Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘to pay Tottenham millions’ as Man Utd co-owners finally reach deal

Ineos have been forced to pay Tottenham a substantial fee in the millions in order to withdraw early from their five-year sponsorship deal which had been undermining the brand

Manchester United co-owners Ineos have reportedly agreed to pay millions of pounds to terminate their sponsorship deal with Tottenham.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company agreed a five-year deal back in 2022 to become the official 4×4 partner of Spurs, via their Grenadier vehicle. The link-up was worth several millions of pounds per season to Tottenham, who displayed advertising for Ineos on the dugouts and big screens at home matches.

But the contract has been under threat ever since Ineos bought a controlling stake in United back in February 2024. The sight of the company’s name, which has become synonymous with Tottenham’s Premier League rivals, has begun to grate and undermine the brand strategy.

Spurs and Ineos have held amicable conversations about terminating the deal since mid-February and they have now been brought to a conclusion. Ineos was not visible during Spurs’ 3-1 win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday. The Daily Mail reports that Ineos have been forced to fork out a ‘not insignificant sum’ in the millions to cancel the sponsorship deal.

It may well be a bitter pill to swallow for the company, who have been busy scaling back their involvement in sport. Last month, New Zealand Rugby said they were taking legal action against Ineos after they exited their £3.7m-a-year deal early, citing the “deindustrialisation of Europe” as one of the reasons.

Ineos have also withdrawn their financial support for Sir Ben Ainslie’s Americas Cup sailing team and are reportedly considering scaling back their one-third stake in the Mercedes F1 team. Ainslie’s team said in January that Ineos’ decision had left them “astounded” and added it “raises significant legal and practical obstacles for them”.

The early withdrawal at Spurs also comes at a time when Ratcliffe and Ineos are under the spotlight at United. The petrochemicals billionaire has overseen a major round of redundancies over the past 13 months, with a further 200 job losses announced in late February.

The club said that decision was made in order to “transform its corporate structure as part of a series of additional measures to improve the club’s financial sustainability and enhance operational efficiency.” Ratcliffe claimed that the club could have gone out of business in December without the wholescale cutbacks.

“I recognise I’m unpopular at the moment – but I am prepared to be, and I can deal with being unpopular for a period of time because I believe that what we’re doing is the right thing,” Ratcliffe told the BBC.

“Manchester United has come off the rails – we need to get it back on the rails, and I believe what we are doing will put it back on the rails and we’ll finish up being where Liverpool or Real Madrid are today in the future. When the going gets tough people need to show a bit of resilience, a bit of grit – don’t wilt – and come out the other side fighting and that’s what we will do.”

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