Marriott International has decided not to extend its sponsorship agreement with Manchester United after targeting $80m (€69.8m) to $90m in annual cost savings as part of a significant restructuring effort.
The world’s largest hotel company has sponsored the Premier League club since 2019, leveraging the agreement to provide the more than 120 million members of its Marriott Bonvoy loyalty programme with exclusive club-related perks and experiences.
However, SportBusiness understands it recently passed on the opportunity to extend the agreement and dropped out of the Manchester club’s sponsorship portfolio after its contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 season.
Last November, Marriott International announced the radical cost-saving programme, starting in 2025, as part of what president and chief executive Anthony Capuano described as “an enterprise-wide process to enhance effectiveness and efficiency”.
At the time of the restructuring, Capuano told CNBC that Marriott was trying to decentralise decision-making to its regional offices and rejected claims that the hotel group, which has doubled in size during the last decade, had grown too fast. The majority of the job cuts that it subsequently implemented took place at its corporate headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, rather than at Marriott-branded hotels.
Marriott International’s wider sports portfolio includes a deal with the Mercedes F1 team. SportBusiness broke the news that the hotel chain had extended its agreement with Mercedes F1 last Autumn.
ANALYSIS: Experiential rights drive Marriott Bonvoy sponsorships
Sources spoken to by SportBusiness, suggested the Manchester club was misfortunate to engage the hotel chain in renewal discussion in the midst of the restructuring process and the decision to exit the deal was not related to the team missing out on qualification for Europe next season.
The brand developed successful integrated campaigns for the club’s pre-season and post-season tours to Asia and the US that allowed Marriott Bonvoy members in those regions to redeem loyalty points for club-related experiences. In another memorable activation, the hotel group offered fans the chance to stay overnight in a specially developed suite at the club’s Old Trafford stadium.
Since the turn of the year, Marriott International has announced a handful of smaller, regional sponsorship agreements that appear to indicate the more decentralised approach extends to marketing. This February, Marriott Bonvoy and its Protea Hotels sub brand were announced as Cricket South Africa sponsors, and in the same month the Marriott Bonvoy travel programme signed as a sponsor of the inaugural Snow League, founded by action sports star Shaun White.
In an interview with sister title SportBusiness Sponsorship last August, Andrew Watson, vice-president of marketing, EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] for Marriott International, described the deal with the Mercedes team as one of the most successful in its sponsorship portfolio.
He said: “Being able to tell and amplify the travel story through the lens of F1, where there are 24 global races across five continents, gives us new ways to connect with these sports fans and educate them on the value of Marriott Bonvoy.”
SportBusiness approached Manchester United and Marriott International for comment.