Nike Europe has signed English Premier League team
Leeds United to a uniform sponsorship and licensing
agreement, effective June 1, 2000 (Leeds United). The
LONDON TIMES values the uniform portion of the four-year
deal at $1.6M annually. Leeds Chair Peter Ridsdale said
that the team is also "seeking new sponsors to take over
from Packard Bell," the team's jersey sponsor (LONDON TIMES,
9/17). REUTERS reports that the deal "would net the club"
$19M, but Leeds Sporting Plc, the team's parent company,
"declined to say exactly how much the deal was worth."
Leeds Commercial Dir Adam Pearson: "This new partnership
elevates Leeds United into the highest echelons of the
premier league with regard to sponsorship revenue" (REUTERS,
9/17). The PA reported that Leeds' current uniform deal
with Puma, valued at $1.1M per year, expires at the end of
the Premier League season. Nike's total deal with the team
-- "believed to be one of the most lucrative in British
soccer history" -- could be "in excess of three times the
level of the outgoing deal" (PRESS ASSOCIATION, 9/16).
