LaLiga expands Relevent Sports partnership to include Mexico
June 3 – Spain’s LaLiga has expanded its North American 50/50 joint venture with the US-based Relevent Sports Group to include Mexico as part of the territories that it manages.
Football Marketing
Man Utd open up podcast feature as app hits 3 million downloads
June 3 – Manchester United has taken more control of its own media, moving its popular UTD Podcast on to the club’s own app, supplementing its distribution on third party podcast platforms.
Saints double up on shirt sponsors with Utilita pluging in to Junior Kit deal
June 6 – Premier League Southampton now have two shirt sponsors. While the club has just entered the second year of shirt sponsorship of its first team kit with sportsbet.io, the Saints’ energy partner Utilita, has become the club’s first Junior Kit Partner.
Nike cuts Neymar loose after sex allegations come back to bite
May 28 – US sportswear giant Nike says it dropped Brazilian footballer Neymar because he “refused to co-operate in a good faith investigation” into an allegation of sexual assault against an employee.
Barca bigs up its brand with Rakuten ecommerce deal for Japan
May 27 – Never mind their ongoing battles in Europe, in Japan they are golden. Barcelona have added to their agreement with existing sponsor Rakuten with the Japanese ecommerce company acquiring exclusive club merchandising rights in Japan.
Aussie leagues agree $155m broadcast deal with ViacomCBS
May 26 – Australia’s men’s and women’s top tier leagues have agreed their first major commercial partnership since taking control of their rights from the national federation, securing a five-year $155.5 million broadcast deal.
US Soccer to end SUM agency and bring sales in-house
May 25 – The US Soccer Federation (USSF) is cutting ties with commercial agency Soccer United Marketing (SUM), essentially ending a conflict of interest that has increasingly become uncomfortable for the governing body.
Castore breaks into Premier League apparel market with record deal for Wolves
May 24 – Fast growing British sportswear brand Castore, founded in 2015, have signed their first Premier League partnership with Wolverhampton Wanderers, replacing Adidas as the club’s kit and apparel partner.
Leicester City score record shirt sponsorship with online financial trader FBS
May 24 – Leicester City, who narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot, have scored what the clubs says is a record new shirt sponsorship with global online trading company FBS becoming the principal club partner.
Trivago books space on Chelsea training kit in multi-year deal
May 21 – With lockdown easing and travel possibilities re-opening, accommodation search platform trivago has booked a sponsorship with Premier League Chelsea, becoming the club’s Official Training Wear Partner.
SPFL embraces QTV’s remote production for live matches
May 20 – Scotland’s SPFL has embraced new broadcast technologies commissioning production company QTVto deliver a remote production solution that will cover 142 Scottish Premiership matches per season.
LaLiga drives tech business with expanded Microsoft deal
May 20 – LaLiga are expanding their Microsoft partnership, announcing the tech giant as LaLiga’s global Tech and Innovation Partner.
beIN builds in France with new LaLiga deal secured and other major rights in pipeline
May 19 – beIN Sports has extended its broadcast rights deal with Spain’s LaLiga for the French market until 2024.
Serie A closes off domestic TV sales with €262m Sky Italia deal
May 18 – Serie A has completed its domestic broadcast deals for the next three seasons, with Sky Italia picking up the remaining package of live rights for €85 million for the 2021-22 season.
Liverpool fuel global sponsorship roster with Predator Energy deal
May 18 – Liverpool, energised in their pursuit of Champions League qualification by the drama of the added time winning header by goalkeeper Alisson on Monday night, have been given further fuel with a new partnership with global energy drink company, Predator Energy.