Manchester Utd. May Squeeze Nike After Record GM Jersey Deal

Manchester United convinced General Motors Co. to pay a record $559 million to have its Chevrolet brand on the team’s red jersey. Now, the 19-time English soccer champion is ready to play hard ball with Nike Inc., its maker.

United, which this week announced its first results since August’s initial public offering, got 33.8 million pounds ($54.7 million) in retail sales for the year ended June 30. That’s mainly from its 13-year, 303 million-pound contract with Nike, which gives the Oregon-based company control over the club’s complete merchandise sales operations, including the jersey.