SPFL completes on Ladbrokes title sponsorship in 2-year deal
January 24 – After a long wait the Scottish Premier League (SPFL) has officially announced Labrokes will stay as title sponsors for a further two years taking them to at least 2020.
Football Marketing
UEFA secures key broadcast package with Eleven Sports for Belgian market
January 24 – Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports secured exclusive TV rights in Belgium for a host of major international matches, reasserting its market position in the Belgian TV landscape.
Bad bet. FUN88 logo stripped from Newcastle United youth team shirts
January 23 – Newcastle United has removed online betting firm FUN88 from the club’s youth team shirt. The sponsor’s logo was deemed by the club as a potential breach of FA regulations and comes after growing pressure on the UK government to look harder at the gambling advertising from betting companies in broadcast media and club sponsorships.
Man Utd become SiS’s 10th Premier League club in three-year deal
January 19 – Manchester United have signed a new three-year deal with Lancashire-based sports nutrition company Science in Sport plc (SiS). Beginning immediatedly the deal will run thorough to end of May 2021.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Man Utd dominate social media but Ronaldo is bigger than them
January 18 – The social media profiles of Europe’s top clubs are spawning a whole new growth area and fan base for Europe’s biggest clubs, but none are getting close to the dominance of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United who between them now connected with a staggering 391 million people on Twitter and Facebook.
Online bookmaker Tipico agree 4-season, €15m deal with Germany’s Bundesliga
January 17 – After concluding a new sponsorship deal with the DFL (German FA) subsidiary Bundesliga International to the end of season 2020/21, sports betting company Tipico have immediately launched a testosterone-charged advertising campaign under the slogan “Nur wer mitspielt, ist mittendrin!” (Only Those Who Play Are Part Of The Game).
Arsenal look for Peak performance as Innovation Lab opens new tech horizons
January 17 – Premier League Arsenal, via its newly launched ‘Innovation Lab’ initiative, has linked with six new technology companies to work with the club’s senior management team to identify business opportunities and develop new fan experiences.
MLS and EA Sports to launch FIFA18 esports league with 19 clubs this April
January 15 – Major League Soccer is entering the esports market via a partnership with EA Sports to launch an esports league based on FIFA 18. The new league, eMLS, will launch with 19 of the 23 MLS teams represented.
Nike tops ‘influential brand’ ranking in China. Basketball beats football
January 15 – Nike is the most influential sports brand in China, followed by the Chinese Basketball league and football’s Chinese Super league in third position. Sports leisure brands Adidas and New Balance occupy fourth and fifth positions.
Liverpool face new wave of criticism over sponsor deal with China’s Tibet Water
January 12 – Pro-Tibetan sympathisers are planning to stage a protest ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Manchester City on Sunday against a sponsorship deal struck last year.
Ladbrokes set to extend SPFL deal. Betting on Rangers relegation suspended
January 12 – While betting company sponsorship of clubs and gambling advertising targeted at football fans on mainstream media in England has come under increasing regulatory focus in England, in Scotland there appear to be fewer concerns.
Neymar Experience app targets 2 million downloads at launch
January 12 – Brazilian superstar Neymar has announced the launch of his own app – Neymar Experience – in partnership with mobile technology company Digible.
EA Sports’ #TOTYVote opened up with a social media promo boost
January 10 – FIFA’s video game partner EA Sports has launched a vote for its own FIFA Team of The Year, with voters using social media to post their votes and promote their selections.
Global eLeagues launches 22 club European FIFA18 tournament
January 10 – Global eLeagues are launching their inaugural ‘eFootball League’ January 11 with teams attached to clubs from 11 countries playing FIFA 18 (Ultimate Team format) for a $10,000 prize pool.
Bayern breathe new life into sponsorship programme with OXiGEN deal
January 10 – FC Bayern Munich has unveiled North American-based OXiGEN as the club’s Official Functional Water & Recovery Tool Partner in a three-year deal.