By Mark Baber
March 31 – The efforts of Vitaly Mutko, Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Football Union (RFU), to put the finances of Russian football on a solid foundation have received another boost as Russia’s second biggest mobile operator MegaFon has signed an agreement with the RFU to become a general sponsor of Russian football from 2016 until 2018.
March 31 – Milan’s Serie A giant, Internazionale, has today launched the Inter Channel on smart phones and tablets into the Indonesian market. Indosat is the second biggest mobile phone operator in Indonesia with 70 million customers.
March 30 – The world’s most famous footballer, Pelé, is suing Korean electronics giant Samsung in a Chicago federal court, claiming they improperly used his identity in The New York Times.
March 24 – Carlsberg have extended the longest running commercial partnership in English Premier League football with a three-year addition to their current 24-year long deal with Liverpool.
March 23 – Beijing, China, is set to host the first Manchester derby with City’s new manager Pep Guardiola in charge and, if rumours are correct, Jose Mourinho having taken over as United’s new manager.
By Paul Nicholson
March 23 – Daily fantasy sports operators FanDuel and DraftKings have stopped paid games in the New York market. The companies are in a battle with the state’s attorney general over whether the games are illegal gambling.
March 22 – Manchester City have signed a regional partnership with Chinese firm SoccerWorld to provide better access to facilities and coaches for young Chinese footballers. The agreement is part of the City Football Group’s (CFG) wider ambition to expand its business in China.
March 22 – Scandal-hit Volkswagen has agreed to extend its sponsorship of the German national cup for six years until 2022.
March 21 – While Barcelona teammate Neymar is contemplating his €45.9 million fine for tax evasion in Brazil, Lionel Messi – no stranger to multiple tax fraud allegations himself – was signing on another sponsorship deal, this time with Chinese telecoms firm Huawei.
By Mark Baber
March 18 – Nike’s kit launches for the England and US national teams were met with scorn from fans and media on Thursday, whilst panic-stricken executives cancelled the launch of the Brazil shirt in Rio due to unwarranted concerns about demonstrations.
By Mark Baber
March 17 – Adidas finally confirmed on Wednesday morning that Paul Pogba has agreed what is believed to be a 10-year, €40 million deal with the company.
By Paul Nicholson
March 16 – A survey by Champions League sponsor Nissan has found that football gets Britons (56% of them) more excited than sex; and that they spend more time watching football than participating in sex.
March 16 – Virtually Live teamed up with STATS LLC to test their virtual reality technology for the first time on a European football match in Europe covering the Scottish League Cup final on March 13 at Hampden Park – Ross County beat Hibernian 2-1.
March 15 – The on-off rumours that Pirelli were to end their 20-year sponsorship of Inter Milan have been ended with the club officially announcing that they had agreed a new five-year deal.
By Matt Scott
March 14 – Manchester United signed their latest global commercial partner in what has now become a 24-firm squad with the arrival on the scene of the Official Global Lubricant Oil and Fuel Retail Partner, Gulf Oil, on Monday.