UK Press Assoc:
Carling Cup champions Manchester United are close to signing a world record £60 million shirt sponsorship deal with online gambling company Mansion.
Details of the agreement have yet to be finalised but the club is reportedly confident that the deal will be completed by the end of the current season.
If the rumoured £60 million figure is correct it would mark the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in football, surpassing Chelsea’s deal with Samsung and Real Madrid’s with BenQ Mobile.
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Manchester United’s current shirt sponsor, Vodafone, put a premature end to its £9 million-a-year deal with the club.
Gibraltar-based Mansion offers gamblers the chance to bet on a range of sports including Premiership football and the American Football and basketball in the US.
A possible stumbling block for the deal could emerge as Manchester United’s new American owners, the Glazer family, also own the American football team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
American football clubs are prohibited from any ties with betting companies and the deal could spark scrutiny from NFL bosses in the US.
Manchester United is also understood to have held sponsorship talks with mobile phone network O2 and Gulf-based airline Air Etihad.