Puma Sets New Benchmark with Historic Manchester City Deal

Puma is making a splash in European soccer. The German sports equipment company has sealed the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of the Premiere League, the British soccer league, with Manchester City. The company will pay the English club €1.15 billion until 2035.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Manchester City sealed a long-term deal with Puma for around 100 million pounds per year (about $134 million) to extend its sponsorship until at least 2035. The club has not made the figure public, which has transpired in the British press. As of 2019, Puma was paying City around £65 million ($87.1 million) annually.

After this alliance, Puma becomes the brand that will have dressed Manchester City for more years. In the last century, Pepe Guardiola’s team has had five brands as technical sponsors: Le Coq Sportif, Reebok, Umbro, Nike and, most recently, Puma.

Puma positions its brand in one of the most important clubs in European soccer

Sponsorship of clubs and athletes is one of the main marketing tools of sports equipment companies. In the last year, with the sector’s giants in the doldrums after the pandemic boom, there has been constant movement in the field of sponsorship.

Puma closed the first quarter of FY2025 with sales down and profits down. The company’s sales came in at €2.076 billion, down 1.3% compared to the same period in 2024.

Puma’s net income in the first three months of the financial year fell by 99.5%, dropping to just €500,000, compared to the €87.3 million profit the company posted in the first quarter of 2024.

At the beginning of April, Puma announced a change in its top management. Anne Freundt, until then CEO, left the company due to differences in the execution of strategy. The executive was replaced by Arthur Hoeld, who came from Adidas.