Barclays debates ending its £40m-a-year Premier League sponsorship deal
Barclays is reportedly debating the fate of its £40m-a-year sponsorship of the Premier League, as senior figures deemed the deal to be of "zero value" in the UK.
With the current deal set to end at the end of the 2015-16 season, members of the bank's leadership team have said that the next three-year deal will cost a great deal more following the rapid price inflation for sports rights, with the battle between BT Sport and BSkyB driving up the price.
The decision to pull out is part of a wider review of the bank's business, which has already seen Barclays call time on its sponsorship of London's 'Boris Bikes' at the end of its current run in 2015.
Barclays new business plan is said to instead focus on higher levels of technology for customers, with fewer staff and fewer branches, as CEO Antony Jenkins wants to see the cost-to-income ratio at the bank fall from over 60 per cent to 55 per cent.
Barclays has sponsored the Premier League since 2001, with the current £120m deal hashed out in 2012.