By Mark Baber
January 7 – The Liberian Football Association (LFA)and the country’s sports minister are at loggerheads after the minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe entered into a sponsorship arrangement with LoneStar Cell/MTN the rival to Cellcom GSM, the LFA’s partner and apparently holder of sole rights to sponsorship of football-related activities at LFA stadiums.
By Samindra Kunti
January 7 – Rio-based club Fluminense have teamed up with sportswear manufacturer Dryworld in a five-year kit supply deal.
January 7 – Manchester United is to launch its dedicated TV channel in China with Sina Sports. The multi-year deal is exclusive to Sina Sports.
January 6 – In the battle to bring innovative broadcast technology to football, Canal+ in Spain has turned to Norweigan company Vizrt to revamp the look and feel of its popular ‘Mucho Más Deporte’ (Much More Sports) show.
By Mark Baber
January 5 – Herbert Hainer has excited world-wide attention after the Adidas boss criticised the playing style of Manchester United – the club with whom he signed a world record £75m a year kit deal in 2014.
By Paul Nicholson
January 5 – The daily fantasy sports (DFS) business that has taken the US fantasy gaming market by storm and is preparing for entries into the European football market, is facing a defining moment this week in the New York courts as to whether it will be allowed to continue.
January 5 – China’s Super Sports is now 30 days into its 38-day English Premier League ‘carnival’. The Chinese broadcast rights holder has been promoting the league and its clubs with events focussed in the Aegean Shopping Mall based in Tianjin.
January 4 – Paris St-Germain partner Ooredoo has announced a recent digital promotion generated more than 13 million Youtube views. The promotion, a fan competition, culminated with the sending of 15 winners to Qatar to meet the players and watch a friendly match between Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain on December 30 at Qatar’s Al Sadd Stadium.
By Samindra Kunti
December 21 – Santos have signed a sponsorship agreement with Royal Air Maroc as the club seeks financial stability next season.
By Paul Nicholson
December 21 – FIFA has released more record breaking TV numbers for both for its men’s and women’s world cups – a poignant reminder of the popularity of the world’s favorite event as US justice authorities reiterate their crusade against football corruption on their own continent and their thinly veiled objective of bringing down world governing body FIFA.
By Paul Nicholson
December 18 – It has been a tumultuous week for Chelsea and Leicester City. On the pitch Leicester deepened the Blues at Chelsea with a Premier League victory that put them top of the league and eventually pushed Jose Mourinho out of Stamford Bridge. On twitter Leicester had the biggest percentage increase in followers of any Premier League club this week at 4.25% – Chelsea recorded a 0.45% increase.
December 17 – Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer has raised a questionmark over his company’s future sponsorship of FIFA saying that of they are to continue then the governing body’s reform has to be robust and real.
By Mark Baber
December 16 – The Chinese Football Association (CFA) has announced that China League One, the second tier professional soccer league in China, has agreed a partnership deal with South Korean based Team Twelve Inc, a part of the Dentsu Sports Network.
By Mark Baber
December 15 – Tennant’s NI has been unveiled as the new title sponsor of the world’s fourth-oldest national cup completion – The Irish Cup – which will now be known as the Tennent’s Irish Cup.
December 15 – Arsenal’s automotive partner Citroën has activated its sponsorship with a promotion for the Citroën C4 Cactus which has first team stars playing Footpool on a specially created ‘table’ using the car’s Airbump technology.