I will preface my rant by saying at least we have income and are keeping up with other clubs in terms of selling out. You have to have money to run a football club, and if that means literally selling our butts off, so be it. By adding a back of the shirt sponsor for the first time in history, the new wefox sponsorship adds another €6-8 million per year to our income. That makes our jersey the €39 million shirt.
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| Selling our butts off |
Sponsorships are necessary to sustain a club, and shirt sponsors have been a steady source of income for football clubs for years. Adding sponsors to other portions of the jersey, like dividing up the family farm and selling it off plot by plot, is not a new practice, either. As a fan, though, it does feel like Milan are selling out when the logos are all over our screens and even on the kits we purchase.
Then there is the amount earned. For example, Manchester United's main shirt sponsor alone is reportedly worth over €57 million per year, which is actually about €20 million less than their previous sponsor. Is Milan's shirt really worth that much less? Obviously, the marketing in the Premier League is vastly superior, even if the football is not. But our main sponsorship, Emirates, is only worth €14 million per year. Ouch.
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| Welcome butt sponsors |
The new breakdown of sponsorships to reach the €39 million per year of income is as follows:
- €13 million from Puma as our Technical Sponsor
- €14 million from Emirates as our Main Shirt Sponsor
- €5 million from BitMex as our Sleeve Sponsor
- €7 million from wefox as our Back of Shirt Sponsor
The €39 million is an increase of €14 million this season, with us averaging around €25 million from the technical & main shirt sponsors the previous three years. Seeing the income on our balance sheet is great, especially during these difficult financial times. Seeing how we compare to other big clubs in terms of income from shirt sponsors is not.
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| Selling the real estate of the Milan kit |
Like it or not, the wefox deal was made official on Monday, and the new butt logo will be worn for the first time on the pitch on Friday and in all friendlies, Serie A, and Coppa Italia matches going forward. The wefox brand is a European digital insurance company that started providing car and home insurance in 2015 and is expanding its business to Italy through this deal with Milan.
Our Chief Revenue Officer, Casper Stylvig, said "Having the wefox logo incorporated into our iconic red and black jerseys gives us great pride." No, it just gives us an extra €6-8 million per year. Remember when Milan proudly wore the Champions League logo showing our seven trophy wins on our left sleeve, even in Serie A matches? Our sleeve sponsorship with Bitmex changed that. We literally sold out our Milan DNA. (And people wonder why we didn't go farther in the Champions League this season... we are no longer wearing that logo in non-Champions League matches.)
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| If Kessie leaves, he will not be the only one who is selling out... remember wearing the CL logo? |
While the sponsorship deals increase our revenue, I can't help but feel that they are decreasing the value of the Milan shirt. The iconic red and black stripes are covered with ads for airlines, crypto trading platforms, and now car insurance companies. Not only have we sold our butts off, worst of all, we have given that space up at the expense of proudly wearing our Champions League logo in every match. That is the price of the €39 million shirt.
This post inspired by the music of Prince's "I Would Die 4 U"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:47 AM
Rating:
