August 10 – Hard on the heels of its announcement of an estimated £85 million sponsorship of the Premier League as a ‘Lead Partner’, EA Sports has followed up with confirmation that it has concluded a deal with the Premier League’s biggest club, Manchester United.
EA Sports becomes the club’s Official Video Games Partner in a three-year global partnership.
No figure has been released for the deal but with the club’s estimated global following at more than 659 million (a figure built predominantly around social media numbers) the value is likely to be around £100 million over the term of the agreement.
The partnership will see new, in-game imagery across Man Utd social media channels to promote the launch of the FIFA 17 game.
“Manchester United also takes centre stage in promotion of FIFA 17 The Journey, a narrative-driven mode available only on the latest generation of consoles, where players live their Premier League story through Alex Hunter, a young apprentice who gets his shot at the big time,” said a club press release. The trailer can be seen at easports.com/fifa/manchester-united-official-partner.
The deal gives EA Sports access to Man Utd players for a unique FIFA tournament during the season, and gaming pods will be set up in the stadium as well as the Aon Training Complex.
Manchester United Group Managing Director Richard Arnold said: “By having these innovators on board with our family of global partners, we’re pledging to our 659 million followers that they can look forward to great content and concepts over the coming seasons. That much is evident in the exciting content released today and the trailer for FIFA 17 The Journey, drawing on our unrivalled record of giving youth a chance.
A focus of the partnership will be giving fans access to the club through FIFA 17 via interactive experiences, social campaigns, wallpapers and FIFA 17 covers they can download from manutd.com.
EA Sports vice president of Marketing Jamie McKinlay said: “We are very excited to be joining Manchester United as a global partner. It’s a great opportunity for us to create even more authentic experiences for our players and bring fans of one of the most storied clubs in the world closer to the team and its star-studded line-up.”
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