Mobile phone giant Vodafone cut short a four-year shirt sponsorship deal with Manchester United yesterday and switched its allegiance to Europe's premier club competition, the Champions League.
The world's largest mobile phone company by revenue and England's most famous soccer club said the current deal, worth about £9 million per year, would end two years early at the end of the 2005/'06 season. Vodafone said it would then start a three-year partnership with European soccer's ruling body, under which the company will offer video highlights and goal alerts from all Champions League matches to football fans who have its latest high-speed, third-generation (3G) mobile phones.
Ironically, United are in danger of missing out on the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time in 10 years this season.
United was taken over by American billionaire Malcolm Glazer this year and a spokesman for the Glazer family said it was "extremely comfortable" with Vodafone's decision to "change the priority of its marketing strategy".
The Champions League is watched by four billion television viewers per season around the world.
United fans had urged Vodafone at its annual investors' meeting in July to end the sponsorship deal as a way of protesting about Glazer's £790 million takeover.
Vodafone and United said they were keen to continue their relationship, which began with a four-year, £30 million deal in 2000/'01, and were exploring a new sponsorship deal.
The phone company first put its name on the red shirts of the club in 2000/'01 and are only the second company since 1982 to be the club's shirt sponsors.
United said in a separate statement that initial discussions with a number of "world class potential partners" had been encouraging and that the club was confident of securing a new deal for a principal sponsor in coming months.
"The Manchester United shirt is the most iconic in sport," said the club's commercial director Andy Anson. "The club feels that, in the current market, there is a genuine chance to attract significant additional investment."
Glazer's takeover infuriated United fans who said he would milk United's profits to pay back the vast amounts of debt he used to buy the club. Calls for a boycott have largely been ignored although fans are concerned United could go a second season without a major trophy and pressure is growing on manager Alex Ferguson.
ChampionsLeague: Ifs, buts and maybes for United
If United beat Benfica they will finish either first or second in Group D and qualify.
If Benfica beat United, the English Premiership side will finish bottom and exit European competition.
If United draw at the Stadium of Light and Villarreal beat Lille in Spain, they will finish second and go through.
If United draw and Villarreal draw with Lille, they will finish third and go into the Uefa Cup.
If United draw and Lille beat Villarreal by more than one goal, they will finish second and qualify.
If United draw and Lille beat Villarreal by a single goal, Lille would win the group, with United and Villarreal level on points for second. As both games between the pair ended goalless, final placings would be determined by respective goal difference in all group games (currently 2-2 United and 2-1 Villarreal) and then total goals scored (currently two each). In the event of both teams still being level, the respective European coefficient would decide, a system which would work to United's benefit.
