Friday, March 30, 2007

Fiat's Wallet Just Got A Little Lighter

In the world's biggest shirt sponsorship deal, Italian automaker Fiat will pony up $44M a year to have the name of the company's tractor maker, New Holland, emblazoned on Juventus jerseys. The logo should look something like this or this. The deal, set to run through June of 2010, replaces the current $29M-a-year agreement Juve has with Libyan refinery and gas station owner Tamoil SA.

As a reference point, the deal that Manchester United made with insurer American International Group pays out just over $99M for four years. I'll do the math for you, that's less than $25M per season, and quite a bit less than what the Bianconeri will be banking starting next season.

I guess this is what people in the business world call synergy: the Agnelli family is the main shareholder of both Fiat and Juventus. Whether this convinces the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Mauro Camoranesi, David Trezeguet to stay with the team, who knows. One thing is for sure, Juve, with smart buys, will contend for the Scudetto next season.

FIAT Group Official Sponsor for Juventus [Juventus official site]

-ac

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