London City Lionesses secure record Nike shirt sponsorship deal, owner claims

The Women’s Super League club London City Lionesses’ new front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Nike is the largest in the women’s game, according to their American owner, Michele Kang.

The length and value of the deal has not been disclosed but sources close to the WSL club are hailing it as a gamechanging moment and Kang claims that it even exceeds some men’s Premier League clubs’ shirt deals.

London City, who host Manchester United on Friday in the opening game of the new WSL campaign, are about to embark on only their second top-flight season, but this summer they have shocked the sport by signing a flurry of some of the biggest names in women’s football, including the former Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, the former England goalkeeper Mary Earps and Putellas’ Spain and Barcelona teammate, Mapi León.

It has been reported that the largest current front-of-shirt sponsorship deal for a women’s football team is an approximately $4m per year agreement reached by the new NWSL franchise in Atlanta – who will begin competing in 2028, but Kang told BBC Sport: “I can absolutely confirm that this is the largest women-only front-of-shirt deal. It is higher than the Atlanta number.

“I can absolutely also share that it is higher than some of the men’s Premier League front-of-shirt deals. It’s huge. That’s why it is landmark. There are so many other people who believe in the future of women’s football. They [Nike] didn’t make this decision lightly. They did not write a charity cheque. They believe in the future and they believe together we will invest and build this future together.”

The deal will be a major boost to London City’s finances. In their most recent set of financial accounts, they posted an annual revenue of just £902,000 for the 2024-25 season, when they won promotion to the top flight. Their operating loss was over £10m, and more than 10 times that revenue.

Their transfer business has attracted questions about how they can fit their lavish spending within the salary cap, as the WSL’s rules dictate that clubs cannot spend more on their player wage bills than 80% of their relevant revenue plus up to £4m of owner contributions. But it is understood this Nike deal will transform their annual revenue astronomically compared to previous seasons.

The popularity on social media of their biggest new signing Alexia Putellas – who has 3.4 million Instagram followers – and Earps and León is believed to have been a major driving factor in the supposedly high valuation from Nike. Putellas has helped Spain win 2023’s World Cup and won the Champions League four times with Barcelona. The Spaniard shared the news of the sponsorship on her Instagram account on Thursday.