Manchester United Almost Pulled Out of Preseason Friendly Over Pepsi vs. Coke Dispute
By Ty Duffy
Manchester United almost pulled out of a pre-season friendly against the A-League All-Stars in Australia, 20 minutes before kickoff. The dispute was a matter of principle. United have a multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Pepsi in the Asia-Pacific region. ANZ Stadium is sponsored by Coke.
"“Man U’s commercial department threatened that the team would not run out if the Cola-Cola sign stayed on the big screen,” an ANZ Stadium spokesman confirmed. “It wasn’t discovered until the team arrived at the ground.”"
The impasse was resolved when ANZ Stadium agreed to replace the Coke ads with Mount Franklin Water, a Coca-Cola owned product. 80,000 fans got to watch some soccer.
[Photo via Getty]