A $500 million sponsorship deal for Manchester United: Finnish tycoon’s failed acquisition leads to a request for “collaboration.”

By Han Bing Before the Boxing Day match, Manchester United was surprisingly presented with a lucrative sponsorship proposal. Ziliakus, the Finnish billionaire who lost the bid to acquire Manchester United two years ago, has come back with a $500 million, five-year sponsorship deal. He aims to inject significant capital into the club, but his generosity is not without conditions. Ziliakus seeks to enter Manchester United’s management through a partnership model, primarily to deeply integrate his fan interaction platform with the club, creating a mutually beneficial outcome.

Ziliakus, who will turn 70 in March next year, began his career in 1986 as Nokia’s Asia-Pacific director. Currently, he runs the gamer social e-commerce platform Sandbox and XXI Century Capital. Two years ago, he bid for both Manchester United and Inter Milan, controlled by Suning Group, through XXI Century Capital, but both acquisitions ended unsuccessfully.

Having lived in Singapore for nearly 40 years, Ziliakus once paused his studies at the University of Helsinki for a semester to pursue his dream of becoming a professional footballer by training with Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro. Before bidding for Manchester United two years ago, he already had extensive experience managing football clubs. From 1982 to 1986, he was chairman of Finland’s top club Helsinki, and after moving to Singapore in 1986, he served as manager of Geylang International FC from 1989 to 1995. Managing a top football powerhouse has always been his ambition.

During his bid for Manchester United two years ago, Ziliakus was aware that his financial resources couldn’t match those of Middle Eastern oil royals, nor could his affinity rival that of Britain’s richest man and longtime United supporter, Ratcliffe. Therefore, he proposed that fans receive shares and participate in major club decisions post-acquisition, earning goodwill from many supporters. However, the Glazer family chose the British billionaire over the unfamiliar Finnish tycoon. Undeterred, Ziliakus has returned with a lucrative sponsorship deal, still hoping to gain entry into Manchester United’s operations.

Ziliakus’s sponsorship offer amounts to $500 million over five years, second in Manchester United’s history only to Chevrolet’s front jersey sponsorship deal (7 years, $559 million). This contract’s annual fee reaches $100 million (approximately €85 million), making it the highest annual sponsorship fee in football outside of kit supply deals. It surpasses Real Madrid’s (Emirates Airlines), Paris Saint-Germain’s (Qatar Airways) front jersey contracts (€70 million/year), next season’s Barcelona front sponsorship (€75 million/year), and even Qualcomm’s deal with Manchester United (€68.5 million/year).

The sponsorship proposal from Ziliakus was exclusively revealed by the Manchester Evening News. Valued at $500 million (€425 million), he hopes this funding can support Manchester United’s transfer budget or contribute to the new stadium construction. Ziliakus wishes to collaborate with Manchester United’s actual operator Ratcliffe, aiming to participate in the club’s management. The Finnish billionaire has not yet finalized the sponsorship format or naming rights, which could be either kit sponsorship or stadium naming. He intends to leverage the sponsorship to gather Manchester United’s global fanbase onto his fan interaction platform, with profit as a key motive.

If the sponsorship is finalized, Manchester United would surpass Real Madrid (€260 million) to become the football club with the highest main sponsorship revenue (€285 million). For a club urgently needing revival, Ziliakus’s offer is a timely boost. Manchester United faces heavy debt and the core revival project—a 100,000-seat new stadium—could cost up to €2 billion with no secured funding. This massive sponsorship would significantly ease the club’s debt burden, provide substantial short-term funds for transfers, and reduce long-term loan needs for stadium construction.

For Manchester United’s manager Amolin, securing this sponsorship could mean resolving urgent issues, especially since Bruno Fernandes’s injury leaves the squad in need of reinforcements during the upcoming winter transfer window. Given the imminent transfer period and mounting financial pressures, Manchester United is unlikely to turn down this Finnish offer.