Reports: Adidas Nears Record Kit Sponsorship Deal With Manchester United

(RTTNews) - German sportswear maker Adidas AG (ADDDF, ADDYY) is nearing a kit sponsorship deal with English football club Manchester United Plc (MANU), outbidding rival Nike, Inc. (NKE) with a record offer of about 60 million British pounds or $103 million per year, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The 10-year deal will reportedly include manufacturing and retail rights to the team's uniforms and fan merchandise. It is billed as the highest deal in all of sports and doubles that of the second highest deal in soccer. Adidas is paying Real Madrid about 30 million pounds per year for a similar deal.

The proposed deal could end Nike's 13-year association with the English soccer giants, which signed a long-term deal with the firm in 2002. Nike's current deal, valued at 302 million pounds for 13 years, will continue until the end of the 2014/15 season.

Adidas is the favorite to bag the deal after Nike reportedly declined to match the offer and confirmed that they are out of the running. Nike was reportedly put off by the expected costs of 60 million pounds per year.

Manchester United, one of the world's best and richest football teams, is wrapping up its worst season on the pitch in more than two decades after finishing seventh in the English Premier League. It has been the English soccer champions for a record 20 times.

Manchester United has in mid-May appointed Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal as manager and Head coach after David Moyes was sacked in April within a year of assuming charge from Sir Alex Ferguson. He will take up his post after the FIFA World Cup, where he will manage the Dutch national team. He has signed a three-year contract beginning from the 2014/15 season.

MANU closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $17.61, down $0.23 or 1.29% on a volume of 52,574 shares. On Frankfurt's Xetra, Adidas shares closed at 72.93 euros, down 0.39 euros or 0.53% on a volume of 0.82 million shares.