By Paul Nicholson
December 14 – The timing is interesting, if not ironically amusing. In the week that three former chairman of the English Football Association and two former chief executives wrote to parliament saying the governing body was not fit to govern, Nike confirmed it has extended its partnership with the FA for an additional 12 years through to 2030.
December 14 – Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operator Oulala.com has closed a second round of funding of €1.35 million from private investors.
By Paul Nicholson
December 13 – Barcelona have added two new Chinese partners while ‘soon-to-end’ shirt sponsor Qatar Airways has confirmed that it is still in discussion with the club over commercial opportunities once Rakuten take over as the new main sponsor next season.
December 13 – Manchester United has unveiled digital music platform Deezer as its exclusive music streaming partner in a global deal.
December 13 – Germany’s Bundesliga is tweaking its brand look, modifying its distinctive white silhouetted player on the red background to clearly identify three different brand ‘divisions’ within the organisation.
December 12 – At Manchester City they call it ale, and if you want one in the Etihad stadium it will be a Heineken brand. The Dutch brewer have renewed their 20-year beer and cider sponsorship of the club for an undisclosed term or amount.
December 9 – Premier League clubs’ Facebook growth continues to increase week-on-week for a third week running with a jump of 332,800 this week from 314,000 last week and 301,000 two weeks ago.
December 8 – Hannover 96, battling to return to former glory and the Bundesliga’s top tier, has renewed its main sponsorship with house builder Heinz von Heiden Massivhäuser.
December 7 – Nike is set to extend its kit deal with England for a further 12 years. The deal with the FA is said to be worth £400 million and is a small increase on the previous deal.
December 6 – Weekly Twitter growth again held strong across the Premier League with the top four clubs of Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all adding impressive numbers and leaving Manchester City a little bit behind, nursing the headaches of lower numbers and loss in the league.
By Samindra Kunti
December 5 – France’s Paris Saint-Germain will open a football academy in Indonesia in co-operation with local club Bali United. Bali will run the academy and tire maker Multistrada Arah Sarana will be the main sponsor.
December 2 – New Instagram followers to Premier League clubs increased again this week, though only marginally to 282,000 from 276,000. There are now more than 42.8 million Instagram followers to Premier League clubs.
December 2 – Manchester City have added Chinese-based mobile phone brand, TECNO Mobile, as a new global partner. Described as a multi-year deal, no amount for the sponsorship was announced.
December 1 – Spain’s LaLiga has added another new global sponsor. Although no amount was announced for the deal, La Liga said it now expected to earn €70 million from sponsorship this year, more than double its annual sales of previous years.
December 1 – Merchandise sales of Bundesliga clubs increased by €17 million to €243 million in the 2015-16 season, according to PR Marketing’s 19th Fanartikel-Barometer.