ISL 2017: Why NorthEast United FC are playing without a principal shirt sponsor
NorthEast United FC lost out to Chennaiyin FC in the team's second match of the new Indian Super League season. It was an underwhelming performance by the Highlanders away from home as they failed to add to the solitary point they gained from the 0-0 draw against Jamshedpur FC last week.
The side from the NorthEast is one of two teams in the ISL from the eight old ones to have never qualified for the knockout phase over the last three seasons. And with the new season underway, they have stood out again, this time for the absence of a principal shirt sponsor on their all-white home kit.
They are the only team out of the ten in the league to not sign up a shirt sponsor yet. An official in the team management told Sportskeeda that they are in talks with a number of brands and an announcement is expected soon.
He said, "We are in negotiations with a few brands and have a number of interests lined up. However, we are yet to close a deal."
The side from the north-east have a number of co-sponsors on board this season such as Jio, Garnier Men, Performax, Niftel, Radisson Blu and McDowells. In previous seasons, mobile manufacturing giants HTC were their principal shirt sponsors.
Two teams in the league, namely Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC, have their parent company as the primary shirt sponsors. They are the TATA and JSW respectively.
For the remainder the teams, the sponsors are Apollo Tyres (Chennaiyin FC), Kent RO (Delhi Dynamos FC), Muthoot (Kerala Blasters FC), Suzuki Gixxer (FC Pune City), Ace Group (Mumbai City FC), FC Goa (Deltin Gruup) and CESC Ltd. (ATK).
The Highlanders will continue their travels for their next game as they take on the Delhi Dynamos next at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.