September 19 – Everton’s announcement of video game Angry Birds as its first sleeve sponsor turned into a social media gift Monday as the club’s returned child progidy Wayne Rooney was convicted of drunk driving. Twitter was buzzing with comment on the irony.
By Paul Nicholson
September 18 – Qatar-based sports broadcaster beIN Sport which holds the TV rights to multiple sports events across 43 countries where it is distributed has joined with 10 of its rightsholders to protest against Saudi Arabian focused web channel beoutQ, which it says is broadcasting beIN’s propriety content in Saudi Arabia without permission.
September 15 – Atlético Madrid open their new 67,703-capacity Estadio Wanda Metropolitano stadium tomorrow with a 12 hour celebration that will include their first home match of the season against Malaga.
September 14 – New Balance has expanded into Russia with the its first kit deal with a Russian Super League club FC Rubin.
By Paul Nicholson
September 13 – Sky and the English Football League (EFL) have agreed a five-year £600 million broadcasting deal starting with the 2019/20 season.
September 13 – Real Madrid have partnered with Lai Sun Group to create a presence at a Chinese theme park in a cultural development in Hengqin, China.
By Paul Nicholson
September 11 – With the first round of Champions League fixtures kicking off this week, Japan’s motor company Nissan has confirmed a three-year extension to its global sponsorship, taking it through to the end of the 2020/21 season.
September 11 – Chinese sponsorship of its Super League clubs is showing signs of growth beyond its traditional single benefactor status, where the main sponsor is generally the business owning the club and often has the company name branded into the club’s identity.
September 9 – Indian tyre brand MRF has signed a hat-trick of sleeve sponsorships in the Premier League signing Newcastle United, West Ham United, and West Bromwich Albion in one-season deals taking them through to May 2018.
September 8 – Sports fashion retailer JD has become the first shirt sleeve sponsor of Premier League new boys Brighton & Hove Albion in an initial one season deal. No value was given for the sponsorship.
September 7 – Inter Milan have hooked up with Japanese company iCure to share best practices in the field of physiotherapy and rehabilitation as part of the Inter Academy Health project.
By Paul Nicholson at Soccerex, Manchester
September 4 – Facebook is coming of age as a serious marketing and broadcast option for football’s rights holders. Speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention that opened in Manchester today Jerry Newman, Facebook’s Sport Partnership Lead for EMEA, told clubs and leagues, “don’t procrastinate. Get out there.”
September 4 – Subbuteo is back and now with a European dimension with UEFA having licensed a Champions League edition of the table football game with Spanish owners Eleven Force. Meanwhile Subbuteo’s world body – Fédération Internationale de Sport Football de Table (FISTF) – has announced it will be staging its own 2017 European Champions League of Table Football on October 28 – 29 in Rochefort, Belgium.
September 1 – Real Madrid has teamed up with GoPro to produce an eight-part behind the scenes documentary – Hala Madrid – that will broadcast on Facebook’s new Watch video platform in the US.
By Mark Baber
September 1 – Inter Milan’s long refusal to get entangled with betting companies is now at an end as the Chinese-owned club has signed online bookmaker bwin as its first official betting partner.