As if there wasn't enough money in the Premier League already, reports suggest that we could soon be seeing even more sponsorships on the players' jerseys.
The Mirror are reporting that the Premier League has given the go-ahead for clubs to feature a sponsorship on the sleeves of jerseys from next season on, in a move that could be worth an extra £10m in sponsorship revenue for clubs in England's top league.
The proposal, put forward by clubs to top-flight bigwigs, was agreed a fortnight ago and teams’ commercial departments are already negotiating deals for the start of next season.
It is believed the sleeve space is valued at around 20 percent of the main shirt deal and could be worth nearly £10m to Manchester United who make £47m a year from Chevrolet.
At least two clubs will miss out in the short term because their current main shirt sponsorship deals include clauses forbidding the appearance of other company logos on their jerseys.
The reason behind it being introduced is due to the new Premier League badge worn on the sleeves of jerseys on match day. As this logo does not feature the league's sponsor like it used to (with BARCLAYS along the bottom), it is essentially freeing up a sponsorship slot.
The decision is likely not going to go down well with fans who regularly complain about shirt sponsorships as it is, but this is the way that the game is going and honestly it's surprising that it hasn't been introduced already.
Soon we will be looking at human billboards in the fashion of Montpellier's kit in Ligue 1 last season, which looks absolutely ridiculous.
It will, of course, be up to the clubs to decide whether or not they want sponsors on the sleeves of the players' jerseys, but you can already pretty much guarantee that Ed Woodward will not miss the chance to squeeze out an extra few million from DHL, or Chevrolet, or pillows or noodles or whatever the latest official partner is, and many more will follow suit.
Again, while disappointing, it was inevitable, and it's hard not to imagine a future where football jerseys are dominated by two or three interchangeable advertisements like the boards around the stadium.
The game's gone.
