October 11 – Digital fan engagement and data capture specialists FanCompass has launched Check In, an engagement product specifically designed to digitally capture offline fan data.
October 11 – New sports technology businesss Fanbox has launched a behavioral marketing platform for clubs that it says will change the way they interact with fans for good.
October 10 – FIFA has launched a major initiative to expand the women’s game worldwide with the unveiling of the governing body’s first-ever ‘global strategy’ for the women’s game, with the aim of creating an international women’s club competition and doubling the participation of women in the game to 60 million by 2026.
October 10 – The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has cancelled the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Group ‘F’ double-header between Sierra Leone and Ghana.
October 10 – Brazil’s top league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, has agreed a $150 million international streaming deal with sports tech startup Fanfoot which will launch its OTT platform in 2019.
October 10 – Germany’s Bundesliga has joined forces with official licensee EA Sports to launch a new ‘Player of the Month’ award. Fans will vote for their player of the month on the EA Sports FIFA 19 website (bundesligapotm.easports.com).
October 10 – The USL, operator of the second tier of US professional soccer and soon to launch a professional third tier, has granted USL side Penn FC a spot in League 1 for the 2020 season. The club will go dark for the 2019 season and not compete in the USL.
By Samindra Kunti
October 9 – Far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro will face Fernando Haddad in a run-off vote for the Brazilian presidency on October 28 in an election that has been marked by the campaign involvement of a large number of Brazilian footballers.
By Samindra Kunti
October 9 – The Netherlands and Switzerland have taken pole positions to reach next month’s play-off final for the last European qualifying spot for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France. In the first legs of the play-offs the European champions defeated Denmark 2-0 on home soil while the Swiss came back twice to draw 2-2 in Belgium.
October 9 – Arsenal have confirmed they are switching from Puma to Adidas for their kit deal from the 2019/20 season in a five-year ageement.
By Paul Nicholson
October 8 – Growing fears within the UK betting business of a hardline approach to regulating how bookmakers market themselves has prompted one leading bookmaker to put in a pre-emptive strike and call for an industry-imposed ban on TV ads before the 9pm watershed.
By Samindra Kunti
October 8 – Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter has launched another stinging attack on his successor Gianni Infantino, accusing the latter of “selling out the people’s game,” alluding to Infantino’s expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams and his mysterious $25 billion investment plan.
October 8 – Premier League clubs make up six of the top 20 most commercially valuable sports rights-holders worldwide, but are behind Real Madrid and Barcelona globally, according to the newly launched POWA Index, a real-time sponsorship evaluation engine.
October 8 – Saudi Arabia has aggressively been building a portfolio and presence in football, but in Egypt the kingdom’s efforts to exert influence have backfired as the meddling of Saudi sports minister Turki Al-Sheikh hasn’t been received well by local administrators and fans.
October 8 – Facebook has expanded its live football output picking up rights to South America’s Copa Libertadores matches in a four-year package from 2019-2022 for its Watch platform.