Man City go cashless with tappit for fan events in UK and Asia
October 18 – Manchester City have agreed a deal with cashless experts tappit, who becomes the Club’s Official Events Cashless Payments Partner.
Partnerships
West Ham add FX specialists Global Reach as official payments partner
September 21 – London-based foreign exchange business, Global Reach, has become West Ham United’s Official Payments Partner.
LaLiga predicts big Indonesian build-up with SportsHero deal
August 31 – Sports prediction and gamification app SportsHero has become LaLiga’s exclusive Indonesian partner for the 2018/19 season, with an option to extend for a further season.
Melitta expand regional Man Utd deal to global partnership
August 6 – Manchester United have expanded their deal with coffee brand Melitta from a regional to a global partnership. As part of the deal Melitta will create a collection of Manchester United and Melitta branded coffee machines, coffee beans, and cups.
Brazil’s Santos force Umbro to renegotiate saying agreed deal was too cheap
February 21 – After just four months Brazilian top-tier side Santos have renegotiated their kit deal with Umbro, saying that the original agreement was unfair and having threatened to cancel the partnership.
LaLiga adds telecom giant Irancell to regional partner roster
December 13 – LaLiga has added Iranian telecommunications company Irancell as a new regional partner. Irancell has more than 230 million customers in 22 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
German and Colombian leagues get hooked-up with co-operation agreement
October 27 – The Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) has signed a co-operation agreement with the Colombian División Mayor del Fútbol Colombiano (DIMAYOR) that will see the two leagues develop joint sports, marketing and management initiatives.
Nottingham Forest given boost with Healthspan partnership
September 26 – Championship club Nottingham Forest have signed a one-year partnership with vitamins and supplements manufacturer Healthspan.
Inter Milan and Japan’s iCure link for Inter Health Academy project
September 7 – Inter Milan have hooked up with Japanese company iCure to share best practices in the field of physiotherapy and rehabilitation as part of the Inter Academy Health project.
Bavarian brothers: Bayern and Siemens form new technology alliance
July 4 – Munich-based German engineering firm Siemens has been named as the Performance Partner of FC Bayern München in a three-year deal starting with the new season.
UEFA agencies start tender process for video game and eSports partners
April 6 – UEFA has expanded its video gaming commercial category into three parts, taking account of the growth opportunities in the video gaming and exploding eSports sector.
EPFL data deal hooks up leagues with leading betting data providers
March 30 – The Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) has brokered a deal between eight of its leagues and three commercial partners – Perform Group, Sportradar and Genius Sports – to collect and supply official data to the betting industry.
Everton pair with The Open for cross-sport media partnership
February 22 – Everton have teed off a media partnership with The Open Championship which will play its 146th Championship at Royal Birkdale in July.
Roma partner with Fnatic and sign pro-team for esports play
February 16 – AS Roma from Italy’s Serie A is the latest to join the esports action, partnering with Fnatic to create the club’s first competitive gaming team. Aman Seddiqi, Sam Carmody and Nicolo Mirra will play as AS Roma at tournaments and events.
Real Madrid edit Christian cross out of its logo for Middle Eastern merchandise
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.