Hammers fly high with Eva Air as first official airline deal
June 6 – West Ham have signed Taiwanese international airline Eva Air as the club’s first official airline partner.
Football Marketing
Social media feeding frenzy over Mastercard goals-for-food gaffe
June 4 – Mastercard and FIFA just don’t seem to get along. No longer the official credit card of the World Cup – that right belongs to Visa – a hijack marketing campaign by Mastercard fell flat on its face at the weekend.
Aston Villa take esports engagement to new level with launch of their own league
June 3 – Championship club Aston Villa that lost in the £160 million play-off game for the Premier League against Fulham, has become first club in EFL to launch its own esports league – AVFC Gaming.
Coca-Cola cuts new 5-year sponsorship deal with French FA
June 1 – The French Football Federation and Coca-Cola have agreed a five-year extension of their long-standing partnership taking them through to June 2023.
New look for new season: Europa League gets ‘edgier’ rebrand
May 31 – The UEFA Europa League is getting a new look for next season that UEFA says will emphasise the “scale and dynamic nature of the competition.”
Mediapro swoops on key Ligue1 TV rights packages as fees hit €1.15bn record
May 30 – Spain’s Mediapro has gatecrashed the TV rights party in France by snapping up key broadcast packages for Ligue 1 as total fees for the rights sale hit €1.15 billion. Canal Plus ended up with no rights in this round of bidding, in what is a major setback for the broadcaster.
Qatar’s BeIN calls on FIFA to protect its World Cup TV rights from Saudi pirates
May 30 – The Qatar-based beIN Media Group, the biggest sports broadcaster in the region, has urged FIFA to take legal action against what it called pirate broadcasters in Saudi Arabia ahead of the World Cup.
ManBetX focuses on Asia with 3-year multi-million LaLiga deal
May 30 – Maltese-based bookmaker ManBetX has become LaLiga’s official betting partner for Asia in a multi-million Euro three-year deal that will begin with the new season this September.
Bull and Tencent combine for eSports events in China during Russian World Cup
May 29 – The Chinese are ramping up their engagement with the World Cup with Bull, a Chinese electrical devices provider, agreeing a deal with Tencent, for a series of eSports events and marketing campaigns throughout the country during the Russian tournament.
China’s CCTV breaks tradition to share Russia 2018 streaming and mobile rights with MIGU
May 25 – The digital streaming market received a significant credibility boost with the China’s MIGU being granted digital and telecoms rights from state broadcaster CCTV for the 2018 World Cup.
Hyundai teams with FIFA Museum for ‘History Makers’ exhibition in Moscow
May 25 – The budget beleaguered FIFA World Football Museum that has been a major casualty under FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s sweeping cost cuts, has phoenix-like re-emerged for the Russian World Cup to host major exhibition at Hyundai Motorstudio Moscow.
Watchfinder justs beats the clock with EFL play-off deal before weekend deciders
May 25 – Timed almost to the last minute, the English Football League (EFL) has announced Watchfinder is its first ‘Official Timekeeper of the EFL Play-Off Finals’ that play this weekend over three days at Wembley Stadium.
Liverpool goalie Karius is no keeper as extra-marital dating site ranks him most cheat-worthy
May 24 – Dangerous liaisons and sexy encounters seem to be a growing theme as football heads into its summer finales. First Argentina issued a manual with a chapter on how to pick up Russian women, now dating a dating website for married and attached people seeking an extra-marital affair has polled female members on who the sexiest, cheat-worthy players in the Champions League final are.
Standard Chartered banks on Liverpool for a further 4 years in £160m deal
May 24 – Liverpool has renewed main sponsor Standard Chartered for a further four years to the end of the 2022/23 season in a reported £160 million deal. The partnership which began in 2010, will be the second longest sponsorship in the club’s history.
Arsenal partner with ‘Visit Rwanda’ for one-season sleeve deal
May 24 – Arsenal have signed a shirt sleeve deal with The Rwanda Development Board, through their subsidiary, the Rwanda Convention Bureau, which will see the “Visit Rwanda’ become the club’s official Tourism Partner. The ‘Visit Rwanda’ logo will feature on the left sleeve of all Arsenal teams next season.