Manchester City face 115 charges from the Premier League, but the club continues to secure new sponsorship deals while awaiting the outcome of the allegations
Manchester City enters partnership with BYD (Image: Newcastle United via Getty Image)
Manchester City has secured two sponsorship deals in recent weeks that rivals would have “bite down” in what can be seen as a “massive vote of confidence” for the football club as it awaits verdict on the Premier League’s allegations. Citi has faced serious litigation for three years over past financial conduct, but has consistently maintained its innocence and continues to attract new commercial partners.
Since the allegations emerged in February 2023, ‘business as usual’ has been used to characterize City’s commercial activities, and the club has continued to expand its corporate activities. Two recent deals have seen Revolt extend its relationship with the club, making it the back-of-shirt sponsor for the men’s team in domestic cup matches, while Chinese company BYD now appears on the shirt sleeves of the men’s and women’s training strips.
Former Liverpool, Chelsea and Aston Villa chief executive Christian Parslow believes these are two deals that prove City can secure great partnerships ahead of their competitors. Despite the club’s future being clouded by the allegations – the most serious of which could result in a point penalty or expulsion from the league – there is no sign that the brand is worried about its links to City.
“They are the only club to have earned £700 million three times. I also think that one of the indicators that the business world applies to the health of a top football club is the quality of their sponsors and sponsorship deals. Manchester City have added two commercial partners in the last week or two,” Parslow told the Football Boardroom podcast.
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“One is BYD, the Chinese EV maker. It’s one of the fastest growing companies in the world and is the world’s dominant EV maker, overtaking Tesla. Every football club in the world wants BYD as their car partner, and they went to Manchester City.”
“There has been no suggestion of a link between Manchester City’s ownership group and BYD. BYD is a huge Chinese listed company. Closer to home, Revolt, the world’s fastest growing fintech company and a company expected to make a huge public offering in the next year or two, has some of the world’s most prestigious owners.”
“Revolut is Manchester City’s fintech banking partner. They’re not just idiots, they have huge support from major companies who want their brands associated with Manchester City, so it’s no surprise that the business community is holding back on supporting Manchester City because of the pending litigation.
Man City players Ryan Cherchi, Erling Haaland and Gianluigi Donnarumma pose about the BYD partnership
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“If you had Billy Hogan from Liverpool, Vinay from Spurs or Todd Boley from Chelsea here and you gave them the chance to have Revolut and BYD as sponsors, they would pull your arm.
“To me, that’s why I don’t see any reason why the City should settle this case, give up, or not appeal.
“Why on earth would they portray something like that? They believe they are innocent and are doing the right thing. I expect them to take it.”
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