All Blacks: Sir Jim Ratcliffe explains decision to withdraw from New Zealand Rugby sponsorship deal
Ineos owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has explained why his company has pulled out of their sponsorship deal with New Zealand Rugby.
The billionaire owner of chemical company Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has defended his organisation’s decision to withdraw from their sponsorship deal with New Zealand Rugby (NZR).
Last month it was revealed that NZR launched legal action against Ineos over what it said is a breach of sponsorship agreement.
NZR and Ineos signed a six-year sponsorship deal in 2022, thought to be worth around NZ$21m a year, but Ineos have now reneged on that agreement.
The governing body have claimed that Ineos did not pay their first scheduled instalment in 2025 and have duly taken legal action, although both parties will remain in contact over a possible resolution.
However, during a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Ratcliffe revealed that European economic headwinds forced Ineos to cut back on investing in sport.
‘Life’s tough in the outside world in trading’
“I’m afraid life’s tough in trading in Europe, whether we like it or not,” said Ratcliffe. “I know it’s easy to just carry on, but I’m afraid life’s tough in the outside world in trading.”
Under the terms of their sponsorship deal with NZR, Ineos’ branding was visible on the All Blacks, the Black Ferns and New Zealand’s sevens sides’ kit, but that branding will now be removed.
NZR and Ineos’ disagreement could have repercussions for the entire rugby environment in New Zealand as they are already facing financial challenges throughout the sport, especially at grassroots level, and Ineos was one of NZR’s three major sponsors along with Adidas and Altrad.
Ratcliffe, who is one of the one of the richest men in the United Kingdom, has also made cuts at Premiership football club Manchester United, where he is a part-owner.
Amongst those included cutting meals to staff at the famous club’s training ground, and he is looking for partners to back Ineos’ Grenadiers cycling team.
Ratcliffe addressed the dispute with the NZR and admitted that things are not going according to plan for his company at the moment.
“Europe is a tough place for business at the moment. It’s not just for us — it’s for everybody in the car industry as well as the chemical industry,” he said.
“Really they’re pretty much the two biggest industries in Europe. Cars and chemicals are both about a trillion [euros in value], but they’re both having a tough time. At the moment, Ineos is the only chemical company in Europe that’s still building.
‘Everybody’s under the cosh in Europe’
“We’re still investing, so we’re doing better than pretty much anybody else. But everybody’s under the cosh in Europe, because energy in the UK is five times the price of America.
“Electricity here is five times the price of electricity in America. Gas is five times the price of gas in America.
“And then we’ve got this glorious idea that some green lobby had of applying carbon taxes to finally put us out of business. America pays no carbon tax.
“If you look at one of our facilities, we’ve got some huge chemical facilities in Europe, and you compare that with an identical facility in America, it’s just tough because electricity is usually hugely more expensive, gas is hugely more expensive and then you’ve got a hundred million carbon tax on top of that.
“In America, they’re all busily investing in new facilities and creating new jobs, and then in Europe, everyone’s shutting down.”
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