Inter Milan team up with Le Sports in China
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.
Football Marketing
SciSports raises €1.35m to develop its 3D match analysis solution
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.
Man Utd fuels Indonesian business with new drinks partner
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.
Premier League’s TV bonanza is out of sync with Euro rivals and economic measures
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.
Mitre builds in Far East becoming official match ball sponsor for the S. League
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.
Man Utd add second appareil sponsor with Columbia Sportswear
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.
Fantasy gaming specialist Mondogoal debuts cash DFS games in Italy
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.
Dubai banks on power of Messi to ramp up global buy-in to World Expo 2020
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.
Liverpool gets emoticon-al with global Skype partnership
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.
DFS’ high stakes game continues in NY as court lets the ‘fantasy’ play on
By Paul Nicholson
January 12 – The daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators have been given permission to continue operations following a decision by a panel of four judges from the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court to grant a further stay while a case against DraftKings and FanDuel is being reviewed.
EZTrader bets higher with new Spurs partnership
January 12 – Tottenham Hotspur have announced EZTrader as its Official Binary Options Trading Partner. Spurs are the sixth football club partner for the binary options broker.
Man Utd top Xmas Twitter table but still have gap to close on Arsenal
By Paul Nicholson
January 8 – The last two weeks have seen a huge amount of tweeting by Premier League clubs who, combined, averaged just over 7,000 tweets a week compared to an average of about 4,500 tweets a week, in the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
Liberian FA and sports minister get lines crossed in cellphone turf war
By Mark Baber
January 7 – The Liberian Football Association (LFA)and the country’s sports minister are at loggerheads after the minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe entered into a sponsorship arrangement with LoneStar Cell/MTN the rival to Cellcom GSM, the LFA’s partner and apparently holder of sole rights to sponsorship of football-related activities at LFA stadiums.
Fluminense to launch Dryworld in Brazil after dropping Adidas deal
By Samindra Kunti
January 7 – Rio-based club Fluminense have teamed up with sportswear manufacturer Dryworld in a five-year kit supply deal.
Man Utd switch on MUTV in China with Sina Sports
January 7 – Manchester United is to launch its dedicated TV channel in China with Sina Sports. The multi-year deal is exclusive to Sina Sports.