Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be set to earn a pretty penny as the Manchester United co-owner has found a new title sponsor for one of his teams
Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set for a major windfall after finding a new title sponsor.
Sir Jim is at the helm of the INEOS sporting empire – and as well as owning stakes in football clubs such as United and Nice, he has also splashed the cash in other sports such as sailing and rugby.
However, it is in cycling where he could be set to earn a pretty penny thanks to his team the INEOS-Grenadiers. According to The Times, Sir Jim is set to relinquish the naming rights of the team in a £100million deal with Danish IT firm Netcompany.
JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page
The report claims the IT firm, which has just become the primary digital operations partner for Heathrow airport, has reached a five-year deal with the team.
Founded in 2010 under the guise of Team Sky and Dave Brailsford, who has since worked under Ratcliffe at Nice and United, the British team conquered the cycling world, winning seven Tours de France in eight years between 2012 and 2019.
However, since the emergence of Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG super team their dominance has tarted to wain.
INEOS-Grenadiers made big moves of the winter to bring in Tour de France fourth place finished Oscar Onley and the young French star Kévin Vauquelin.
However, their budget was still behind UAE, Red Bull-BORA-Hansgrohe and Team Visma-Lease a Bike.
And it was the latter two teams that caused the INEOS-Grenadiers a headache on Wednesday during Paris-Nice, one of the biggest races of the early season.
In a crash-marred race that saw leader Juan Aysuo forced to abandon, Onley and Vauquelin were distanced under the pressure of Red Bull – who inadvertently handed two-time Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard an arm-chair ride to the finish line.