Eleven Sports pressured to drop 3pm broadcasts in UK, but promises fight is not over
October 19 – Internet sports broadcaster Eleven Sports says it is reluctantly dropping screening European football matches in the UK on Saturday afternoons.
Football Marketing
Alisports secures Happy Valley shirt for WESG qualifier as it drives esports profile
October 19 – Alisports, the sports arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has signed a deal with Happy Valley (HVAA), a Hong Kong first division club, to promote Alisports’ esports World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) event.
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.
Bookies looking for sponsorship edge could see boost for club shirt deals
By Paul Nicholson
October 17 – A self-imposed broadcast advertising ban by bookmakers on pre-9pm ads could drive UK betting sponsors and their marketing money back to clubs and drive up the value of premium shirt sponsorship positions.
Continental re-treads its Chinese FA national team sponsorship
October 17 – Germany’s Continental Tires has extended its sponsorship with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and its national teams.
UEFA steps in to mediate over Eleven’s breaking of English Saturday 3pm broadcast ban
October 16 – UEFA has diplomatically stepped into the debate over UK football’s traditional Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout being breached by saying it is in talks with the English and Spanish leagues following reports that online streaming service Eleven Sports is defying the rules.
Yes you Kan: UEFA quells Israeli political hysteria over right to broadcast in West Bank
By Andrew Warshaw
October 15 – UEFA has firmly denied reports that it has banned Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan, from televising qualifying games in the disputed occupied territories.
LFP expands Fiat sponsorship to include top two leagues as well as League Cup
October 12 – France’s Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) has expanded its deal with Italian car maker Fiat to include the sponsorship of the LFP’s Ligue 1 Conforama and Domino’s Ligue 2. Fiat has been a partner of the BKT League Cup for the past two seasons.
VfB Stuttgart take first Chinese steps with Guangzhou R&F
October 11 – Bundlesliga’s VfB Stuttgart is the latest German club to open up links in China, signing a five-year contract with the Chinese Super League club Guangzhou R&F to develop youth players and train coaches.
Man City checks in with FanCompass’s off-line data capture to drive sales leads
October 11 – Digital fan engagement and data capture specialists FanCompass has launched Check In, an engagement product specifically designed to digitally capture offline fan data.
Fanbox to deepen club/fan relationship with behavioral marketing platform
October 11 – New sports technology businesss Fanbox has launched a behavioral marketing platform for clubs that it says will change the way they interact with fans for good.
Fanfoot picks up $150m Brasileiro OTT rights for platform launch in 2019
October 10 – Brazil’s top league, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, has agreed a $150 million international streaming deal with sports tech startup Fanfoot which will launch its OTT platform in 2019.
Bundesliga launches Player of Month award with fan voting on EA Sports platform
October 10 – Germany’s Bundesliga has joined forces with official licensee EA Sports to launch a new ‘Player of the Month’ award. Fans will vote for their player of the month on the EA Sports FIFA 19 website (bundesligapotm.easports.com).
Arsenal earn their big money stripes with new £300m kit deal with Adidas
October 9 – Arsenal have confirmed they are switching from Puma to Adidas for their kit deal from the 2019/20 season in a five-year ageement.
High stakes: UK Betting firms fearing backlash over football ads plot pre-emptive strike
By Paul Nicholson
October 8 – Growing fears within the UK betting business of a hardline approach to regulating how bookmakers market themselves has prompted one leading bookmaker to put in a pre-emptive strike and call for an industry-imposed ban on TV ads before the 9pm watershed.