FLASH: Sampoerna's Mansion to sponsor Man United in record $170m deal?
March 03, 2006
MANCHESTER United are set to sign the biggest shirt sponsor deal in world football.
Internet gambling giants Mansion, who are owned by Indonesian tycoon Putera Sampoerna, have tabled a world record 60 million ($170m) four-year offer to replace Vodafone, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
The deal, if completed, would smash the British record currently held by Chelsea, whose deal with electronics giant Samsung is worth 11m a year.
And it is also 1m more than the current world record 14m-a-year BenQ Mobile pay Real Madrid.
Other companies who have been in talks with United include Etihad, which is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and is backed by the UAE's billionaire royal family, and Qatar Airways.
But on the eve of the Carling Cup Final against Wigan, a United insider confirmed: 'Mansion are the front runners. Their offer is a fantastic one and officials here believe the deal should be signed, sealed and delivered before the end of March.'
Sampoerna, a 58-year-old Indonesian tycoon who made his fortune from the famous kretek cigarettes, is believed to be a long-standing member of United.
He has personal assets estimated at upwards of 1.5 billion, and ranks 13th on Forbes' list of Southeast Asia's 40 Richest People.
It is reported that having the name of his Gibraltar-based online company, Mansion, on United's shirts, will aid the company's international growth, especially in the Far East.
'It is widely accepted that the Far East market is the holy grail in the gambling business,' the source said. There's huge potential there and United are seen as a way in.'
Mansion are major players in the world of internet poker and gambling.
The company recently signed the biggest-ever televised poker deal with American TV giants Fox Sports Network.
The only other gaming company currently on a Premiership club's shirts are 888.com, who sponsor Middlesbrough.
But so far, Mansion has declined to reply to any questions about its ownership, its assets, or its negotiations with United, whose search for a shirt sponsor to replace Vodafone is being led by Malcolm Glazer's son, Bryan, and the club's commercial director, Andy Anson.
The Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would be forbidden under NFL rules from any tie-up between the Bucs and a gambling firm, but are 'comfortable' that United are a separate entity, and outside NFL rules.
March 03, 2006
MANCHESTER United are set to sign the biggest shirt sponsor deal in world football.
Internet gambling giants Mansion, who are owned by Indonesian tycoon Putera Sampoerna, have tabled a world record 60 million ($170m) four-year offer to replace Vodafone, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
The deal, if completed, would smash the British record currently held by Chelsea, whose deal with electronics giant Samsung is worth 11m a year.
And it is also 1m more than the current world record 14m-a-year BenQ Mobile pay Real Madrid.
Other companies who have been in talks with United include Etihad, which is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and is backed by the UAE's billionaire royal family, and Qatar Airways.
But on the eve of the Carling Cup Final against Wigan, a United insider confirmed: 'Mansion are the front runners. Their offer is a fantastic one and officials here believe the deal should be signed, sealed and delivered before the end of March.'
Sampoerna, a 58-year-old Indonesian tycoon who made his fortune from the famous kretek cigarettes, is believed to be a long-standing member of United.
He has personal assets estimated at upwards of 1.5 billion, and ranks 13th on Forbes' list of Southeast Asia's 40 Richest People.
It is reported that having the name of his Gibraltar-based online company, Mansion, on United's shirts, will aid the company's international growth, especially in the Far East.
'It is widely accepted that the Far East market is the holy grail in the gambling business,' the source said. There's huge potential there and United are seen as a way in.'
Mansion are major players in the world of internet poker and gambling.
The company recently signed the biggest-ever televised poker deal with American TV giants Fox Sports Network.
The only other gaming company currently on a Premiership club's shirts are 888.com, who sponsor Middlesbrough.
But so far, Mansion has declined to reply to any questions about its ownership, its assets, or its negotiations with United, whose search for a shirt sponsor to replace Vodafone is being led by Malcolm Glazer's son, Bryan, and the club's commercial director, Andy Anson.
The Glazers, who also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would be forbidden under NFL rules from any tie-up between the Bucs and a gambling firm, but are 'comfortable' that United are a separate entity, and outside NFL rules.
