Schweinsteiger bullets look-a-like Chinese nazi doll
October 23 – German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is reported to be considering taking legal action against a Hong Kong company making Nazi dolls that bear a striking resemblance to him.
Football Marketing
Pay TV misses out in UK as BBC and ITV to share Euros
October 23 – UK football pay tv broadcast giants Sky Sports and BT Sport have missed out on upcoming European summer TV football festival in France as the BBC and ITV have jointly secured the media rights to EURO 2016.
FIFA to take leap into the wearable technology world
By Ben Nicholson
October 19 – FIFA, alongside The International Football Association Board (IFAB), are looking to develop standardised wearable-technology. FIFA and IFAB have invited producers of electronic performance and tracking systems (EPTS) to present their systems.
Premier League’s Chinese TV rights holder Letv to rebrand
By David Owen
October 19 – Letv Sports & Technology, the Chinese business that last month won exclusive live broadcasting rights for the Premier League in Hong Kong for three seasons from 2016-17, is to rebrand.
Betsafe puts its money on Man City partnership to grow UK sign-ups
October 16 – Manchester City has added online gaming company Betsafe as an official betting partner for both the club’s men’s and women’s teams.
Fantasy league Oulala tickles fancy of UK players with monetised game
By Paul Nicholson
October 15 – Oulala.com, the daily fantasy football platform, has unveiled a new version of its site which is available to consumers in the UK for the very first time. The monetised site allows users to buy into games and play daily and in ‘real time’.
Supponor and ADI combine to boost ad options and distribution
October 9 – Digital pitchside advertising specialists Supponor and ADI have combined their expertise to launch the world’s first broadcast quality LED virtual advertising solution.
Man Utd get ahead in the fashion game with New Era global deal
October 13 – While neighbours Liverpool have hired a manager (Jurgen Klopp) who has a penchant for wearing a baseball hat, Manchester United have gone a more pragmatic step towards conquering the baseball hat world by concluding a sponsorship deal the king of the baseball hat suppliers, New Era.
Klopp’s Kop arrival excites as Liverpool get a big twitter boost
By Paul Nicholson
October 12 – The week of the international break has resulted in some remarkable twitter follower gains for English Premier League clubs with Liverpool in particular putting on more than 50,000 followers and jumping to second place in the weekly ranking.
Strange but true: Bookie pins its money on Olympiacos shirt
By Matt Scott
October 9 – Olympiacos, the Greek champions whose owner is under criminal investigation for alleged match-fixing, have signed a title-sponsorship deal with an online-betting company.
90min raises $15m and focuses expansion on US and Germany
October 8 – Football fan website and digital platform 90min has completed a round of fund raising that has brought in $15 million to cashflow the group’s expansion into new international markets and increase content.
Aspire summit sees new deals signed with ICSS and French federation
By Samindra Kunti
October 6 – The ICSS and the Aspire Academy have renewed their partnership, while the French Football Federation have made a pledge for a closer cooperation with their Qatari counterpart. The agreements were announced at the Aspire Academy Global Summit on Football Performance and Science in Berlin.
MLS heads south of the border with Fox Sports Latin America
By Ben Nicholson
October 6 – The MLS has added another TV deal to its expanding roster by partnering with FOX Sports Latin America to televise matches in Mexico, South America (excepting Brazil where the MLS already partners with Globosat), Central America and the Caribbean. The deal now makes the MLS available for viewing in almost 120 countries and territories worldwide.
Man City join PSG, Barca and Juve for Mexican beerfest with Tecate
October 5 – Mexican beer brand Tecate has added a fourth regional sponsorship with the addition of Manchester City from the English Premier League.
Man Utd storm past beleaguered Chelsea in Twitter rankings, Arsenal next
By Paul Nicholson
October 2 – Manchester United stormed past Chelsea this week to take second spot behind Arsenal in the table of overall Twitter followers. The Red Devils put on a massive 48,707 followers compared to the Gunners’ 26,259 and Chelsea’s meagre, in comparison, 17,769.