April 6 – UEFA has expanded its video gaming commercial category into three parts, taking account of the growth opportunities in the video gaming and exploding eSports sector.
April 6 – New York City FC has become the second of the City Football Group clubs and the first in the MLS to sign an eSports player top play competitively under the club brand and in club colours.
April 4 – Manchester United added 90,000 new twitter followers last week, a high mark even for their impressive weekly growth statistics.
March 31 – Europe’s professional clubs have moved into the e-sports market with many signing professional e-sport FIFA players to represent the clubs in domestic and international gaming competitions. An analysis by KPMG’s Football Benchmark team maps the clubs that have embraced the fast-growing and trending sector.
March 30 – Spanish telecom giant Telefónica is partnering with Real Madrid as both brands seek to maximise their leading positions at home and abroad.
March 30 – The Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) has brokered a deal between eight of its leagues and three commercial partners – Perform Group, Sportradar and Genius Sports – to collect and supply official data to the betting industry.
March 29 – Vauxhall is to end its sponsorship deals with the four British nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at the end of the 2018 World Cup, when its current agreements expire.
March 29 – Premier League Arsenal is expanding its partnership with Chinese firm BNN Technology to support a grassroots public participation programme in the country.
March 28 – In a week of international fixtures that has seen growth in the number of tweets made by Premier League clubs down by more than 50% on the previous week, growth in followers has increased by 11.5%.
March 24 – Spain’s top division will carry on changing kick off times to suit the Asian market in a bid to increase its market share and boost brand awareness, says La Liga president Javier Tebas (pictured).
By Samindra Kunti
March 24 – The Italian agency MP & Silva is tendering the TV rights of the Belgian Pro League for the next three seasons. Fast developing broadcaster Eleven Sports is keen on acquiring the rights, a deal which would shake up the market for the league’s rights.
By Paul Nicholson
March 24 – It will be a symbolic statement of intent as much as a business deal of expedience once Olympique Marseille drops its kit sponsorship deal with Adidas, likely in favour of arch-rival Puma.
March 24 – The World Football Forum 2017 held their official launch in Changsha, China yesterday. Their timing could not have been better as later in the day at the Changsha stadium, the Chinese national team stunned Asia with a 1-0 win over South Korea in World Cup qualifying – the first time the Chinese have beaten the South Koreans in more than 40 years.
March 23 – As Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert was talking about his international growth strategy for the Germany’s top tier league, two of his member clubs – Bayern Munich and Wolfsberg – were opening offices in China.
March 23 – FC Barcelona have officially unveiled their Barça Innovation Hub (BIH) with the aim of positioning the club as the leader in sports knowledge, innovation and technology.