The former main shirt sponsor of Everton has collapsed into administration.
Online car dealer Cazoo, a business once valued at as much as £6.3bn, fell into administration on Tuesday, a development that puts 200 jobs at risk, with the demise linked to the inflation-induced squeeze on consumer spending on such things as new cars.
The company had undergone significant restructuring earlier this year and had abandoned the European arm of its business in 2022, just months after the club’s partnership with Everton came to an end.
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Back in March 2022, Everton opted to exercise a break clause in its £9.6m per year deal with Cazoo, who also sponsored Aston Villa, with the Toffees seeing the partnership come to an end at the end of the 2021/22 campaign, with Stake.com taking over from the following season in what was described as a ‘club record’ deal.
In a statement to The Athletic at the time, the company confirmed: “We can confirm that the Cazoo sponsorship of Everton Football Club will not continue after the end of the current season.
“The original deal was for two years and it has been a strong partnership over this period which has delivered on our objectives and we are proud to have supported the Club and raised over £75,000 for Everton in the Community during this time.
“We were unable to agree suitable terms to extend our sponsorship of Everton beyond the original two years but can confirm that we will remain the principal partner and shirt sponsor of Aston Villa Football Club next season.”
Aston Villa also ended its Cazoo partnership the following season, with the firm having engaged in multiple sports sponsorships across Europe, from the likes of Valencia, Real Sociedad, Marseille, and Bologna all carrying the firm’s logo on the front of shirts, while Cazoo, which was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as recently as 2021, was also the principal sponsor of numerous Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments. It also had horse racing, snooker, and cricket sponsorships.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
