AC Milan are one of the biggest clubs in world football, and therefore the shirts that they wear each season are seen as prime real estate for potential sponsors. In this article, we will outline the current sponsorships and how much they are worth.
Almost every club in professional football has a brand on the front of their home, away and third shirts, as well as even their training range and of course all around the stadium too.
From gambling companies to airlines, clothing manufacturers to food and drink brands, everyone seems to want a slice of the pie when it comes to making money in football.
Given Milan’s status as one of the most historic and recognisable clubs in the world – combined with a recent upturn in form – they are no exception to the demand.
Before we jump into it, this article is also available in Italian, translated by our team at SempreMilan.it.
History of sponsors
One thing that is important to note here is the distinction between the shirt sponsor and the shirt manufacturer.
Looking back through history, Milan have had various ‘technical sponsors’ – which essentially means the sportswear company that makes the shirts – starting with Adidas from 1978 to 1980.
Then there were a number of different makers in the 1980s from Linda Milan to Ennerre, then Rolly Go, Gianni Rivera and Kappa, who made the Rossoneri’s kits from 1986 to 1990.
Adidas came back in 1990 and remained the manufacturer until 1993 when Lotto took over. Adidas came back in 1998 and continued through until 2018 in what is by far the longest-running deal in the club’s history.
A new brand took over in 2018: the German sportswear manufacturer PUMA, and they have been the technical sponsor ever since.
A similarly diverse range of brands have adorned the front of Milan’s shirts too. Pooh Jeans were the first in 1980-1982, then Hitachi in 1982-83, Olio Cuore in 1983-84 and Oscar Mondadori the following season.
Fotorex U-Bix were on the front of shirts from 1985 to 1987, then Mediolanum – the financial company that Silvio Berlusconi held a stake in – took over until 1992.
It was Motta from 1992 to 1994, Opel from then until 2006, Win from 2006-2010 and it has been Emirates Airlines ever since, making it the longest-running deal.
The current agreements
As mentioned, Milan began their relationship with PUMA back in 2018 which means the collaboration has already lasted for half a decade. Meanwhile, the one with Emirates has been in place for over 13 years.
As was reported by Calcio e Finanza in 2023, Emirates – as the main sponsor for the men’s shirts – and PUMA who are the kit manufacturer for the club both signed renewed agreements worth approximately €30m each per season.
There are some bonuses that will no doubt be included in the contract with each based on on-field performances, but it must be noted that the amount for each deal has more than doubled compared to previous agreements.
However, that is not the only revenue that Milan’s shirt generates because they also have a sponsor on the sleeve as well as on the back of their shirts, just below where the players’ numbers are.
The agreement with sleeve sponsor MSC is the highest in Italy of its type and has a similar value to the one signed with BitMEX, the previous sleeve sponsor who paid around €5m per season.
That means the total value of the Milan shirt for 2023-24 in terms of sponsorship is around €72m per season, also considering that WeFox have their logo on the back.
Breakdown of Milan’s shirt sponsorships
➤ PUMA: €30m per year until 2028
➤ Emirates: €30m per year
➤ MSC: €5m per year
➤ WeFox: €7m per year
Total: €72m
How does it compare?
In a September article from La Gazzetta dello Sport, the newspaper listed the top shirt sponsors in Serie A based on the revenue that they generate, and despite the increases in 2023 Milan are not at the top.
Juventus are the leaders in the league as their shirt sponsors add up to €51m, with €45m coming from Jeep and €6m from the back-of-shirt sponsor Cygames.
Milan are in second with their sponsors adding up to €42m. Of course, this counts the Emirates, MSC and WeFox deals and doesn’t factor in the PUMA one.
There is a tie for third place between Inter and Fiorentina. The Nerazzurri get €26m from Paramount+, Ebay and U-Power, while La Viola take €25m from Mediacom and €1m from Holding Lamioni.
Napoli are next with €20m: €10m from MSC (the same company that sponsors Milan’s sleeve), Ebay and Upbit. Then Sassuolo (€18m, from Mapei only) and Roma (€16.5m from Riyadh Season and Auberge Resorts) are the only others over €10m.
As Football Benchmark outline, for 2023-24 the biggest technical sponsor deals are Adidas for Real Madrid (€120m) and Manchester United (€106m), with Nike’s Barcelona deal (€105m) completing the podium. The Adidas-Juve deal is worth €55.1m.
What about shirt sponsors? Barcelona’s agreement with Spotify and Real Madrid’s with Emirates lead the way (both €70m), with PSG’s Qatar Airways contract at €68.5m in fourth.
It must be noted that these figures only take into account the main front-of-shirt sponsor and not the sleeve or back ones.
The common theme is that the Premier League dominate on both fronts, with English clubs having five of the top 10 kit supplier deals and main shirt sponsor agreements.
That’s huge amount of money
I never understood how, for example, Emirates can profit from paying 13 million per year to ACM to wear their logo on their shirts??? I mean, we all know about Emirates, or Quatar Airways or Spotify so what’s the point of seeing their logo on some club shirt??? What do they (Emirates and others) get back and how can they measure the return???
Visibility from new fans. People who don’t know would google them. People do buy things associated with brands which Milan is. I wear more Puma now because of Milan for instance. It translates as well.
In other words you don’t understand the sponsorship-business at all. Companies pay for visibility and association. It’s like buying ads but better.
When wearing the away jersey (cheaply made authentic replica) someone seriously asked me if I was a fan of Emirates. They had no clue who Milan was or it was a sponsorship.