Western Union joins Man United platinum sponsorship programme

Western Union has become the latest company to join treble winning Manchester United’s second tier of partnerships, called the platinum sponsors programme.

The money transfer business joins Visa, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Sun Microsystems, computer software company Lotus, and sports retailer Allsports.

Peter Draper, who joins Manchester United from Umbro in the new role of group marketing director in September, is looking to expand this programme to 12 companies (MW July 22).

He says: “We will look to expand into a limited number of other product categories.”

As part of the deal, Western Union receives perimeter advertising space and the right to use Manchester United images and logos in its marketing.

The company is understood to have paid about 1m to become a platinum sponsor.

Western Union European marketing director Roger Ringwood says: “Football is a global game that mirrors the worldwide service we provide – and no club has more of a global following than Manchester United.”

The club’s main sponsors are Japanese electronics company Sharp, which pays 2.5m a year, and kit sponsor Umbro.

Manchester United – which last season won the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the Champions’ League – is the world’s richest club with revenues of 87m last season. It is valued on the stock market at over 600m.