The reporter reported coldly At a time when Manchester United fans issued an open letter protesting against the operational shortcomings of the INEOS management team, another news of a lawsuit in the field of sports sponsorship has somewhat revealed the deep reasons why INEOS has made few major achievements in the more than a year since it became the owner of Manchester United.

On 11 February, the New Zealand rugby team took its main sponsor, INEOS Group, to court for failing to pay the first payment of its 2025 sponsorship fee, and for unilaterally breaking the contract three years ahead of schedule, just to save about £4.3 million a year in sponsorship costs.

After INEOS took over Manchester United, the main focus was on reducing costs, and the media and fans paid attention to INEOS's other sports sponsorship projects before discovering that the INEOS Group has accelerated the contraction trend in the field of sports sponsorship across the board. Not only the New Zealand rugby team, but also the long-standing and successful America's Cup sailing and cycling teams, INEOS are looking to reduce their sponsorship or withdraw altogether. Even the Mercedes F1 team is assessing whether it will reduce its current 1/3 stake to cash out.

INEOS Group has reduced its sports sponsorship spending across the board, against the backdrop of a significant decline in the group's revenue in recent years. It has also heightened the fears of Manchester United fans, with the current Elite team continuing to invest in the Reds, particularly in the highly anticipated new stadium project. However, with the huge investment costs of the new home stadium and the operating difficulties of the INEOS Group, it is unknown how long Raja's enthusiasm for running Manchester United can be maintained.

New Zealand's men's rugby team's lawsuit against INEOS for breach of contract unveils unveils much of INEOS' once-vaunted 'sports strategy' for diverse sponsorship. INEOS' sponsorship contract with the New Zealand rugby team began in 2021 for a period of six years.

Despite the good results of the New Zealand rugby team, INEOS began to terminate its sponsorship contract three years early in early 2025 by refusing to pay the first instalment of the sponsorship. Just a month ago, INEOS announced that it had parted ways with Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team. In October last year, the INEOS-sponsored Britannia sailing team reached the final of the America's Cup, the first time in 60 years that England sailing team did so, but they also failed to win the title.

Since sponsoring the Britannia Sailing Team in 2018, INEOS has invested a total of £200 million, but has failed to win the coveted America's Cup title. The team was formed by Britain's most successful sailing legend, Ben Ainslie, and INEOS also brokered a partnership with its own Mercedes F1 team, hoping that the world's best sailing and racing engineering would join forces to win the America's Cup. But after losing last year's final in Barcelona, INEOS took the initiative to consider reducing the amount of sponsorship, looking for a new sponsor for the team, and possibly even withdrawing altogether. For this reason, Ben Ainslie, who suddenly lost his main sponsor, is also considering going to court with INEOS.

The Grenadier Cycling Team, which INEOS has sponsored since 2019, has won the 2019 Tour de France and the 2020 and 2021 Giro d'Italia. INEOS offers £50 million a year in sponsorship, with five of the top 10 professional drivers in the team. At London 2021, the INEOS driver also won three Olympic gold medals for Great Britain. But now, INEOS cannot afford the huge £50 million a year sponsorship fee and is also looking for other sponsors to reduce costs.

When INEOS announced in January that it was reassessing its sports investment strategy and quotas, and narrowing sports sponsorship across the board, only the Mercedes F1 team, which had been making money, was likely to be spared. In 2023 alone, INEOS has received a massive £75 million dividend from the F1 team. However, the Guardian believes that with the deterioration of the INEOS Group's own operating conditions, it also does not rule out the possibility of cashing out its stake in the Mercedes F1 team.

In response to the accusations against the New Zealand rugby team, INEOS cited the "de-industrialisation" trend in the European economy as a blow to INEOS' main chemicals business. In addition, high energy costs and carbon taxes have also made INEOS's business situation worse. INEOS was criticized for closing its synthetic ethanol hub in Scotland in early January, affecting around 3,000 jobs. In the last five years, 10 large chemical plants have closed in the UK, and INEOS has just closed this plant, which is one of only two remaining synthetic ethanol hubs in Europe.

INEOS Group executive Gilwari warned late last year that the UK's energy costs and carbon tax policies are five times that of the United States, and the INEOS Group's business crisis will show no signs of easing. The total debt of INEOS Group is expected to reach £10 billion this year, and the well-known rating agencies Fitch and Moody's have both downgraded INEOS to "negative", as the total debt of INEOS Group is already 5-6 times the company's annual earnings. And, as the decline of the chemical industry in the UK and Europe as a whole continues, the INEOS Group's business crisis is bound to continue.

Fitch expects INEOS Group's net debt to peak at €11.7 billion this year, while the group is moving forward with a massive €3 billion petrochemical plant in Antwerp, Belgium. Given the high cost of building Manchester United's new home stadium in the future, INEOS Group's predicament will have a direct impact on Manchester United's future operations. Although the Ligue 1 club Nice and the Swiss club Lausanne Sporting, which he acquired in Europe, are in decent shape, after all, the scale of the club's operation is not at all comparable to that of Manchester United.

With the outbreak of the INEOS Group's business crisis, the British media has been bemoaning why the Glazer family did not accept the takeover of the Qatari consortium in the first place. At least the latter, like the Saudi and Abu Dhabi conglomerates, is backed by Middle Eastern royalty and has no barriers to financial investment. Now that the Qatari consortium has shifted the takeover target to Tottenham, it would be a new blow to Manchester United if it succeeds. The British media are worried that the crisis of the INEOS Group may lead to the withdrawal of Lord Raja from Manchester United in the near future, and the Glazer family will inevitably introduce new capital to take shares, and Manchester United in the trough will usher in a new round of top-down turmoil.