Audi's Proposed £90M Sponsor Deal With Bayern Munich Could Be Football's Biggest Ever

If Bayern Munich pull off their £90 million deal with Audi it could vault the German club to the top of BNET's Global Football Sponsorship Deal League (see below). Currently, Bayern sit at fourth with a pact with T-Home worth £17 million a year (£68 million over four years).

The top deal is believed to be Liverpool F.C.'s recent signing of Standard Chartered for £81 million over four years.

The deal will give Audi a 9.5 percent stake in the club, but it is not clear how long the deal will last. Deal length is crucial -- Arsenal signed a £100 million deal with Emirates, but as the term of the agreement is a massive 15 years, it only nets the club £6.7 million a year -- leaving Arsenal far behind rivals such as Liverpool and Manchester United.

The deal (€100 million, $147.7 million) would also move the center of gravity for football sponsorship away from the English Premier League to the Bundesliga. The arrival of Audi (and its big bag of cash) has already prevented Franck Ribery from leaving Bayern to go to either Chelsea F.C. or Man. Utd., the Daily Mail reports.

BNET's Global Football Sponsorship Deal League:

1. Liverpool: £20 million a year (£81 million over four years) with Standard Chartered
2. Manchester United: £20 million a year (£80 million over four years) with Aon
3. Real Madrid: £18.3 million a year (£55 million over three years) with Bwin.com
4. Bayern Munich: £17 million a year (£68 million over four years) with T-Home
5. Juventus: £15 million a year (£75 million over five years) with Tamoil
6. Chelsea: £12.5 million a year (£37.5 million over three years) with Samsung
7. Manchester City: £8m a year (£24 million over three years) with Etihad Airways.
8. Arsenal: £6.7 million a year (£100 million over 15 years) with Emirates

• Real Madrid's New Deal With Bwin Suggests Chelsea's Samsung Pact Is Underpriced
• Liverpool F.C. Wants £240M for Naming Rights to Stanley Park -- Or Does It?
• Liverpool's Standard Chartered Deal May Be Bigger Than Man. Utd's Pact With Aon
• Is Chelsea's New Sponsor Deal With Samsung Big Enough to Affect Its Debts?
• Arsenal's £100M Sponsorship Deal With Emirates No Longer Looks Like a Good Deal
• Will Death of Ex-Saatchi CEO Dreyfus Lift Curse of Marseille?
• Manchester United Sign Aon to Replace AIG as Shirt Sponsor; Club Returns to Profitability