Sponsorship & Marketing
News
ECB loses principal sponsor as Specsavers cuts ties
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been left searching for a new principal sponsor after optician brand Specsavers opted not to renew its contract
Suning’s real estate division signs regional deal with Inter
Serie A club Inter Milan has signed a sponsorship deal with Suning Real Estate, a division of the club’s Chinese ownership group Suning.
Sabrina Ionescu shows pulling power with Nike deal, New York Liberty jersey sales
Women's basketball superstar Sabrina Ionescu further proved her immense commercial pulling power after being selected as the Women's National Basketball Association No.1 Draft pick by the New York Liberty.
Global Athlete urges sponsors to back Olympians into 2021, USOPC offers free extensions
Athletes organisation Global Athlete has urged sponsors to keep up payments to Olympic athletes through the Games in 2021
Riot Games removes bloody imagery from game to placate sponsors
Esports tournaments featuring game developer Riot Games' new title Valorant will be required to remove graphic bloody images from gameplay
St. Pauli stays connected with shirt sponsor Congstar
German telecoms operator Congstar has extended its shirt sponsorship deal with St. Pauli of German football’s second-tier 2. Bundesliga by two more years.
NBA, WNBA to sell licensed face coverings
Leagues change course from initial stance, will support charities through mask sales
Overwatch League adds Xfinity as presenting sponsor
Professional esports league, the Overwatch League, has signed up internet service provider Xfinity to its sponsorship portfolio
PCB media-rights revenue hit by lack of India matches
The Pakistan Cricket Board lost out on between $80m (€74m) and $90m in media-rights revenue during its last five-year rights cycle because it was unable to schedule home matches against India, according t…
‘We’re very focused on bringing the cost cap down’ | Mark Waller, McLaren F1
Mark Waller, managing director, sales and marketing, McLaren F1, talks about the difficult decision to furlough some staff members during the Covid-19 pandemic and argues the case for an even lower team cost cap in Formula 1.
Rugby Australia suffers in comparison to ascendant AFL brand
Matthew Glendinning looks at the recent commercial fortunes of the AFL and Rugby Australia, and how sponsorship revenues and the Covid-19 pandemic have affected the properties.
China’s sports industry starts to think beyond Covid-19
Andrew Collins, chief executive at Mailman, and Shoto Zhu, founder and president of Oceans Marketing, talk to SportBusiness Asia senior analyst, Kevin McCullagh, about how the Chinese sports industry is…
S&P downgrades Endeavor credit rating
Credit ratings agency S&P; Global this week downgraded Endeavor, owner of the IMG sports marketing agency and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, from "highly speculative" to "substantial risk"
NBA signs multi-faceted technology partnership with Microsoft
The National Basketball Association has signed a multiyear, multi-faceted partnership with technology giant Microsoft aimed at elevating the fan experience and how consumers interact with the league, in…
Euroleague Basketball’s Bertomeu confident of Turkish Airlines extension
Euroleague Basketball, the organiser of the sport's European clubs competition, has indicated that EuroLeague's title sponsorship with Turkish Airlines is set to continue for multiple years
BTCC extends long-term association with Autocar
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) has extended its association with automotive magazine, Autocar.
The deal will now run through the 2022 BTCC season, building on a link-up which began in 2014
BMW signs with multiple esports teams in ‘milestone’ alliance
Luxury car brand BMW has signed sponsorship agreements with five of the world’s leading esports teams.
Adidas receives €3bn government-backed loan
Adidas has received approval from the German government for the participation of state-owned development bank KfW in a syndicated loan facility worth €3bn ($3.2
Cycle brand Bianchi backs Giro d’Italia with three-year deal
Italian cycle brand Bianchi will be the official sponsor and exclusive bicycle of the Giro d'Italia for three years from 2020 to 2022
World Squash Federation expands footwear sponsorship deal
The World Squash Federation (WSF) has renewed its sponsorship contract with performance footwear brand Teuton Sports
Wohninvest ups Werder Bremen sponsorship commitment
German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen has expanded its sponsorship ties with the Wohninvest real estate group
São Paulo extends with Banco Intermedium until end of 2020
Brazilian football club São Paulo has signed a renewal with digital banking company Banco Intermedium as its main shirt sponsor.
The firm has held the designation since 2017.
Rangers will not extend Ladbrokes in-stadium betting deal
Scottish Premiership side Rangers will not extend a long-running in-stadium betting sponsorship with UK gambling operator Ladbrokes, which is also the title sponsor of the top four leagues in Scotland
Kappa ‘to replace’ Le Coq Sportif at Fiorentina
Italian Serie A club Fiorentina is set to play in kit supplied by Italian sports brand Kappa next season after five years with the French brand Le Coq Sportif
Malaysian Grand Prix motorcycle team shows empathy to sponsors for now
The Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team are giving their smaller sponsors flexibility but say future contracts may offer less latitude
Beijing 2022 invites Official Suppliers
The organisers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics have invited companies to bid for official supplier contracts in several categories
Nascar driver Larson suspended, loses three sponsors for racial slur during virtual race
Nascar driver Kyle Larson has been suspended without pay by his team Chip Ganassi Racing, among a series of punishments, for using a racial slur on a live stream during a virtual race over the weekend
China’s top court gives Michael Jordan partial victory
Former basketball star Michael Jordan has scored a small win in his long-running legal tussle with Chinese sportswear firm Qiaodan Sports
Deceuninck holds talks to reduce cycling sponsorship commitments
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is being felt across road cycling with Deceuninck, one of the co-title sponsors of men's International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour team Deceuninck-QuickStep, indicating…
Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ uniform redesign leads to merchandise sales spike
The National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are continuing to reap the commercial rewards of the arrival of superstar quarterback Tom Brady.
MotoGP’s central sponsors stay loyal amid disrupted 2020 season
Motorcycling series MotoGP is depending on the loyalty of its sponsors and the added value of it esports proposition to help it through the Covid-19 crisis
CBA lands wide-ranging China Mobile rights deal
Migu, the video entertainment subsidiary of mobile telecoms operator China Mobile, has signed a wide-ranging agreement with the CBA, the top basketball league in China
South Korean football clubs running into financial trouble
Korean football clubs are facing dangerous financial problems due to the suspension of their season, the Yonhap News Agency has reported
Nascar’s Wallace loses Blue Emu sponsorship after quitting esports race
Nascar driver Darrell ''Bubba'' Wallace has lost the sponsorship of pain-relief brand Blue Emu after angrily quitting an esports event
Gaming products maker HyperX ramps up presence with esports teams and tournaments
HyperX, one of the world’s biggest PC peripheral makers, has struck new esports sponsorship deals in the UK and US.