Man City lands global appliance giant Midea as sponsor partner
January 8 – Premier League Manchester City has unveiled a new global partnership with consumer appliances manufacturer Midea.
Football Marketing
Liverpool seal £70m+ kit deal with Nike
January 7 – Liverpool have formally announced that Nike will become the club’s official supplier from the start of the next season when the current New Balance deal ends.
Fiorentina and Genuino innovate with blockchain chipped shirt product
January 7 – Serie A’s Fiorentina have set a blockchain-meets-football first with each of the club’s playing shirts to be inserted with a dedicated chip that can be tracked and will prevent counterfeiting.
GFA cracks down on ‘illegal’ bookies offering markets on Ghana Premier League
January 6 – New Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kurt Okraku has acted swiftly to crackdown on the illegal betting markets being offered by bookmakers on the country’s Premier League (GPL), threatening legal action.
PSV poised to swap Umbro for Puma in €40m+ deal
January 6 – The ink now appears to be drying on the new Puma deal with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven that will begin with the 2020-21 season and sees the German sportswear giant take over from Umbro as the club’s kit supplier.
Tanzania’s Simba club launches payment card with Equity Bank
By Osasu Obayiuwana
December 20 – In what is a unique drive, in African football, to increase revenue, leading Tanzanian club Simba has launched its own bank payment card. They hope to raise a minimum of $10 million through the deal.
Game over for Ozil in China as Netease removes him from PES 2020 video title
December 20 – Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil who tweeted about China’s detention and persecution of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang province, has been removed from the Chinese edition of Konami’s PES 2020 video game.
Liverpool adds cyber storage partner to sponsorship portfolio
December 20 – Premier league Liverpool has added cyber storage company Acronis to its sponsorship roster in what is described as a multi-year partnership. No value was given for the deal.
Adidas join Coke in corporate sport-washing of Saudi Arabia’s Italian Super Cup
December 20 – Adidas have become the latest FIFA sponsor to embrace the controversial Italian Super Cup after earlier this week Coca-Cola announced it would be the match’s title sponsor.
Real Madrid to monetise 110m Facebook following with $2.77 subscription
December 20 – Real Madrid have launched a new Facebook subscription service costing $2.77 as the club seeks monetise their giant following of a 110 million on the social media platform.
West Ham deliver ITD Global as new official logistics partner
December 20 – Premier League West Ham United has announced ITD Global as its Official Logistics Partner.
Integrity bypass? Italian Super Cup naming rights sold to Coca-Cola
December 19 – Coca-Cola has compounded the controversy of the Italian Super Cup to be played between Juventus and Lazio on December 22 in Saudi Arabia, by becoming the event’s title sponsor.
Man City launch dedicated club channel on YouTube Kids
December 18 – Manchester City has launched a dedicated channel on YouTube Kids, the first football club to do so. The channel will feature City-themed children’s content aimed at an under 12 audience.
UEFA opens club competition tenders for video games and branded product categories
December 18 – UEFA has issued tenders covering its club competition licenses in the areas of video games and esports, as well as for the creation of a number of UEFA-branded products.
LaLiga takes on England’s Premier League with 24/7 English-language channel on Sky platform
December 17 – LaLiga is striking at the heart of English Premier League broadcast territory with the country’s first dedicated football channel on the SkyTV platform.