Sheffield United co-owner Kevin McCabe says the club have secured their biggest ever sponsorship deal.
The three-year deal with Union Standard Group (USG) is worth “millions” according to McCabe. The company is based in Sydney, Australia and much of their business is conducted in Hong Kong.
“They’re financial exchange traders and financial services generally. Mainly to corporations but also high net worth individuals,” McCabe told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“You think about the movement of money around the globe from one currency to another. It’s an art to get it right. They’re, I suppose, relatively new but also quite a large company.
“It’s beyond the amount of the sponsorship itself – which is obviously a record for us, far in excess of anything we’ve done before because obviously it’s in the millions.
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“But it’s where it leads to. I think it attracts us sponsors for different things – whether it’s ladies football, academy football, the stadium itself.
“Maybe we could get a sponsor for the world’s oldest stadium? You can see the potential because we’re in the Premier League. If you try and sell naming rights when you’re in League One or the Championship it’s a world away. It’s sad but true in many respects but that’s the way football’s changed.”
How much is the sponsorship worth to Sheffield United?
(photo by John Patrick Fletcher/Action Plus via Getty Images)
Exactly how much the deal is worth is unclear, but McCabe says that the increased revenue will also help manager Chris Wilder improve his playing squad this summer.
Wilder is yet to sign any new players following the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League.
“Most of it (sponsorship money) is paid front end, no ifs and buts about it. And it increases over the three years. It goes up every season,” he continued.
“While Sheffield United as a football club has been around forever, the hub of a football club is its first team; you can’t deny that. We’re very conscious of it.
“We want to succeed in the Premier League and that means we’ve got to go out shopping and try and find recruits who will do the trick for us. Are we going to be stupid? No, because you’ve seen the plight of so many clubs who have been stupid. It’s got to be done in a semi-self sustainable manner.”
McCabe was coy when asked if relegation would affect the deal. However, it is clear that the club’s presence in the top flight of English football is what has secured it.
