Manchester United is highlighting the partnership between Microsoft and Qualcomm both on and off the pitch.
On Friday, Qualcomm announced that the Windows maker is affixing its Copilot+ PC brand to the back of Man United’s kits for select matches. The arrangement is part of the telecom’s landmark jersey sponsorship where the Snapdragon semiconductor brand adorns the front of all the team’s kits (including training shirts) for its men’s and women’s clubs.
Qualcomm is allowed pass through the rights for the back-of-kit placement with another technology partner. The Copilot+ PC brand features the Snapdragon X Series processor, so the kit sponsorship will reflect the collaboration outside of the circuitry of a computer.
Copilot+ PC will debut on the Red Devils’ kits during Saturday’s FA Community Shield matchup against Manchester City.
Last September, the team announced a record-breaking three-year kit sponsorship with the Snapdragon brand that will reportedly bring in approximately $75 million per season. The new kits were revealed in July.
More recently, in an Aug. 5 report from ESPN, Qualcomm expressed interest in acquiring the naming rights to a renovated Old Trafford or its potential replacement, if the opportunity arose. The company’s chief marketing officer Don McGuire told ESPN that “Old Trafford is Old Trafford,” but indicated a willingness to share the brand name with the venue similar to its rights deal with a soccer stadium in San Diego.
Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe took control of the team’s operations last December, the future of Old Trafford has become a priority. Multiple media reports now state that the team will scale down the longtime venue, where the team has played since 1910, instead of demolishing it in favor of a brand new 100,000-seat stadium next door. The idea is to preserve its history, which includes statues of the team’s legends, while shrinking its capacity to 30,000 seats.
