January 31 – City Football Group, the holding company that owns Manchester City and New York City football clubs, has unveiled a new sponsor partnership with insurance group Hyperion that will cover both clubs, but not CFG’s other two clubs in Japan and Australia.
January 27 – Man City made another big jump on Facebook again this week with 123,900 new Facebook likes compared to Manchester United’s 89,000. City have fallen into a pattern of huge rises on alternate weeks suggesting the club is undertaking a Facebook marketing campaign to boost its figures.
January 26 – Australia’s Hyundai A-League is getting a new look that ties the Football Federation Australia (FFA) competition into a common branded identity with the Westfield W-League and Foxtel Y-League. The rebranding will be launched for the start of the 2017/18 season.
January 26 – Media rights to broadcast England’s national team matches from 2018 until 2022 have been split between subscription and free-to-air channels. No figure has been released for the deal which was done under the new rights selling regime that consolidates all national federation rights into a single UEFA-backed sales agency.
January 25 – The Premier League has signed chocolate maker Cadbury to a three-year partnership beginning with the 2017/18 season. No amount was announced for the deal but estimates put it in excess of £7 million per season.
January 25 – Real Madrid have agreed to redesign their club badge to eliminate the traditional Christian cross as part of a new clothing deal in several Middle Eastern countries.
January 24 – The weekly growth in Twitter followers to Premier League clubs last week matched the typical pattern with yet another bumper increase for Manchester United of 89,000 followed by Arsenal with 71,000.
January 24 – Manchester City has taken a bigger step into the world of virtual reality with the launch of a match-day 360° VR fan experience. Fans will be able to experience the players arrival in the ‘Blue Carpet’ as well as getting dressing room access.
January 20 – Major League Soccer has unveiled giant retailer Target as a new sponsor in a multi-year deal that begins this season. This is the first football (soccer) sponsorship for Target who also announced they would become MLS expansion side Minnesota United’s shirt sponsor.
January 20 – The pattern of growth in Facebook Likes has been remarkable over the past five weeks as Manchester City had a growth of nearly 330,000 followers, nearly matching Manchester United’s 388,000 – on the face of it a major step forward for the blue side of the City.
January 18 – Italian giants Juventus have taken a huge branding step with the unveiling of a radical new logo and a club ‘philosophy’ based around expanding the club’s fanbase, commercial opportunities and deepening fans’ emotional involvement with the club.
January 18 – Italian bank Unicredit will not be renewing its official sponsorship of UEFA club competitions, including the Champions League, when its deal runs out at the end of the 2017/18 season, according to Unicredit CEO Jean-Pierre Mustier.
January 17 – Watford showed the largest percentage growth in Twitter followers in the Premier League this week, as it led the mourning over the sudden death of Graham Taylor, a legendary manager at the club. Hull City, with new manager Marco Silva beginning to hit his stride, led the ranking of clubs tweeting the most.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – Lagardère Sports have won the international sales rights to CONCACAF events including this year’s Gold Cup, taking over from last international sales reps IMG who held the contract for a year. No details were given on the deal or the size of the guarantee that Lagardère made.
January 12 – Manchester United has signed taxi app Uber as a global sponsor partner. No figure was announced for the sponsorship that will see Uber designated as the Official Ride of Manchester United.