Another exceptionally strong year for commercial operations saw the arrival of several new partners as well as a raft of renewals by long-term, valued partners.
Global partners including Xylem, Gatorade, Acronis, Jian Nan Chun (JNC), Unilumin, Dsquared2 and Sports Interactive all signed fresh deals. The Xylem and Acronis agreements took them beyond the five-year mark in a further endorsement of the Club’s ability to deliver long-term returns for the partners it works with.
In addition, OKX further expanded their agreement by becoming Official Training Kit Partner for the 2022-23 season.
The Club’s global partnership with Asahi Super Dry launched at the beginning of the season and saw Asahi Super Dry and other group brands served at the Etihad Stadium. In addition to providing a range of new beverage options at the stadium, the Club enhanced its offering in the newly renamed Asahi Super Dry Tunnel Club.
Alongside Asahi Super Dry, a host of important new regional partners joined the Club, including mobile communications partner Jio in India, Linking Entertainment in China and a portfolio of regional betting brands, counting amongst them LeoVegas in Europe.
Successes on the pitch provided partners with the opportunity to activate during high-profile sporting moments and several were integrated into City’s historic winning Treble.
These included an Etihad Airways charter for the men’s first team’s UEFA Champions League homecoming flight, Asahi limited edition Champions beer bottles and an Asahi branded bus as part of the celebration parade around Manchester.
Source: Horizm, Nielsen
It was not only winning moments that gave the Club’s partners an opportunity to activate, as the partnership team constantly sought new ways to engage partners year-round.
This season the Club utilised its new creative hub, City Studios to work with a range of partners to deliver high quality content. These included the Yas Island campaign, with Pep Guardiola for Aldar; the ‘Home Challenge’ series with consumer appliances partner Midea; and ‘Etihad Travel Tales’, featuring players including John Stones and Erling Haaland, delivered together with Etihad Airways.
As a result of this creative approach, City were ranked as the number one Premier League club for video views and total engagements for all partner-related content across Club social media channels. When compared to other Premier League clubs, this also meant that City sat at the top of the table for the value it delivered for its partners through branded content this season.
As the Club continued to engage with fans around the world, OKX became the presenting partner of the Trophy Tour which saw the Premier League trophy taken to ten countries. Alongside this, OKX broke new ground in a partnership activation when they launched the OKX Collective in the metaverse, enabling fans to gain access to special content.
This season City also became the first Premier League club to launch an experience on Roblox via the Blue Moon Experience, which had more than 7.6 million visits. In a first for the Club, the third kit launch and trophy tour visit all took place on the platform, engaging with a new generation of fans.
The push for innovation in esports continued too, with new additions to the esports team which led to progress in a number of competitions.
As interest in the women’s game continues to grow, so too does the appeal of joining the Club as a partner, with Manchester City providing a fantastic platform for partners to activate and engage with fans.
Two new dedicated partners joined this season as the Club became the first Barclay’s Women’s Super League side to partner with a British womenswear brand, The Fold, and baby gear brand, Joie.
The Fold became the Club’s Official Formalwear Partner, providing access to a selection of quality tailoring for players, including the bestselling Clever Crepe performance suits.
And, as part of their agreement, Joie became the Club’s Official Family Partner and featured on the back of the women’s first team’s playing shorts for all games. Joie also had the opportunity to activate on matchday to offer fans exclusive prizes and experiences. At the start of the 2023-24 season, Joie became the official stadium naming partner for the Academy Stadium, where the women’s team plays its home games.
Three successful kits, which included a nod to the past, combined with an eye to the future, helped deliver record sales this season with huge year-on-year growth of over 85%, through online and physical stores.
Sales were further boosted by the Club’s commitment to continually improve fans’ shopping experience and offer regular new products throughout the season, as well as commemorate on pitch success.
The Club also opened an additional store in the Arndale Centre shopping complex in Manchester to provide fans with a bespoke shopping experience in the centre of the city.
The Club’s 2022-23 home kit was inspired by the trophy winning City teams of the late 1960s, personified by the legendary midfielder Colin Bell. The kit paid tribute to a man who is widely regarded as one of the Club’s greatest ever players.
Echoing the classic designs of the past, the Club crest was placed at the centre of the light blue jersey with signature maroon trims on the sleeve cuffs. And, inside the neckline, a crown logo honoured the man fans know as ‘Colin the King’.
The kit itself set a new record as the most sold home kit in the Club’s history, in a season where the team won a historic Treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
In addition, both the Club’s away kit, launched at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on City’s pre-season tour of the USA and a third kit launched in the metaverse, contributed to this most successful retail year to date.
The 2023-24 home kit was launched before the end of the season and produced the highest day of sales ever recorded by the Club on launch day itself, with the equivalent of one shirt sold every 12 seconds. The Club also produced a commemorative version of the 2022-23 home kit, which resulted in in a record month of sales for the Club in June 2023.
Another successful year at home and abroad saw Football Education grow both its reach and numbers and deliver more programmes than ever before. New partners were added with three international football schools operational in Brisbane, Adelaide and Switzerland respectively.
More than 1,250 sessions were delivered to 7,100 children this season across the world, with schools in Indonesia and Australia having significant success in local, regional, and national competitions.
The City Football Academy in Manchester, meanwhile, was the hub for UK football programmes.
The Young Player Development Programme – a year-round initiative for players of all abilities aged 5-12 – continued to prove popular throughout the season and was supplemented by the launch of a new holiday programme.
The Club continued to provide team and matchday training sessions to visitors who wanted to expand their overall experience and train at the home of Manchester City, with a total of 3,690 players taking part throughout the season.
Digitally, there was further development of coach education programmes too. Coaching Hub – a resource for coaches across 45 countries – continued to provide a content bank of practices and tips to help coaches develop their skills and pass valuable knowledge to participants.
This season saw the launch of CITYPLAY, an exciting new product which combines Playermaker smart wearable performance trackers with City’s football methodology.
Thousands of players in more than 100 countries have used the device since it launched in November 2022, tracking their performance during their footballing activities. This enabled them to measure their playing stats, understand their strengths and areas for development, and use City expertise to improve.
In June 2023, the Etihad Stadium hosted the Thought Leaders Forum as part of the City Football Leadership Institute, which provides invaluable insight and bespoke education for those aspiring to excel within the business of football.
The forum brought together more than 150 industry leaders, experts, and executives, to share insights, engage in topical and thought-provoking discussion panels and make valuable connections with like-minded professionals.
