The Political Economy of Football V2

What lay ahead?   Jude and his brother in Leamington kit where his police sergeant father was a star part-time striker, although the family came from Stourbridge. Never mind brand Beckham – although he has been doing well with a range of television adverts in the World Cup.    It’s the lad from Stourbridge who is attracting the attention of the world’s top brands. There are few things that unite LVMH and McDonald’s. But the luxury goods group and the fast-food giant have both turned to the same man to promote their brands: Jude Bellingham. The England midfielder has been one of the standout players at the World Cup. Bellingham, 23, is among a generation of young superstars, alongside Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal, taking up the mantle from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in a sport where younger fans increasingly follow individual players rather than teams. Sports business website Sportico estimates that Bellingham is the ninth highest-paid player at the World ...

Manchester United will be hit with a £10 million penalty every time they fail to qualify for the Champions League under the terms of their new £90 million-a-year kit deal with Adidas. The clause will come into force from next year and is a change to the existing deal, whereby United were only penalised if they did not qualify for the competition for two seasons in a row. The original ten-year deal, worth £750 million, expires in 2025. The new one runs until 2035 and the details were included in United’s half-yearly financial accounts, released this week. Bonuses up to a maximum of £4.4 million a year will be paid should either United’s men’s or women’s team win “the Premier League or Women’s Super League respectively, FA Cup or continental competitions”. The original penalty clause was never invoked, as United never missed out on the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, but had they done so it would have prompted a 30 per cent deduction, worth about £22 million. Th...

Arsenal have officially confirmed their new five year kit deal with Adidas: New kit deal At £60m-per-season, that marks the partnership out as one of the most lucrative in world football, equal with Chelsea but behind Manchester United's deal with Adidas - the biggest in England - and Barcelona's with Nike - the biggest in the world - which are worth £75m and £120m-a-year respectively. The new deal will start in July 2019 when the current deal with Puma ends.