By Mark Baber
July 30 – Premier League newcomers AFC Bournemouth have agreed a stadium naming rights deal with health care provider Vitality, part of South Africa-based Discovery Limited. The 11,700-capacity Dean Court, the smallest ground ever in the Premier League, will be called the Vitality Stadium.
July 29 – After a summer of international tours and ad hoc tournaments, the Premier League kicks off August 8 and for those watching on TV it will be amid a barrage of bookmakers offering special odds, sign-up bonuses and exclusive bets.
By Alexander Krassimirov
July 27 – Betting company Pari-Match has become the main sponsor of the Ukrainian league championship in a two-year deal which will see the competition renamed as the Pari-Match League. The deal is worth 43 million Ukrainian hryvnia (€1.8 million).
By Samindra Kunti
July 27 – French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice have signed a sponsorship deal with online poker company Winamax. In a new one-year deal, running for the duration of the 2015/16 season, Winamax branding will appear on the front of Nice’s playing shorts. Winamax’s logo will feature for the first time during a friendly against Napoli on August 2.
By Samindra Kunti
July 23 – French clubs Olympique Lyon and Lille OSC are gearing up for the 2015/16 Ligue 1 season with new commercial deals. Lyon have teamed up with McDonald’s, while Lille have extended a deal with Groupe Partouche.
July 22 – After breaking a number of records at their recent World Cup in Canada, the women’s game has scored yet another first by being featured on the front of EA Sports’ FIFA 16, the hugely popular video game.
July 21 – For Hannover 96 fans the often used football phrase “they came and parked their bus in front of the goal” took on a more literal meaning when 12 of them actually did it at the club’s HDI Arena.
July 21 – As Manchester City prepare for the new season in Australia, including a first time-ever match against sister club Melbourne City FC, owner City Football Group (CFG) is starting to show the benefits of the sponsorship leverage a larger group of clubs can provide.
July 20 – Premier League Liverpool have added Marathonbet as one of its suite of betting partners that currently includes 188BET and Comeon.
By Paul Nicholson
July 17 – Liverpool took the opportunity of the Australian leg of the club’s pre-season tour to launch their new away kit, the first away kit with New Balance. While current players Simon Mignolet, Martin Skrtel and new signing James Milner modeled the kit in King George Square in Brisbane, club legend Robbie Fowler was launched from a light aircraft wearing the Reds’ new white jersey.
July 16 – The Russian Football Premier League has signed a multi-year data partnership with Sportradar which will become the league’s ‘Official Sports Data Partner’, starting with the 2015/16 season.
July 16 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur have continued their push into the north American market with a merchandising hook-up with US sports eCommerce giant Fanatics.
By Paul Nicholson
July 15 – The Spanish TV market is hotting up as the country’s power clubs and La Liga push the Spanish brand harder in international broadcast markets. Global sports marketing agency IMG has picked up the sales and distribution rights to Barcelona’s TV channel in a three-year deal licensed to them by Spain’s telecommunications giant Telefónica.
By Mark Baber
July 14 – Arsenal Football Club finally have an aircraft branded in their name, it was revealed as the players set off for the pre-season Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore.
July 10 – English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has renewed its exclusive ticket resale partnership for a further two seasons with StubHub. With the club in the early stages of building a new 61,000 capacity stadium and a deal announced to stage NFL matches, StubHub will be looking to position itself for Spurs’ new era of larger crowds and more stadium events.