Bundesliga lands ESPN broadcast deal for US
October 1 – Germany’s Bundesliga, which has been targeting commercial expansion in the US market, has secured a six-year broadcast deal with subscription streaming service ESPN+.
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Lagardere’s CAF contract under threat as FIFA-led admin makes new commercial play
Exclusive by Osasu Obayiuwana
September 30 – The 12-year billion-dollar contract between Lagardere Sport (LS) and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is at risk of being a casualty of the ongoing CAF governance reforms being spearheaded by FIFA.
CFG grows its Man City deal with EA Sports to cover all its clubs worldwide
September 26 – Manchester City owners City Football Group has beefed up its club partnership with video game maker EA Sports, tuning it into a global deal across all seven of its owned clubs.
TEAM launch sponsorship sales for 2021-24 UEFA club competitions
September 26 – The sales processes for UEFA’s club competitions for the 2021-24 commercial cycle has been launched following approval of the sponsorship ‘concepts’ by UEFA’s executive committee.
Bundesliga and Vodafone trial 5G mobile app at Wolfsburg
September 25 – Germany’s Bundesliga has tested the first applications of its 5G mobile stadia plan with Vodafone at Vfl Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena as part of a live demonstration for their home game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
New Balance battle to keep Liverpool kit deal in face of £70m+ Nike offer
September 24 – New Balance are battling to hold on to their kit deal with Liverpool and have filed a High Court to do that, though has said that it hopes a resolution to the dispute can be found outside of court.
Eupen get more Qatari help with airline shirt sponsorship
September 23 – Qatar Airways have expanded their portfolio in football, becoming the shirt sponsor of Belgian club KAS Eupen, despite a $639 million loss in the 2018-19 cycle for the airlines.
Arsenal add Global Kapital Group as financial partner
September 23 – Premier League Arsenal have signed Global Kapital Group as the club’s Official Forex Trading partner.
TV parity: UK government wants to ‘list’ major women’s events for free broadcast
September 20 – The rapid rise of the women’s game and the profile of the Women’s World Cup has prompted the UK government to call for a number of top tier women’s events to be added to the country’s ‘listed’ sports events that must be broadcast in free-to-air television.
New balls please. Adidas and Molten serve up shiny fresh designs for UEFA club comps
September 20 – On Tuesday the UEFA Champions League kicked off in a fluorescent blaze of orange and yellows with a new adidas ball. Last night it was the turn of Japanese manufacturer Molten to launch its 2019/20 ball into the Europe League competition.
Juve agree 3-season global sponsorship with 10bet
September 19: Italian giants Juventus have announced 10bet as the club’s official gaming and betting partner in a three-year deal.
MLS to hydrate with BodyArmor from 2020 season
September 18 – Major League Soccer has signed a multi-year partnership with BodyArmor making the brand the league’s official sports drink partner in the US, starting with the 2020 season.
Monster Energy amps up its football footprint with Everton and Leicester City
September 18 – Monster Energy is making inroads into the Premier League having signed on both Everton and Leicester City as their Official Energy Drink partners.
Rights owners tell Saudis to stop ‘abusing’ football and end Arabsat’s beoutQ transmissions
By Paul Nicholson
September 17 – Football rights owners have issued another demand to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, satellite distributor Arabsat and IPTV platforms to stop the broadcast of pirate TV channel beoutQ that has been stealing their rights and rebroadcasting across the region.
Galatasaray joins the Socios.com ‘fan bit-token’ platform
September 17 – Galatasaray have become the latest club to partner with Socios.com for a step into the brave new world of cryptocurrency fan tokens. They are the first Turkish club to do so.