Man City & Puma Announce New Kit Partnership On Instagram Via Big Cat Spotted In Manchester Viral

Shot in a hand-held, consumer-made, Blair Witch Project style shaky camera news piece, the viral cuts between various Manchester citizens (and players) excitedly discussing the various sightings of a mysterious big cat across the city.

Manchester City penned a new 10-year kit deal with Puma in what, according to the sportswear brand’s CEO, is its largest kit deal ever (which also sponsors the shirts other leading teams such as Borussia Dortmund, Olympique Marseille, AC Milan and the national teams of Uruguay and Italy).

The tie up is reported to be worth around $800m (or £65m / $86m per year for the next ten years in a deal that will make the apparel brand the official kit provider of the club.

The new shirt supplier partnership will see Puma became the official kit not just of Manchester City, but also of its sisters clubs in four different countries (Australia’s Melbourne City, Spain’s Girona FC, Uruguay’s Club Atlético Toque and China’s club Sichuan Jiunui FC).

The deal doesn’t include US sister club New York City FC because the MLS (like most US sports leagues) has a league-wide kit deal with Adidas.

As far as the Premier League goes, Puma’s previous flagship deal came to an end when Arsenal switched to Adidas in October 2018 in a five-year £300m partnership.

But this new deal sees Man City/Puma move ahead of the Arsenal/Adidas in terms of value.
The most lucrative sportswear/football club deals are:
> Barcelona and Nike – £140m
> Manchester United and Adidas – £75m
> Manchester City and Puma – £65m
> Arsenal and Adidas £60m

To add a little comparative UK/US perspective, Nike’s eight-year, $1bn NBA deal in 2015 works out as $125m per year, or $4m per year per team.

“Our relationship with Puma, covering five City Football Group clubs across four continents, will reset the model for sports partnerships on a truly global scale whilst being locally relevant and authentic for fans around the world.” – said Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano

“We want to maximize on-field performance as well as soccer culture, in areas such as music, gaming, and fashion to connect and inspire the fanbase of each team,” commented Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden.