Tottenham Hotspur are taking legal action against Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Automotive, with The Telegraph reporting that they’re demanding more than £11 million over a failed sponsorship agreement.
According to the documents filed in the High Court, Tottenham are accusing the company of breaching a multi-year deal to promote the INEOS Grenadier as the club’s official 4×4 partner.
That agreement was signed in 2022. It was meant to run for five years and was valued at a minimum of £17.5m.
Tottenham claim that INEOS missed a scheduled payment worth over £5m in December 2023. They also missed an inflation-adjusted payment of nearly £500,000 that was due in August.
Spurs officially terminated the deal in March last year. They’re now seeking damages of at least £5.27m for being forced to terminate the contract with two years left to run.
They’re also seeking compensation for the missed payments, interest, and other fees deemed appropriate by the court.
Tottenham claim that annual payments under the contract started at £2.125m in the first year. It was due to rise to £4.6m by year five, excluding VAT and with adjustments for inflation.
A spokesperson for INEOS said the company had the right to exit the agreement and exercised that option in December 2024.
“Ineos Automotive was a partner of Tottenham Hotspur from 2022, expanding on a partnership agreement that Ineos Group had in place with the club since 2020,” the spokesperson said.
“We had a contractual right to terminate our partnership contract and in December 2024 exercised that right.”
When the legal dispute first came to light last year, INEOS claimed that the partnership was no longer providing value and that reviewing such marketing deals was standard business practice.
The timing of the lawsuit raised a few eyebrows.
Tottenham lodged their claim shortly after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final to end their 17-year trophy drought and qualify for the Champions League.