November 1 – Manchester City have continued their rapid digital expansion with the launch of a new app for Amazon Fire TV allowing users to stream CityTV videos directly on to a connected TV via the Amazon platform.
November 1 – Japanese car manufacturer Nissan, global sponsor of UEFA’s Champions League, has added some star power to its ‘Excitement’ advertising theme, naming Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero as the brands ‘Engineers of Excitement’.
October 31 – Premier League Bournemouth have launched a new app with takeaway food delivery service Deliveroo and incorporating a fantasy football and predictor game. The app has been developed by Irish fan engagement company Sportego.
By Paul Nicholson
October 28 – It has been a strong week for growth in Twitter numbers with nearly 270,000 new followers across the Premier League clubs who were seemingly unaffected by the hackers who broke into the US based Dyn servers that brought the social media platform down.
October 27 – Manchester City have announced Valvoline as a new global partner in a “multi-year” agreement that will see Valvoline designated as the club’s ‘Official Automotive Lubricants Partner’.
October 25 – A comparison of Twitter Followers, Facebook Likes and Instagram Followers across the Premier League shows that Manchester United dominates on all three social media platforms.
October 25 – The English FA has confirmed an £820 million six-season international broadcast rights deal for its FA Cup domestic competition, the oldest club competition in world football.
By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – Arsenal topped Manchester United in the weekly Twitter followers table for the second week running. The Gunners’ 52,900 new followers is a marked jump for the club, in comparison to the tail off in growth Man Utd are experiencing.
October 19 – Manchester City turned British media heads when they travelled to Barcelona for their Champions League match. Gone was the (often) scruffy suit and tie look of overgrown schoolboys on tour and in came a modern, casually smart denim look. Even assistant manager Brian Kidd managed to carry off the style change.
October 18 – Adidas vs Nike or Man Utd vs Chelsea. The apparent ease with which Adidas let Nike takeover at Chelsea in a new £60 million per year, 15-year deal, suggests an even greater concentration by the sportswear sponsors on the mega club brands.
October 14 – Official gaming partner Marathonbet has launched an online Manchester United branded casino, the first live casino for a football club. Players can interact with dealers in real time in a virtual gaming environment that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
By Paul Nicholson
October 12 – Arsenal, for the first time in a year, have topped Manchester United in the weekly Twitter followers growth chart, though they still remain behind the Manchester giants by almost 700,000 followers overall.
October 12 – Good wine matures with age and so do good sponsorship deals. Manchester United and Chilean wine producer Concha y Toro have renewed their global partnership for a further three years. No figure was announced for the sponsorship.
October 11 – FIFA has begun the sales process for the broadcast rights to the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, launching an invitation to tender (ITT) for the UK media rights.
By Paul Nicholson
October 10 – Finding ways to monetise digital engagement and turn digital eyeballs into value-holding data is a holy grail for clubs as their digital teams increase in size alongside their digital followers.