October 27 – Manchester City have announced Valvoline as a new global partner in a “multi-year” agreement that will see Valvoline designated as the club’s ‘Official Automotive Lubricants Partner’.
October 25 – A comparison of Twitter Followers, Facebook Likes and Instagram Followers across the Premier League shows that Manchester United dominates on all three social media platforms.
October 25 – The English FA has confirmed an £820 million six-season international broadcast rights deal for its FA Cup domestic competition, the oldest club competition in world football.
By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – Arsenal topped Manchester United in the weekly Twitter followers table for the second week running. The Gunners’ 52,900 new followers is a marked jump for the club, in comparison to the tail off in growth Man Utd are experiencing.
October 19 – Manchester City turned British media heads when they travelled to Barcelona for their Champions League match. Gone was the (often) scruffy suit and tie look of overgrown schoolboys on tour and in came a modern, casually smart denim look. Even assistant manager Brian Kidd managed to carry off the style change.
October 18 – Adidas vs Nike or Man Utd vs Chelsea. The apparent ease with which Adidas let Nike takeover at Chelsea in a new £60 million per year, 15-year deal, suggests an even greater concentration by the sportswear sponsors on the mega club brands.
October 14 – Official gaming partner Marathonbet has launched an online Manchester United branded casino, the first live casino for a football club. Players can interact with dealers in real time in a virtual gaming environment that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
By Paul Nicholson
October 12 – Arsenal, for the first time in a year, have topped Manchester United in the weekly Twitter followers growth chart, though they still remain behind the Manchester giants by almost 700,000 followers overall.
October 12 – Good wine matures with age and so do good sponsorship deals. Manchester United and Chilean wine producer Concha y Toro have renewed their global partnership for a further three years. No figure was announced for the sponsorship.
October 11 – FIFA has begun the sales process for the broadcast rights to the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, launching an invitation to tender (ITT) for the UK media rights.
By Paul Nicholson
October 10 – Finding ways to monetise digital engagement and turn digital eyeballs into value-holding data is a holy grail for clubs as their digital teams increase in size alongside their digital followers.
By Paul Nicholson
October 7 – As a marketing tool football delivers though sponsorship sales are now more often referred to as ‘partnerships’ with exclusive ‘content’ options part of the package. The days of selling board signage, shirt positions and brand exposure as standalone package may not be entirely over, but they almost are.
October 6 – Malta-based Daily Fantasy Football (DFS) company Oulala is expanding in to Latin America, initially targeting Argentinean clubs with a white label version of its platform.
October 3 – Manchester City have extended their partnership with Vietnam’s Saigon Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB). The bank will continue as Manchester City’s Official Affinity Card Partner in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
By Samindra Kunti
September 30 – The French FA, the FFF and the French Football League, the LFP, will open an office in China early 2017. The office will aim to brand French football.