February 8 – Manchester United, giants of the small screen when it comes to TV ratings, have hooked up with big screen Hollywood film distributors 20th Century Fox to promote the studio’s films at its home game.
By David Owen
February 5 – AC Milan have followed local rivals Internazionale in announcing a partnership with Le Sports, the Chinese internet company. The former LeTV is becoming the Italian club’s official new media partner in mainland China. The deal is said to “span three consecutive seasons” culminating with 2017-18.
By Paul Nicholson
February 4 – The expected entry of the giant US Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operators into the so-far under exploited European markets has happened with a bang, with Boston-based DraftKings landing in the English market with deals with Arsenal, Liverpool and Watford.
By Mark Baber
February 3 – Sunderland AFC have become the latest Premier League club to launch a Mandarin version of their web site, building on the success of their Chinese social media platforms Sina Weibo and Tencent WeChat and working in association with the club’s principal partner Dafabet.
By Mark Baber
January 29 – Nike is believed to be reviewing its partnership with the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), although details of why this is happening is unclear, with Nigerian media widely blaming review on the bad run of results by the men’s national team.
January 29 – With Europe’s giant clubs generally focusing on expansion opportunities in developing football markets like Asia and the US, Premier League Liverpool has turned their attention closer to home with the launch of club websites and online stores in French and Spanish.
By David Owen
January 29 – Italy’s Internazionale has agreed a deal for Le Sports, the former LeTV, to become the exclusive broadcast partner for the club’s TV channel in mainland China.
January 29 – Start-up Dutch firm SciSports has raised €1.35 million to develop its BallJames three-dimensional pixel technology that is used to enhance football data analysis.
January 28 – Premier League commercial giant Manchester United has announced a new partnerhip in drinks brank YOU.C1000, which becomes the club’s Official Isotonic Drinks Partner in Indonesia.
By Paul Nicholson
January 27 – The Premier League’s bumper €2.4 billion per season deal that kicks in with the 2016 season start has been well documented. Other leagues have looked on in envy and anticipation of good things to come in their home markets. Football Benchmark has looked at the macro-economies of the European countries to see if the English deal is justifiably much bigger than their European counterparts.
January 26 – Mitre, a brand of UK-based Pentland Group, has been unveiled as the new official match ball sponsor of Singapore’s S. League in a new five-year deal which sees the world’s oldest manufacturer of footballs become the league’s official football and product supplier.
January 25 – Premier League club Manchester United has unveiled a second appareil sponsor with Columbia Sportswear becoming the club’s first official outdoor appareil sponsor. The club’s main kit deal is with Adidas who took over from Nike in a 10 year deal that started this season.
By Paul Nicholson
January 14 – This week the first paid Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) games made their Atlantic crossing from the US, debuting in the Italian market. Boston-based gambling firm Mondogoal have launched their football games in partnership with Italian online sports betting platform Intralot.
By Mark Baber
January 14 – Lionel Messi has been announced as the first Global Ambassador for Dubai’s World Expo, taking on a role as a champion for Expo 2020 Dubai.
January 13 – Supporting Liverpool is clearly an emotional experience as the club agonisingly battles to return to former domestic glories and trophies. In a city that wears its emotions very high on its sleeve, Kopites now can add a LFC emoticon to their Skype communications following a new partnership.