American fast food chain Jersey Mike’s is set for a big launch in the UK, which also includes a massive sponsorship deal in English football.
The EFL Trophy, which has been known as the Vertu Trophy for the last three seasons, will take on the Jersey Mike’s name for the current football season.
The proposed deal will be the biggest the competition has ever negotiated, and comes at the same time as Jersey Mike’s plans to branch out across the UK and Ireland.
The fast food brand is close to agreeing a deal which will bag them the naming rights for the EFL Trophy for the next five seasons.
According to the Daily Mail, a £5 million deal is on the table, which would dwarf the previous arrangement with Vertu. The automobile brand are thought to have paid an average of £720,000 per year to sponsor the tournament.
Clubs competing in the EFL Trophy (typically teams in League One, League Two, and 16 invitational spots for Premier League under-21 sides) will receive a £900,000 initial payment as part of the deal, with that fee rising over the five years.
This move comes at the perfect time for Jersey Mike’s Subs, with the company set to open its first UK branch later this year in the West End of London.
Around 400 stores will follow across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, as Jersey Mike’s looks to compete with Subway in the sandwich maket.
In the US and Canada currently, Jersey Mike’s has over 3,300 stores and brings in an annual turnover of a whopping $4.2 billion.
The company was founded in 1956 as a small New Jersey boardwalk store. CEO Peter Cancro bought the business as a 17-year-old while he was working for the original brand, having borrowed $125,000 from his high school football coach to get the deal done.
It’s safe to say the business has come a long way. But, let’s just hope no one in the UK finds any false teeth in their sandwich, like one customer who ordered from the fast food outlet via GrubHub earlier this year.
