January 29 – Italy’s Serie A is in talks with Spain’s Mediapro on a €950 million deal for the 2018-2021 seasons. This follows a breakdown in discussion with Sky Italia who had not met the €1.05 billion minimum set by the league’s advisor Infront.
January 29 – City Football Group (CFG), the expanding ownership group that includes Manchester City and New York City FC, has increased its commercial representation reach via a partnership with CAA Sports.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 26 – A part-time English team is going where bigger clubs fear to tread by taking a stand against betting sponsorship, partly because of the scourge of match-fixing pervading the sport.
January 25 – Iconic English club Leeds United, pushing for a return to the Premier League, have got themselves into hot water over a new club crest unveiled ahead of their centenary in 2019.
January 25 – Premier League Chelsea has signed a two-year representation deal with Doyen Global as its exclusive player endorsement agency. Doyen Global will work with the club’s commercial team on the sale of image rights of Chelsea’s men’s and women’s first teams.
January 25 – Bitcoin’s value may have crashed from its stunning high before Christmas, but cryptocurrency is alive and kicking and Arsenal are the first Premier League club to take advantage of this announcing a partnership with CashBet ahead of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of its new cryptocurrency, CashBet Coin designed specifically for iGaming.
January 24 – After a long wait the Scottish Premier League (SPFL) has officially announced Labrokes will stay as title sponsors for a further two years taking them to at least 2020.
January 24 – Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports secured exclusive TV rights in Belgium for a host of major international matches, reasserting its market position in the Belgian TV landscape.
January 23 – Newcastle United has removed online betting firm FUN88 from the club’s youth team shirt. The sponsor’s logo was deemed by the club as a potential breach of FA regulations and comes after growing pressure on the UK government to look harder at the gambling advertising from betting companies in broadcast media and club sponsorships.
January 19 – Manchester United have signed a new three-year deal with Lancashire-based sports nutrition company Science in Sport plc (SiS). Beginning immediatedly the deal will run thorough to end of May 2021.
January 18 – The social media profiles of Europe’s top clubs are spawning a whole new growth area and fan base for Europe’s biggest clubs, but none are getting close to the dominance of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United who between them now connected with a staggering 391 million people on Twitter and Facebook.
January 17 – After concluding a new sponsorship deal with the DFL (German FA) subsidiary Bundesliga International to the end of season 2020/21, sports betting company Tipico have immediately launched a testosterone-charged advertising campaign under the slogan “Nur wer mitspielt, ist mittendrin!” (Only Those Who Play Are Part Of The Game).
January 17 – Premier League Arsenal, via its newly launched ‘Innovation Lab’ initiative, has linked with six new technology companies to work with the club’s senior management team to identify business opportunities and develop new fan experiences.
January 15 – Major League Soccer is entering the esports market via a partnership with EA Sports to launch an esports league based on FIFA 18. The new league, eMLS, will launch with 19 of the 23 MLS teams represented.
January 15 – Nike is the most influential sports brand in China, followed by the Chinese Basketball league and football’s Chinese Super league in third position. Sports leisure brands Adidas and New Balance occupy fourth and fifth positions.