Aston Villa armed for new season with OB Sports betting sponsorship
June 23 – Aston Villa have landed China-based online betting firm OB Sports as their new sleeve sponsor for the 2021/22 season.
Football Marketing
Liverpool turn new page with Kodansha publishing deal
June 22 – Premier League Liverpool FC have a new global partner with Kodansha, becoming the club’s official Publication Partner.
UEFA warns of fines after Ronaldo’s removal of Coke bottle knocks $bns off market value
By Andrew Warshaw
June 18 – Teams at Euro 2020 have been warned about their contractual obligation to sponsors after both Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba removed official drinks bottles at press conferences.
Valencia embraces Socios.com crytpo platform with $VCF taking shirt front position
June 18 – The blockchain-based Fan Token platform Socios.com has added LaLiga’s Valencia CF to their roster of clubs in a deal that will see the $VCF promoted on the front of the club’s shirt for the 2021-22 season.
Europeans Leagues bundles-up 9 members for joint overseas TV pitch
June 18 – The European Leagues association has stepped into the broadcast rights representation business with the bundling of nine of its members into a broadcast package for international television.
AFC signs Yili as major sponsor as qualifying for Qatar 2022 and China 2023 heats up
June 16 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has reportedly signed Chinese dairy products company Yili Group as a sponsor for its national team competitions for the 2021-24 cycle.
England’s beer-guzzling fans get down to grassroots
June 17 – England fans are not only drinking in the atmosphere of being back at Wembley, they are also, literally, drinking the pitch.
PSM picks up AFC media rights for the Maldives
June 17 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has continued filling in its global TV distribution map with the announcement that PSM will be their new media partner in Maldives.
£838m mistake? Forget the ESL, report finds real cash value lies in Big 6 club fan bases
June 16 – A new survey released this week suggests that the Big 6 clubs who pursued new European Super League (ESL) riches should be looking closer to home for a significant and less stressful push for more money.
AC Milan gets card sharp with Repx licensing deal
June 16 – Serie A’s AC Milan have signed a new licensing partnership with UK fintech company Repx, which will see the launch of a new debit card on the Repx platform.
UEFA takes first steps towards blockchain and crypto with AntChain deal
June 15 – UEFA has agreed a five year global partnership for blockchain technology with AntChain, the blockchain subsidiary of Ant Group which also owns AliPay, who are already three years into an eight year sponsorship with UEFA.
Official: Messi is a rock star, a Hard Rock one
June 15 – Argentina and FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi will be a brand ambassador for Hard Rock in a five-year deal to mark the 50th anniversary of the brand.
Fan protest over ‘soft porn’ ads forces Norwich City to ditch £5m shirt sponsor BK8
June 14 – Norwich City fans have objected to the club’s new shirt sponsor BK8 forcing the club to drop its £5 million one year deal with the online bookmaker just five days after announcing the record deal.
Demand for Argentina Fan Token sees extra launch batch sell out in 30 seconds
June 14 – Socios.com have had an overwhelming response to the launch of the Argentina national team Fan Token, increasing its all-time record of users on the app by 50% and triggering a decision to launch an extra batch of tokens.
Canal+ cancels TV deal in protest against Ligue1 opening domestic door to Amazon
June 14 – Tech and e-commerce giant Amazon has won the broadcast rights for Ligue 1 for €330 million per season for the next three seasons, prompting Canal+ to withdraw from its deal with Ligue 1, leaving French club football on the brink of another broadcast-triggered financial crisis.