Snapdragon, the company that sponsors Manchester United’s front of shirt, is interested in securing naming rights for Old Trafford should the club use that route to help fund a new stadium.
Qualcomm, the company that owns Snapdragon, is “always looking out for possibilities” to increase brand awareness, according to Don McGuire, chief marketing officer.
United is concentrating on building a new Old Trafford on the same location as the current stadium, but there are a number of ways to get the money because the project is expected to cost at least £2 billion ($2.6 billion). One of those is name rights, and Snapdragon wants to deepen its partnership with United after securing a $225 million, three-year jersey sponsorship deal in July.
“Old Trafford is Old Trafford, it should always be Old Trafford,” As United played Real Betis, McGuire made these remarks from a suite at Snapdragon Stadium, the home of San Diego State University’s American football club.
“But if there is a brand attached to that in some way shape or form, powered by someone, an ‘at’ or whatever — this is Snapdragon Stadium at Bashor Field — we are working very closely with the team on the reimagining of Old Trafford from a technology and innovation standpoint, and Carrington (the club’s training ground). So if that leads to something bigger, where it would make sense for us to go even bigger — this (shirt sponsor) is pretty big by the way, not inexpensive — but if it makes sense, we are always looking out for opportunities.”
An estimated three billion gadgets worldwide are thought to be equipped with Snapdragon chips or processors, which are present in smartphones, PCs, virtual reality, gaming consoles, vehicles, and even high-tech sunglasses. McGuire stated that United is utilizing the experience of the American corporation for both the upcoming work at Old Trafford and the £50 million renovation of Carrington, which started this summer.
McGuire gave examples: “Fan experiences, connectivity, stadium operations like retail, point of sale, ticket in and out. Then there is how fans can be engaged while in the stadium, whether through augmented reality or through their smartphones or devices. And then making United a more state-of-the-art club.”
During the club’s summer tour of the United States, Snapdragon officials met with United executives, including Sir Dave Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Collette Roche, Dan Ashworth, and Jason Wilcox, in the company’s San Diego headquarters to exchange ideas.
Additionally, McGuire elucidated Snapdragon’s position regarding the potential destinations of United’s upcoming preseason tour. San Diego hosted friendlies twice during United’s summer visits to the United States, but McGuire wants the team to play elsewhere.
“We’d love for them to come back here every year,” he said. “What we will do is work with the club on their summer tours. We will be a presenting sponsor on the tours, wherever it is. But we’d like them to take it around the world and share the love.
“And so we’re looking at markets that are big Snapdragon markets as well, to bring the team.
“We know they have played in China before and they’d love to go back to China, and we’d love that, too. Playing in China is a little bit different because there are a lot more layers of regulation you have to get through. But we’d love for them to play in China, India.
“We are a global company. We may be headquartered in San Diego, California, but one of our biggest markets is China, another big market is India, so we sell our products, in volume, through partners all over the world. I have to be able to scale the brand. I’m looking at normal advertising or PR, or events, I’m doing that everywhere. I look at my brand partnerships the same way. What can give me global reach?
“Manchester United’s biggest fanbase is in China, 253million fans, a huge market for my company and the Snapdragon brand.
“I have 87 per cent awareness for the brand in China. Walk down the street in Shanghai, you ask someone if they know what Snapdragon is, they absolutely will tell you. ‘Of course, it’s my phone’. So attaching myself to Manchester United for that global reach and scale makes sense for a company like ours because it’s gotta kick ass in Europe, it’s gotta kick ass in China, it’s gotta kick ass in India, and Brazil and the U.S.
McGuire says the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor deal with United has “passed a billion impressions in three weeks for the brand”.
“It’s a bigger launch than the next big clubs that have launched their front of shirts in recent weeks combined. So that’s the scale of Manchester United,” he says.
The women’s squad is also a part of the jersey sponsorship agreement, and McGuire reaffirmed that in addition to wanting the men’s team to return, the women’s team should visit and play the San Diego Wave, a NWSL team.
“Snapdragon Stadium is a beautiful place to play, it was built more as a football stadium than an American football stadium, believe it or not, it’s much wider between the fan seats and the pitch, so we’d love them to come back and play,” he says. “We’d also love to have the women come and play here in San Diego against the Wave.”
(Top photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
