Manchester United Signs New Sponsorship With Aon; Chevrolet To Sponsor Club's Jersey in 2014

English Premier League (EPL) soccer club, Manchester United, has agreed to a new, eight-year sponsorship partnership with Aon, selling the naming rights to the team's training facilities.

The deal, believed to be worth an estimated £15 million per season ($2,229,680 US per year), gives the risk management and insurance company naming rights to the team's Carrington training ground (which will be renamed Aon Training Complex) as well as branding rights to the team's practice jerseys for friendly and domestic games. Aon will also be a presenting partner for the team's annual overseas tour, starting with this summer's Asia tour.

"They are a great partner and I am very excited about the possibilities for sustainable advantage this provides the club as we build our global presence," said Manchester United's commercial director Richard Arnold.

Aon currently sponsors the soccer club's main jerseys but will be replaced by Chevrolet, at the beginning the 2014-2015 season, after the American car company offered the English Premier League team a seven-year deal worth a record-breaking £357 million ($546,388,500.00 US).

"When we started the first partnership people didn't recognize our name," said Phil Clement, the global chief marketing officer for Aon, to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). "We still want to drive our brand but we've hit the awareness goal. Now we want to use the relationship with Manchester United to better engage with our clients."

Manchester United recently bought back the branding rights to their practice jerseys, last October, from courier company, DHL, believing that they had undervalued the worth of their kits. Under the terms of the new deal, Aon will also advise Manchester United on their plans for global expansion as well as provide in-kind services such as player and staff insurance, data analysis, and research.

In return, Aon will be given special access to the 108-acre complex, in which they will be allowed to use the facility to host conferences, seminars, and entertain clients.

"Aon serves clients with unwavering focus on high performance, training and execution," said Arnold, "An approach that mirrors the way we prepare here at Manchester United."