By Ben Nicholson
December 14 – The 2015 MLS season came to an end last week with the MLS Cup final between Portland Timbers and Columbus Crew. And while the league’s lofty ambitions have been creating international stir in recent months, the cup final failed to generate much of a domestic stir, according TV viewership figures.
By Mark Baber
December 11 – Turning a blind eye to the corruption scandals swirling around Nike, as they have to years of sweatshop and child labour by the same company, the Premier League announced on Wednesday a three-year extension to their long-term official ball partnership with the Eugene, Oregon-founded sportswear brand.
By Samindra Kunti
December 11 – UEFA have unveiled Turkish Airlines as a global sponsor and official carrier of Euro 2016, the first airline sponsor the confederation has landed. No figure was announced for the deal which is for the 2016 tournament only.
By Paul Nicholson
December 11 – Manchester United have continued to outperform their Twitter rivals in the Premier League with a massive increase of over 150,000 followers in the last 4 weeks. At the top of the Twitter table they now have Arsenal very much in their sights and could overtake them by mid January at the current rate of increase.
By David Owen
December 9 – Jack Ma, the Chinese internet entrepreneur behind the Alibaba Group, has come to FIFA’s aid at this time of crisis for world football’s governing body. An Alibaba Group brand – Alibaba E-auto – has agreed an eight-year sponsorship deal for FIFA’s Club World Cup.
December 4 – When the current agreement between logistics company Hermes and the Deutsche Fußball Liga comes to a close, new vistas for sponsorship are expected to open up as the DFL has decided not to extend the collective agreement but will allow all 36 clubs to sell their own shirt sleeve sponsorship.
December 4 – While Manchester City’s holding company City Football group has been making headlines signing up a $400 million shareholder to boost the group’s expansion into China, the company’s prime asset has been deepening its links with its domestic fans via an integrated marketing deal with a travel partner.
December 4 – Manchester United is again using its MUTV channel to drive the club’s brand and commercial presence into international markets. Last week it announced a distribution deal into Indonesia, this week it unveiled a partnership with telecoms giant Cable and Wireless Communications for the Caribbean.
By Mark Baber
December 3 – With UK television regulator Ofcom’s review of the issue likely to drag on for months, Virgin Media’s chief executive Tom Mockridge has stepped up the campaign for 3pm Saturday kick-offs to be televised with a blog post on the Virgin Media site and briefing for sports journalists.
November 30 – Manchester United has expanded its TV footprint into Indonesia with a multi-platform deal via SuperSoccer to distribute the channel for the first time in the country.
November 27 – Chelsea have signed Thai energy drink company Carabao as a new principal partner and their first official training wear partner in a multi-year deal estimated at £30 million.
November 27 – Liverpool, frequently derided by local Evertonian rivals for having its match day support flown in from Scandinavia, has launched a new community initiative with its first LFC Foundation Day to support the Club’s official charity.
By Mark Baber
November 27 – Danone’s one-season sponsorship of La Liga taking them to the end of the 2015-16 campaign, has been confirmed. The deal will see the food and dairy products company become an official supplier of Spain’s top two leagues.
By Samindra Kunti
November 26 – French Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille have partnered with video messaging application Snapchat in a bid to up their social media presence.
By Samindra Kunti
November 23 – UEFA have announced France’s national postal service La Poste as the official operator for postal, parcel and express delivery services for UEFA EURO 2016.