Ekstraklasa builds case for Polish esports league with Lagardère Sports
March 2 – Polish league Ekstraklasa has teamed up with Lagardère Sports Poland to explore the next steps for the league in establishing a stronger esports presence.
Football Marketing
São Paulo swaps Under Armour for Adidas in improved kit deal
March 2 – The Brazilian club market for kit sponsorship deals is hotting up. Last week Santos forced Umbro into a renegotiation of a deal signed just four months ago. This week São Paulo announced they are ditching Under Armour for Adidas.
‘Members or clients’? Dortmund boss says fans will win on Monday night TV protest
March 1 – German football may consider ditching Monday night league games following a string of protests by fans who have voted with their feet and stayed away, according to Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke (pictured).
IMG and Perfom create FC Diez Media to market CONMEBOL club rights
March 1 – IMG and Perform have named their South American joint marketing agency venture FC Diez Media. The new company will advise CONMEBOL on their commercial rights for club competitions from 2019-22.
Budweiser to fill England’s sponsorship pot after Carlsberg depart
March 1 – Budweiser will step in to fill the official beer partnership slot of the England Senior Men’s team after Carlsberg end their 22-year association after the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Real Madrid launch VR channel on The Dream VR app platform
February 28 – Spanish giant Real Madrid has launched its own 360° and virtual reality channel in The Dream VR app that has more than 2 million downloads in over 180 countries.
Barcelona are first club to enter eSports team in Konami’s PES league
February 28 – The new eSports league being launched by video game maker Konami and Spanish-based eFootball.Pro have signed Barcelona as their first professional team to the league which will be played on the Pro-Evolution Soccer (PES) game.
Inter expand international academy network with Beirut launch
February 28 – Internazionale have opened their eighth academy outside of Italy, the latest being in Beirut, Lebanon. Inter is working in partnership with Water Resources LTD Company and Sportomondo on the project in Lebanon.
Verizon grow North American OTT content with CONCACAF deal
February 28 – CONCACAF, who on Monday announced an expansion of their blue riband Gold Cup national team tournament, have followed up with the unveiling of a multi-platform digital media rights deal with Verizon for all its competitions.
They don’t like Mondays. Dortmund’s yellow wall cracks over TV match scheduling
February 27 – German fans have staged more protests about top-flight matches being staged on Monday nights when some 25,000 Borussia Dortmund supporters stayed away from this week’s fixture against Augsburg.
Carlsberg change marketing focus and will drop England after Russia 2018 World Cup
February 26 – Beer brand Carlsberg, a partner of the English FA for the past 22 years, will not renew its sponsorship after the end of the Russia 2018 World Cup.
Man Utd explode on to YouTube overtaking four PL rivals in first hour on platform
February 23 – Manchester United may dominate rival clubs (excluding Barcelona and Real Madrid) on the social media platforms they are on, but they are generally not innovators in the digital arena. They didn’t even have an official YouTube channel – until yesterday.
FC Nantes to switch kit deal from Umbro to New Balance from next season
February 22 – US-based New Balance has expanded its footprint in France’s Ligue 1, becoming the Official Kit Supplier FC Nantes in a deal that will start next season.
Growing Philippines league turns to Sportradar for data deal, OTT and integrity support
February 22 – The Philippines Football League (PFL), which starts its second season in March, has agreed a multi-year data partnership with Sportradar. Included in the deal is a package of integrity and fraud prevention solutions to safeguard the game in the country.
Qatar Airways lands on Bayern sleeve patch as Lufthansa bumped off roster
February 21 – FC Bayern München and Qatar Airways have agreed a new partnership with the airline becoming a Bayern platinum partner from July 2018 until 2023, replacing Lufthansa whose current agreement expires end June 2018.