Kieran Maguire lambasts ‘weakness’ as £190m Man United deal could now be aborted
The fact that certain TeamViewer shareholders want to cut ties with Man United is a reflection on the company rather than the club.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Red Devils’ commercial relationship with the digital remote access platform.
The pair’s £47.5million-a-year partnership began at the start of the 2021-22 campaign and is due to expire in 2026, making the deal worth £190m over its remaining contract length.
But as relayed by Sport Business on Thursday (17 November), TeamViewer shareholding company Petrus Advisers has called the company’s involvement in sports advertising ” a sign of hubris and appalling judgement”.
The American firm, who also sponsor the Mercedes Formula 1 team, are now believed to be looking to amend the terms of its deal with the club.
Maguire assessed the situation and explained why the deal was never likely to prove fruitful for TeamViewer.
“I think their looking to change the terms of the United deal is indicative of TeamViewer’s weakness rather than anything else.
“It’s difficult to work out what the benefit to the company would have been from signing up with the Premier League’s sixth-best team last season.
“In terms of generating additional revenue for the company, that would have seemed very marginal given their position in the market.
“Therefore, the activist investor who has questioned the logic of the deal won’t be the first nor the last.
“Similar comments were made at high levels in terms of Chevrolet’s deal with United. Chevrolet sold less than two dozen cars per year in the UK when the deal was originally signed.“
In other news, ex-Premier League referee claims Man United victims of major injustice as controversial Alejandro Garnacho footage analysed.