Liverpool refresh Carlsberg deal for another 5 years
May 23 – Champions League finalists Liverpool have added five years to their Carlsberg partnership that will take them through to the end of the 2023/24 season.
Football Marketing
MP & Silva, B4 Capital and IMG fined €67m for colluding to keep Serie A rights low
By Paul Nicholson
May 22 – Italian competition regulators have ruled that Serie A missed out on international broadcast revenue because agents MP & Silva, B4 Capital and IMG fixed the acquisition price of the rights from the league over three rights cycles from 2008 to 2017.
Spanish FA moves to end Adidas deal with 7 years left on contract
May 22 – The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have moved to end their kit supply deal with German sportswear giant Adidas seven years early.
Mastercard invest in women’s game adding CL winners Olympique Lyonnais to roster
May 22 – Mastercard is moving swiftly into the top tier of the women’s club football market in Europe announcing a second team sponsorship in two days.
Mastercard moves into English women’s club game with WSL winners Arsenal
May 21 – Arsenal’s women’s team, just crowned as Women’s Super League (WSL) champions, have unveiled Mastercard as their first major Official Partner. No value or term was given for the deal.
MG Motor goes up a gear with Welsh FA in 3-year tie-up
May 21 – The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has agreed a three-year partnership with MG Motor UK to become its Official Vehicle Partner.
Kappa take over Villa kit deal with Premier League return in focus
May 21 – Championship club Aston Villa, who play-off against Derby County for a return to the Premier League May 27, have announced Kappa as their kit supplier for the 2019/20 season.
Bundesliga keeps Derbystar ball in play in 3-year deal
May 20 – Germany’s Bundesliga has extended its official match ball deal with Derbystar, now taking the partnership through to the end of the 2021-22 season.
beIN Sports expands South American content with Copa América deal
May 17 – beIN Sports, at loggerheads in Asia over its pan-regional broadcast rights deal, has expanded its portfolio of South American rights with the addition of this year’s Copa América.
AFC denies it has cancelled beIN’s TV deal, as rights battle over Saudi rages on
By Paul Nicholson
May 14 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has said that it has not cancelled its TV rights agreement with beIN Sports and that the broadcaster, it said in a statement, “remains a valued commercial partner of the AFC”.
MLS lands on planet Pluto with free streaming channel
May 14 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has opened up a new broadcast content channel with the announcement of the launch on the Pluto TV free streaming service of its own channel (Ch. 203).
China’s LD Sports ties launch into record Southampton shirt sponsorship
May 14 – hard on the heels of the club renewing the sponsorship of Virgin media for is sleeve position, Premier League Southampton have announced new Chinese media business LD Sports as its main shirt sponsor.
UK government vows to take on Saudi pirates BeoutQ with ‘robust attack’
May 13 – The on-going battle against rogue Saudi Arabia-based pirate broadcaster BeoutQ that has seen the Saudi channel steal thousands of hours of sports and entertainment programming is causing government concern with a committee of UK Parliamentary MPs now calling for a “robust attack” on the channel.
West Ham engage with MuchBetter as digital payments partner
May 13 – Premier League West Ham have announced MuchBetter as their official online and digital payments partner.
Virgin Media extend with Saints and add women’s team to sponsor package
May 10 – Premier League Southampton have secured Virgin Media as the club’s sleeve sponsor in a three-year deal taking the partnership through to the end of the 2021/22 season.