April 6 – UEFA has expanded its video gaming commercial category into three parts, taking account of the growth opportunities in the video gaming and exploding eSports sector.
March 30 – The Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) has brokered a deal between eight of its leagues and three commercial partners – Perform Group, Sportradar and Genius Sports – to collect and supply official data to the betting industry.
February 22 – Everton have teed off a media partnership with The Open Championship which will play its 146th Championship at Royal Birkdale in July.
February 16 – AS Roma from Italy’s Serie A is the latest to join the esports action, partnering with Fnatic to create the club’s first competitive gaming team. Aman Seddiqi, Sam Carmody and Nicolo Mirra will play as AS Roma at tournaments and events.
January 25 – Real Madrid have agreed to redesign their club badge to eliminate the traditional Christian cross as part of a new clothing deal in several Middle Eastern countries.
January 9 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur who have made Australia a key part of their pre-season tour plans over the past two years, has announced a grassroots ‘Soccer Schools’ programme for 2017 across the country.
By Paul Nicholson
December 13 – Barcelona have added two new Chinese partners while ‘soon-to-end’ shirt sponsor Qatar Airways has confirmed that it is still in discussion with the club over commercial opportunities once Rakuten take over as the new main sponsor next season.
November 9 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur have expanded their charitable activity in China with Jaguar Land Rover China with the addition of a hook-up with the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. The new partnership is seeking to strengthen ties between British and Chinese children through a shared passion for football.
September 30 – Manchester City have kept up the pace of new club partnerships and initiatives with the announcement of pharmaceutical company Mundipharma as the ‘Official Healthcare Product Partner of Manchester City Football Club’ in Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The club has also launched a new CityVR app to engage fans via virtual reality.
Mundipharma will use Manchester City branding in some of their marketing and advertising campaigns.
September 26 – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur have teamed up with Jaguar Land Rover China to deliver a year-long youth football development training programme in Guangzhou.
September 14 – This is real but the concept is a little surreal. Chinese firm UBTECH have become the first Official Robot Partner of Manchester City.
August 4 – Under the new Chinese ownership of Tony Xia, England’s once great Aston Villa are expecting to be challengers for an immediate return to the Premier League. They will be hoping that success in achieving that will also transmit to their new challenger brand betting partner EnergyBet.
July 29 – UK based sports marketing agency CSM has announced a new partnership with US Club Soccer, a National Association member of the U.S. Soccer Federation to develop programmes for the organisation’s 500,000+ members.
July 25 – Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer, official sponsor of Spain’s La Liga and England’s Premier League, has expanded its footprint announcing it is the Official Timekeeper and Global Partner of Manchester United.
July 12 – Spanish giant Barcelona have announced a new mobile game that is in development with Hugo Games, an interactive entertainment developer and publisher.