Man City seal new regional deal with noon.com platform
April 12 – Manchester City has added Middle Eastern e-commerce platform noon.com as a regional partner.
Football Marketing
Rangers, Swansea and Birmingham withdraw social media accounts in anti-racism protest
April 9 – Three British clubs have decided independently to boycott social media platforms because of online racist abuse.
Danish bank pulls sponsorship of national team but not over Qatar 2022 human rights concerns
April 9 – Arbejdernes Landsbank, a major partner of the Danish FA (DBU), have pulled their sponsorship of the national team over the quick-loans law with concerns over the Qatar World Cup lingering in the background.
SuperSport signs up for Qatar 2022 coverage. CAF events next?
April 9 – African football may be struggling to secure meaningful broadcast deals with their domestic broadcasters, but their masters at FIFA have secured a key deal for the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar.
Spezia renew Acerbis kit deal for 2 years as they secure Serie A place
April 9 – Serie A’s Spezia Calcio, currently in their first season in Italy’s top flight, have renewed their kit deal with Acerbis for a further two years, taking them to the the end of the 2022-2023 Season.
Saints renew bitcoin betting firm Sportsbet.io for record three year shirt deal
April 8 – Premier League Southampton have secured shirt sponsor Sportsbet.io for a further three years in what the club is describing as the biggest sponsorship in the club’s history.
Brand Spain: Santander renews LaLiga title sponsorship for further two years
April 8 – Banco Santander has renewed its title sponsorship of LaLiga for a further two years, with the option to extend for a further year until 2023-24.
Serie A faces €150m drop in TV income after failure to back beIN over piracy row
April 7 – The financial fall out of Serie A’s failure to back beIN Sport in its battle against piracy and in particular Saudi-focussed BeoutQ has now come home to roost via a drop in overseas broadcast rights that could be as much as €150 million annually.
FIFA issues tenders for unbundled Women’s World Cup media rights
April 7 – Just days after the nine hosts cities for the 2023 Women’s World Cup were announced, FIFA has opened invitations to tender for the media rights to the tournament in both host markets, Australia and New Zealand.
PayPal buys into MLS with stadium naming rights at San Jose Earthquakes
April 7 – MLS team San Jose Earthquakes have sealed a ten-year stadium naming rights deal with PayPal in a deal estimated at more than $20 million, according to local sources.
AC Milan and BMW gear up for stylishly ‘holisitc’ partnership
April 7 – BMW has agreed a sponsorship with AC Milan to become one of the club’s premium sponsors as its ‘Automotive Partner’.
Umbro build African presence with AFCON 2021 qualifiers Ethiopia
April 6 – Umbro and the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) have extended their partnership to sponsor the country’s national teams in a new four-year deal.
Everton target 770m players globally with MY.GAMES deal
April 6 – Premier League Everton have agreed what they are describing as a short-term strategic sponsorship deal with global gaming brand MY.GAMES.
Spurs demand social media firms act after Sanchez racially trolled after Newcastle game
April 6 – Tottenham Hotspur are the latest club to call on social media companies to do more to combat racist trolls after their Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez revealed abuse was directed at him following the club’s 2-2 draw with Newcastle at the weekend.
Money in social media? Report concludes clubs are missing the market
By Paul Nicholson
April 1 – With fans locked out and club revenues locked down, social media has become increasingly important to the commercial infrastructure of clubs, according to KPMG Football Benchmark analysis.