester United Kit Deals ?
Manchester United is widely considered as the most popular sports team in the world. Its no surprise they have been getting the biggest kit deals since 1982. We breakdown each of United's kit deals in recent history.
| KIT DEAL | VALUE (yearly) | DURATION |
| ADIDAS | £90 million | 10 Years (2025/2035) |
| ADIDAS | £75 million | 10 Years (2015/2025) |
| NIKE | £23.5 million | 12 Years (2002/2015) |
| UMBRO | £10 million | 10 years (1992-2002) |
| ADIDAS | Not Known | 12 Years (1980-1992) |
| ADMIRAL | Not Known | 5 Years (1975-1980) |
| UMBRO | Not Known | 30 Years (1945-1975) |
| In-House (Own) | Not Known | Until 1945 |
Manchester United produced their own kits since the days when club was known as Newton-Heath. However Umbro became United's official kit suppliers back in 1945 and stayed with the club until 1975. Admiral took over for next 5 years followed by Adidas becoming United's official technichal partner and kit suppliers in 1980.
Man Utd Umbro kit deal from 1992 to 2002 was at that time the biggest in the world for any sport team. It had dynamic payment terms where United negotiated increase in yearly payments every couple of years reaching £10 million a year in 2000.
When Nike became United's kit suppliers in 2002, they agreed to double what Umbro were paying at that time. However by the end of the deal kit deals landscape had changed and globally popular clubs were demanding bigger yearly payments. Nike refused to budge on United demands and in came Adidas who agreed for what would become the biggest kit deal in football when they offered United £750 million over 10-year contract. It became the benchmark for other global clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona who demanded similar payments a few years later.
