Premier League 2015/16 Season Business Preview

By Tariq Saleh

Pre-season tours

The clock is ticking down until the kick off to another landmark season for the Barclays premier league – indeed, asthma the final one to be known by that name.

Premier League teams have been showcasing their talents across the globe in pre-season, shop with many clubs embarking on tours on the other side of the world and clocking up considerable air miles.

Manchester United, asthma Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have been touring the Unites States, Arsenal visited Singapore for the Barclays Asia Trophy along with Everton and Stoke, Manchester City visited Australia and Vietnam and Liverpool took in Thailand, Australia and Malaysia in an exhausting Asia tour.

Do long pre-season tours outside of Europe benefit English clubs on and off the pitch?

The tours can certainly be viewed as a commercial win for the big clubs off the pitch, with fans of these clubs clamouring to get their only glimpse of Premier League stars, thus drawing huge attendances. This in turn increases revenue through the sale of ticket and merchandising.

Premier League clubs have become global brands and pre-season tours to regions such as Asia and North America have become the norm and will only grow in the coming years.

Last season Manchester City surprisingly whisked their squad off to Abu Dhabi for a mid-season friendly, something which could become common with other clubs in the future.

New TV rights deal

The 2015/16 season will be the last with the current Premier League TV deal, with the massive £5 billion deal coming into effect for the 2016/17 season. Sky and BT have retained the rights by paying the huge sum, which reflects the enormity of the league.

The deal has also had a direct impact on the spending power of Premier League teams, with most clubs now prepared to spend big on transfers knowing they will receive hefty sums from the new TV deal.

Barclays sponsorship

This upcoming season will also be the Premier League last with Barclays as title sponsor. The two parties decided to end their 15-year relationship, which was worth around £40m a year.

The Premier League has made the decision to not have a title sponsor after its current deal with Barclays as they’d like to position themselves as a ‘clean’ and sponsor-free brand in the mould of American sports such as the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA).

With the new TV deal coming into effect in 2016/17, the league feels it is in a position to sacrifice a title sponsorship deal.

Speaking to iSportconnect recently, Generate Sponsorship CEO Rupert Pratt said: “It’s not surprising that the Premier League have decided not to work with a title sponsorship structure for a number of reasons.

“Firstly the broadcast arrangement dwarfs any sponsorship income taking the pressure off the need for sponsorship.

“Lastly, this will enable the Premier League to invest in and grow their own brand without having to carry a corporate title partner, a tactic that has served the NBA and NFL well. If this works, the potential merchandising and licencing revenue globally will dwarf the sponsorship income.”

Sponsorship to break £200m mark

As we covered last week, according to a report by Sporting Intelligence, sponsorship of Premier League clubs will reach a huge £200 million next season.

This is largely due to Chelsea’s new deal with Yokohama Tyres, worth around £40m a year, putting them second only to Manchester United, who will be the top earners with their £47m a year deal with American car manufacturer Chevrolet. If reports are to be believed, Manchester City could gazump both clubs with a renewed sponsorship deal with Etihad.

Manchester United and Adidas

The new season will also see Manchester United begin their 10-year £750m partnership with Adidas, in what is the biggest kit deal in club football.

The German sportswear giant will be paying the Premier League club £75m a season, beating Real Madrid’s £31m-per-year deal which was the previous highest.

Adidas are expecting total sales to reach £1.5bn during the period of the partnership.

The Premier League is commercially the biggest football league in the world and the upcoming season could break more records in terms of broadcasting, revenues and sponsorships.

Let the season begin.