June 18 – Manchester City owner City Football Group has added an unual partnership in the form YuYuan Art with will become the club’s Official Art, Culture & Football Education Partner.
By Paul Nicholson
June 15 – It would not be a major football tournament these days if it wasn’t being stolen for television by a Saudi-based broadcaster. The country that doesn’t allow women in its stadiums is nevertheless taking the women’s World Cup so seriously that it is allowing the piracy of every game from France 2019 on the beoutQ channels.
June 14 – The CEO of Italy’s Serie A has issued a powerful endorsement of beIN Sports in its battle against the copyright theft of Saudi Arabian-based BeoutQ that has been stealing the Qatari broadcasters’ live broadcasts and retransmitting on its own networks.
June 14 – UEFA has officially unveiled its new Over The Top (OTT) streaming platform – UEFA.tv – a bespoke platform built for the governing body that will be a mix of archive content and current UEFA competitions.
June 14 – Arsenal have signed VBET as the club’s Official Betting and Gaming Partner in a partnership, which will run until 2022.
June 14 – Aston Villa, £170 million play-off winners, have moved swiftly to sign their first sleeve sponsor. Asian betting firm BR88 will take the position in a one-year deal.
June 14 – France’s Professional Football League (LFP) has announced food delivery service Uber Eats as the new naming rights sponsor of Ligue 1.
June 13 – Fiat has renewed its sponsorship with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for another four years.
June 12 – Alipay, the world’s leading digital payment and lifestyle platform with more than 1 billion users, has activated its European partnership with a new UEFA lifestyle ‘mini-app’.
June 11 – Adidas has announced it is starting legal proceeding against the Spanish FA (RFEF) for seeking early termination of their kit partnership that runs through to 2026.
June 11 – Fly-on-the-wall documentaries charting the seasons (and generally struggles) of fallen giants battling to return to former glories makes popular television. English Championship club Leeds United look set to become the latest English club to feature in an Amazon documentary series.
June 7 – Aston Villa, who won the €170 million play off game to return to the Premier League after a two-season absence, has announced a one-year principal partner deal with online gaming company W88.
June 3 – The US Soccer Federation (USSF) has signed a new five-year deal with VISA with the global payments firm taking a lead on gender parity, specifying that 50% of its sponsorship should go towards the women’s game.
May 30 – BeIN Sports will broadcast the Women’s World Cup after striking a deal with FIFA to air the tournament in more than 30 countries across Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
May 31 – The English Football League has extended its deal with the Carabao energy drink brand for a further two years.