Amazon Prime releases Man City docu-series trailer
July 24 – Amazon Prime Video has released a trailer for its Manchester City docu-series that will launch on the streaming service August 17.
Football Marketing
Premier League granted further blocking order in battle against live match piracy
July 23 – With broadcast piracy issues increasingly concerning sports rights owners anxious to maintain their TV deals and value in an increasingly disrupted marketplace, the Premier League has won a further blocking order in the UK High Court forcing pirate streams to shut down.
MUTV expands channel distribution to Amazon, Apple, Roku and Xbox
July 23 – Premier League club Manchester United have expanded TV channel distribution platforms to streaming services Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Xbox. The club last season launched MUTV on iOS, Android and on the web at MUTV.com.
Amazon builds its football presence with dedicated on-line Napoli store
July 20 – US digital giant Amazon is inserting itself deeper and deeper into football’s economic foodchain with the launch by Serie A’s Napoli of its own store on the ecommerce platform.
Hong Kong logistics firm Royale admitted to the Crystal Palace
July 20 – Asian sponsors for Premier League clubs have generally been from the betting industry unless local sponsors. Crystal Palace have expanded away from the betting sponsor focus with a global partnership with Hong Kong logistics brand Royale International.
Name drain. £450K and still no sponsor partner for West Ham’s London Stadium
July 19 – Nearly £450,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent trying to find a sponsor for West Ham United’s London Stadium, formerly the capital’s Olympic stadium, according to reports.
Brazil wins Instagram World Cup while Ronaldo is the social media player of the tournament
July 18 – Brazil won the World Cup of Social Media with more than 193 million interactions on Instagram, according to data technology specialists Primetag. Across the whole World Cup there were more than 990 million interactions generated by the content on the platform.
AS Roma stream pre-season friendly live on Twitter
July 17 – Twitter, which has ruthlessly axed hundreds of football accounts without explanation or recourse to appeal, has broadcast its first full match live with a team from Italy’s Serie A.
Plug pulled on Arsenal’s BYD deal after sponsor intermediary turns out to be a fraud
July 17 – Premier League Arsenal look set to lose their recently announced sponsorship by Chinese electric vehicle makers BYD. The club appear to have been caught in a suspected sponsorship fraud after the carmaker announced that a suspect had been arrested for securing fraudulent deals.
Saudis ‘welcome’ FIFA legal action in KSA as beoutQ piracy continues
By Paul Nicholson
July 16 – Saudi Arabia quickly responded to FIFA’s statement that it was to take legal action in Saudi Arabia against pirate television channel beoutQ that broadcast every match of the World Cup in Russia illegally to the kingdom, saying that it welcomed the FIFA action.
West Ham trade up with Basset & Gold as new shirt sleeve sponsor
July 16 – Premier League West Ham United is swapping its MRF Tires sleeve sponsor for financial services firm Bassett & Gold. No term or value was given for the deal that sees an expanded sponsorship package than the previous one-year deal with MRF.
Renault test drive first football sponsorship with 3-year PSG deal
By Paul Nicholson
July 13 – French champions Paris Saint-Germain have signed a three-season official partnership with French motor manufacturer Renault.
FIFA promise legal action and urges Saudi Arabia to intervene in beoutQ piracy
By Paul Nicholson
July 12 – FIFA has stepped back into the beoutQ piracy debate ‘urging’ Saudi Arabia to support efforts to stop the copyright theft taking place in the country and saying that it will take legal action in Saudi Arabia to protect its rights.
US giant Kohler debuts in Premier League as Man Utd’s first sleeve sponsor
July 12 – US brand Kohler has become a global partner of Manchester United in a multi-year partnership that will see the company take the club’s sleeve branding.
Dafabet secure Premier League returners Fulham with record shirt sponsorship
July 12 – Championship play-off winners Fulham – who in doing so guaranteed themselves a £160 million three-season Premier League income stream – have capitalised further on their promotion with a club record two-year sponsorship with global betting brand Dafabet.