February 9 – Afghanistan may not be able to host international matches but the process of football development knows no boundaries and Afghan football administrators for the first time took part in their own series of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) workshops this week in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.
February 8 – In what looks likely to be the first deal of its kind for one of Europe’s big clubs, Real Madrid is poised to sell its internet image rights for 10 years to US investment Providence Equity Partners for €500 million.
By Paul Nicholson
February 7 – The rehabilitation of Uli Hoeness now looks complete. Having been re-elected as president of Bayern Munich last November, he has now reassumed the position of chairman of the Supervisory Board. In separate news the club are said to be close to launching a new TV channel with main sponsor Deutsche Telekom.
February 7 – The Hull City resurgence is in full flow and they are talking it up. The club were the most active tweeters this week with 435 tweets, producing the second largest percentage growth of the week at 1.25%.
February 3 – The past week of social media stats in the Premier League has seen a rare win for Twitter over Facebook or Instagram in terms of growth number.
February 1 – Dutch brewer Heineken has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League for another three years that will take it to the end of the 2021 competition. The deal also includes the UEFA Super Cup 2018, 2019 and 2020.
February 1 – Manchester United broke the 10 million Twitter follower barrier, while Arsenal moved past 9 million last week. In contrast, at the other end of the table Middlesbrough crept past 200,000 followers and Bournemouth hit 250,000.
January 31 – City Football Group, the holding company that owns Manchester City and New York City football clubs, has unveiled a new sponsor partnership with insurance group Hyperion that will cover both clubs, but not CFG’s other two clubs in Japan and Australia.
January 27 – Man City made another big jump on Facebook again this week with 123,900 new Facebook likes compared to Manchester United’s 89,000. City have fallen into a pattern of huge rises on alternate weeks suggesting the club is undertaking a Facebook marketing campaign to boost its figures.
January 26 – Australia’s Hyundai A-League is getting a new look that ties the Football Federation Australia (FFA) competition into a common branded identity with the Westfield W-League and Foxtel Y-League. The rebranding will be launched for the start of the 2017/18 season.
January 26 – Media rights to broadcast England’s national team matches from 2018 until 2022 have been split between subscription and free-to-air channels. No figure has been released for the deal which was done under the new rights selling regime that consolidates all national federation rights into a single UEFA-backed sales agency.
January 25 – The Premier League has signed chocolate maker Cadbury to a three-year partnership beginning with the 2017/18 season. No amount was announced for the deal but estimates put it in excess of £7 million per season.
January 25 – Real Madrid have agreed to redesign their club badge to eliminate the traditional Christian cross as part of a new clothing deal in several Middle Eastern countries.
January 24 – The weekly growth in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs last week matched the typical pattern with yet another bumper increase for Manchester United of 89,000 followed by Arsenal with 71,000.
January 24 – Manchester City has taken a bigger step into the world of virtual reality with the launch of a match-day 360° VR fan experience. Fans will be able to experience the players arrival in the ‘Blue Carpet’ as well as getting dressing room access.