February 9 – PepsiCo is activating its Champions League sponsorship with a series of videos and ads promoting its Pepsi Max brand celebrating the dedication of football fans.
February 1 – Dutch brewer Heineken has renewed its sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League for another three years that will take it to the end of the 2021 competition. The deal also includes the UEFA Super Cup 2018, 2019 and 2020.
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 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 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 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 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.
January 11 – Plus500 will remain as the shirt sponsor of La Liga’s Atlético Madrid at least until the end of the 2017/18 season. No figures were announced for the sponsorship renewal which will see Plus500’s logo on the club shirt when it moves to its new 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano stadium later this year.
December 22 – West Ham United have added global payments company TransferMate as the club’s Official Payments partner. TransferMate will be the Club’s exclusive foreign currency provider for foreign exchange payments, including player transfer transactions.
December 21 – The influence, importance and ambition of Internazionale’s new owners Suning Sports Group to the club’s development was reinforced yesterday with the announcement of a multi-year sponsorship agreement for a package of naming rights by Suning Group affiliates.
December 19 – Chinese brewer Tsingtao has renewed its sponsorship of the fast developing and increasingly commercial AFC Champions League for another four years, no figure was announced for the deal.
December 19 – Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has renewed telecoms giant Orange as a major sponsor of its competitions for another eight years. The deal has been finalised just a couple of weeks before the start of the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Gabon in January.
December 16 – Music streaming platform Deezer is hoovering up the world’s biggest club football brands. Hard on the deals of the announcement of a deal to become Manchester United’s official music partner earlier this week, it has now unveiled FC Barcelona as a partner.
By Samindra Kunti
December 15 – US sportswear brand Nike has strengthened their European foothold extending their partnership with the French Football Federation until 2026. Nike this week also confirmed a £400 million 12 year renewal of their deal with England.
December 15 – The International Champions Cup (ICC) – the growing pre-season tournament that sees many of Europe’s elite clubs compete in a semi-formal club competition around the world in showcase matches – has signed tourism marketing body Visit Orlando in a multi-year partnership.