Ranking every Man Utd shirt sponsor since 1992 from worst to best
Manchester United are a global marketing behemoth and their history of success makes them the ultimate advertising board for the world’s biggest organisations.
Even with their decline in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, United have still managed to negotiate some of the largest and most lucrative endorsement deals in football history, despite not having lifted a Premier League since 2013 and instead being on a steady decline, or at best stuck in limbo.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon becomes the seventh front-of-shirt sponsor in the club’s history as of the 2024-25 season, so we’ve decided to rank every sponsor they’ve had from worst to best, based on looks and iconic status.
7. Chevrolet
Absolutely zero explanation needed for this complete monstrosity. Eyesore is an understatement.
It got worse with every season, too. An excruciatingly long seven years for United fans and kit enthusiasts.
Seriously, they could’ve climbed back to the top of the mountain and won the Premier League in this and our minds wouldn’t be changed. You can’t polish a turd. Awful.
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6. TeamViewer
United fans were simply glad to see the back of that horrible gold cross after all that time, but what came after wasn’t all that great.
European software company TeamViewer, often used by workplaces for remote access, paid £47million per year from 2021 to be on the front of the Red Devils’ kit, but their profits didn’t quite stretch to that beyond COVID and they backed out in 2024.
Probably a good thing. That font was way too long for the front of the shirt, and even when they increased the logo size and tried to get it to fit on the shirt better in 2023-24, it still looked clunky and awkward. A big miss on the design front, and very few memorable moments in it beyond Cristiano Ronaldo’s return.
5. AON
Controversial, but it has to be said. AON was like the strange cousin to the sponsor it replaced in 2010 – we’ll get to that – and while it looked fine, the American financial giants were more just fortunate to be in place during Ferguson’s final few years of management.
AON looked inoffensive on United’s kits and they paid well for the time – £88million over four years according to reports – but it looked like a cheap knock-off of its predecessor and they were on the shirt for the incredibly painful 2013-14 campaign that followed United’s historic 2012-13 season.
A painful memory to sign off on.
4. Snapdragon
Nostalgia merchants will probably curse us for placing Snapdragon ahead of AON straight off the bat and it could age like milk if United seriously flatter deceive while donning their new sponsor, but aesthetically, it’s the smartest logo that’s been on the shirt in years.
A three-year deal with the option to extend for a further two, the American technology firm who provide chips which power smartphones such as the iPhone are said to be paying United around £60million per year. Thankfully, the sponsor looks smart and gives off a retro, 2000s vibe.
The deal also includes an option for Snapdragon to place a charity on the front of the shirt in place of their logo for one game a season. Uncharted territory for United, but an exciting thought for kit geeks.
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— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 7, 2024
3. Vodafone
Snapdragon is receiving high praise on the looks front as it closely resembles those iconic Vodafone shirts of the 2000s – United’s second-ever front-of-shirt sponsor after taking over in 2000.
And it just looks right. Perhaps it didn’t feel right at the time, with the status quo being disrupted, but it just worked.
Ruud van Nistelrooy smashing them in and poaching like a maniac inside the penalty box, a young Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, the final years of Beckham – a new era for United.
They actually fell away from the top step of English football during the Vodafone era, winning just three (!) Premier Leagues while wearing the sponsor.
But it looked seriously smart – especially when United switched to Nike – and injected a sense of modernity into the club’s brand.
2. AIG
Remember when we said about AON being a bit of an imposter? Yeah, it was never a true match for AIG.
Taking over from Vodafone in 2006, AIG’s sponsorship of United was a then-record-breaking $100million four-year deal, with the American insurance company giving United’s home kits an extra refined edge and touch of class as they galvanised in the late 2000s to win three Premier Leagues in a row and a Champions League, in what many consider Ferguson’s greatest ever side.
Ronaldo at his Ballon d’Or best, peak Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at the back, Carrick and Scholes in midfield. We could go on.
The kids like to use ‘aura’ these days – AIG United was the definition of that.
1. Sharp
Truthfully, though, you just can’t beat a classic. No matter how old you are, you see Sharp and you think of United. An iconic partnership.
While the rest of the clubs in England were swapping sponsors desperately in a bid to raise funds, the Red Devils stuck with the Japanese consumer goods giant from 1982 all the way through to 2000, an almost 20-year partnership in a time where shirt sponsoring was still new territory.
The first Premier League win. Cantona’s kung-fu kick. Yorke and Cole. The treble. Come on. It’s not up for debate.
