Man Utd tunes up sponsor portfolio with Deezer global deal
December 13 – Manchester United has unveiled digital music platform Deezer as its exclusive music streaming partner in a global deal.
Football Marketing
Bundesliga updates logos to strengthen brand identities
December 13 – Germany’s Bundesliga is tweaking its brand look, modifying its distinctive white silhouetted player on the red background to clearly identify three different brand ‘divisions’ within the organisation.
Heineken refreshes its Man City deal
December 12 – At Manchester City they call it ale, and if you want one in the Etihad stadium it will be a Heineken brand. The Dutch brewer have renewed their 20-year beer and cider sponsorship of the club for an undisclosed term or amount.
Social media: Facebook booms, Man Utd dominate but Hull City slip out the picture
December 9 – Premier League clubs’ Facebook growth continues to increase week-on-week for a third week running with a jump of 332,800 this week from 314,000 last week and 301,000 two weeks ago.
Hannover 96 builds for the future with Heinz von Heiden renewal
December 8 – Hannover 96, battling to return to former glory and the Bundesliga’s top tier, has renewed its main sponsorship with house builder Heinz von Heiden Massivhäuser.
Nike extend England kit sponsorship to 2030 in £400m deal
December 7 – Nike is set to extend its kit deal with England for a further 12 years. The deal with the FA is said to be worth £400 million and is a small increase on the previous deal.
Twitter table: Liverpool edge Chelsea for third spot
December 6 – Weekly Twitter growth again held strong across the Premier League with the top four clubs of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all adding impressive numbers and leaving Manchester City a little bit behind, nursing the headaches of lower numbers and loss in the league.
PSG target Indonesia with Bali United academy hook-up and Multistrada deal
By Samindra Kunti
December 5 – France’s Paris Saint-Germain will open a football academy in Indonesia in co-operation with local club Bali United. Bali will run the academy and tire maker Multistrada Arah Sarana will be the main sponsor.
Chelsea and Arsenal go head-to-head on Instagram, Burnley show signs of life
December 2 – New Instagram followers to Premier League clubs increased again this week, though only marginally to 282,000 from 276,000. There are now more than 42.8 million Instagram followers to Premier League clubs.
Man City dial in TECNO Mobile with global deal
December 2 – Manchester City have added Chinese-based mobile phone brand, TECNO Mobile, as a new global partner. Described as a multi-year deal, no amount for the sponsorship was announced.
LaLiga cuts new global sponsor deal with Stihl
December 1 – Spain’s LaLiga has added another new global sponsor. Although no amount was announced for the deal, La Liga said it now expected to earn €70 million from sponsorship this year, more than double its annual sales of previous years.
Bundesliga merchandise sales hit record €243m
December 1 – Merchandise sales of Bundesliga clubs increased by €17 million to €243 million in the 2015-16 season, according to PR Marketing’s 19th Fanartikel-Barometer.
Twitter stats: Chelsea edge Liverpool again, but gap to Arsenal keeps growing
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – Growth in new twitter followers this week across the Premier League is up to 0.42% from 0.37% last week – or in real terms from 166,700 to 187,300. Manchester United still top the weekly table but Chelsea are gently showing a return to form and favour after a halving of weekly gains from 12 months ago, due to a drop in form and the unsavoury antics of former manager Jose Mourinho.
Jiangsu lose CFA Cup, Suning open Nanjing store trading on Inter and Jiangsu brands
By Paul Nicholson
November 28 – Suning Sports, owners of China Super League club Jiangsu Suning and majority owners of Italy’s Internazionale, opened its flagship retail store in Nanjing’s Olympic Sports Centre. The store sell merchandise from both clubs and offers entertainment based experiences as well as retail.
Liverpool surge on Instagram as Man Utd hammer away on Facebook
November 25 – The growth of new Instagram followers to Premier League clubs in the week to November 20 has remained steady with another 276,000 plus sign-ons matching the previous week. What is emerging is a pattern of the biggest clubs putting on huge numbers of followers, in contrast to the 12 lowest ranked clubs adding less than 2,000 followers each.