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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
January 12 – Brazilian superstar Neymar has announced the launch of his own app – Neymar Experience – in partnership with mobile technology company Digible.
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.
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.
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.
January 10 – The Chinese Super League (CSL) has renewed its deal with international courier service DHL for a further three years.