Common sense dictates that a petrochemical products company that aims to sell wholesale to other industries has little or no role in the world of sports sponsorship. Why would anyone want to promote their brand to the general public when their sales are made in executive offices and not in street-level establishments, and sports makes it easier? First of all, it makes no sense. However Jim RatcliffeIneos owner raises his hand and says he owns it. At least for him.
He has it because his mental plan for sponsorship and purchasing sports equipment has nothing to do with generating economic returns. Ratcliffe is unknown outside business and economic circles. Does not aim for brand awareness (even though he does it because he does) but Satisfy your most intimate desires: Who wouldn’t want to own the football team they’ve been supporting since their childhood? That’s why Ratcliffe, who became a billionaire, made it happen.
Since Christmas Eve, this British businessman has officially owns 25% shares of the company Manchester UnitedAlong with Real Madrid and Barcelona, it is the world’s most powerful football brand in the last twenty years. Today, Boxing Day, he will showcase his status as co-owner of the Mancunian club in a match against Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at Old Trafford; This will be the Premier League’s big revelation.
Owner of Nice and Lausanne
As part of the deal, Ratcliffe via Ineos control of the club’s sports operations. In other words, he will decide who will be the coach of the team, which players will be bought and which will be sold. It is a task in which Manchester United already has experience, as it is the third club in which it is a shareholder. Bought Swiss club Lausanne in 2017 and French club Nice in 2019. Both put in perspective, now is a test bed for what is to come.
It has been written that Ratcliffe was a businessman who knew how to build an empire in the chemical industry. He founded Ineos in 1998 and gradually The world’s fourth-highest turnover petrochemical company, according to special publications. He is a business giant who has opened other business avenues, such as the all-terrain vehicle Ineos Grenadier, which he turned into the jewel in his crown.
This is the brand that gave its name to the sport that was its main investment until Christmas Eve. The British cycling team that rose to the top with the name Sky. A brutal loss of investment was expected when the television network decided to withdraw in 2019, but Ineos stuck it out and remains one of the bastions of world cycling with riders such as Tom Pidcock, Geraint Thomas, Egan Bernal and the up-and-coming Spaniard Carlos. Rodríguez.
His investment in cycling exemplifies Ratcliffe’s goals. Cycling is not economically profitableBeyond the commercial sale of parrot chocolate, there is no direct way to generate a return on investment. Ineos named the team because Ratcliffe loves cycling and wants to realize himself through those around him 40 or 50 million euros this is allocated to him every year.
Athletics, Formula 1, rugby…
A similar thing happened in 2019 when he sponsored. project like that Eliud Kipchoge will go in under two hours in a marathon, under the name Ineos 1:59 Challenge. It was a demonstration, because the testing conditions, always surrounded by rabbits (41 in total), as well as other licenses such as cycling equipment, did not allow the brand to become official, something that was known in advance. But Ratcliffe wanted to associate his name with such a historical event as the first time a person ran a marathon in under two hours.
Ineos also entered Formula 1 sponsors and buys 33% of the Mercedes-Benz team By Lewis Hamilton; In sailing, with one of the boats that will compete in the 2024 Copa América, starting from Barcelona; and I sponsor the New Zealand team, which is currently second in the world in rugby.
What will Ratcliffe do at Manchester United?
It is no longer known how Manchester United will manage at a time when the economic management of English clubs is changing. New fair play regulation in the Premier League and that of UEFA, which is currently in the application period.
First of all, the agreement reached by Ratcliffe after a year and a half of negotiations includes the following: Direct injection of 300 million liras into the sports project. Ratcliffe, a Manchester United supporter during his time, harshly criticized the waste of money on players of questionable quality. Now it is their turn to ensure that the Old Trafford outfit, after more than a decade away from the major championships, can once again become the greatest club on the planet they once were.