Europe
Features
James Thompson | How can brands activate with no rugby fans in the stands?
James Thompson, senior account manager at Cake, looks at creative ways rugby union's sponsors can activate and leverage their partnerships as the sport prepares to return behind closed doors.
“There’s a value opportunity” | Why investors are circling Serie A
As Serie A weighs up six proposals from private investors, Ben Marlow, managing director, Asia Pacific, for football consultancy firm 21st Club, explains the sudden interest in the league and tells editorial…
Ben Cronin | Stadium variables complicate safe spectator return
Spectators could soon be allowed back into UK sports stadiums if a series of pilot events pass by successfully. But Ben Cronin says social distancing requirements could be easier to maintain in some sports venues than others.
Serie A | Can new investors wake football’s sleeping giant?
Ben Marlow, managing director of 21st Club in Asia Pacific, looks at the rise and fall of Italian Serie A, and considers the ways in which the league can rise once again
Phil Carling | The Rise of Liverpool – From Super Club to Super Brand
Phil Carling, head of football at the Octagon agency, explains why the brand positioning of Premier League winners Liverpool as a club where ‘This Means More’ is key to unlocking its commercial potential
Round-Up: WTA Tour restarts, IPL sponsor backlash, Chinese NBL to restart, and more
The restart of the Italian Serie A football season has been moved back a week to September 19 - Reuters/CNA
The WTA Tour restarted yesterday with the Palermo Ladies Open in Sicily, Italy - Reuters/ec/CNA
EXCLUSIVE: Euro 2028 included as CAA Eleven kicks off six-year Uefa sales cycle
The CAA Eleven agency is to offer broadcasters the opportunity to bid for rights to both the 2024 and 2028 editions of the Uefa European Championship tournaments, SportBusiness understands, as it goes…
EA Sports pens licensing agreements with AC Milan and Inter
Italian Serie A clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan have signed up video game developer Electronic Arts (EA) in exclusive licensing agreements
Veloce secures £4m in investment to grow and merge esports and motorsport divisions
Veloce has secured £4m (€4.4m/5.2m) in private investment to merge and expand its Veloce Esports gaming operation and its motorsport division, which includes Extreme E team Veloce Racing.
BT Sport COO Jamie Hindhaugh on socially-distanced boxing and the remote production roadmap
SportBusiness speaks to Jamie Hindhaugh, chief operating officer of BT Sport, who says that in the light of Covid-19, remote production points the way towards the broadcaster’s future
Location technology developed for the oil industry helps ECB to deliver bio-secure matches
A network of Bluetooth sensors installed at the venues for the three-match cricket series between England and the West Indies is allowing the ECB to detect the exact location of everyone involved in the matches and to track and trace any suspected outbreaks of Covid-19. Ben Cronin reports.
Building brand Vinícius | How Mediacom will market Brazil’s next superstar
After signing young Brazilian footballer Vinícius Jr. on a long-term management deal, Mediacom’s Misha Sher explains how the company wants to build him into a strong, culturally relevant and global brand that becomes an enterprise in its own right Kevin Roberts reports.
Matthew Glendinning | Reports of FFP’s demise after City ruling are exaggerated
Matthew Glendinning, editor of SportBusiness Sponsorship, believes Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules will survive even after the Court of Arbitration for sport overturned the governing body's competition ban on Manchester City.
Garth Shephard: ‘The sports tech market feels like it’s going through an early adopter phase’
Garth Shephard, a partner at recently-launched sports tech investor and adviser Sightline Ventures, discusses how technology is driving sport in response to generational shifts and how swifter adoption of new technologies will keep significant new revenue within sport and not in the pockets of third parties
“We’re number 1 on the pitch and we want to be as good commercially” | Manu Leroy, Belgian FA
In the latest of our series of video interviews, the Belgian FA's director of marketing, Manu Leroy, describes how a new digital approach to sponsorship is helping the organisation to profit from the unprecedented success of its men's national team.
Rise of the Red Devils drives new Belgian FA partnership strategy
SportBusiness looks at the new commercial strategy of Royal Belgian Football Association, after seeing Belgium's national football team rise from #66 in Fifa’s ranking to the top of the world.
Jon Tibbs: Olympic federations proving adept at imagining the new normal
Jon Tibbs, founder and chairman of sports communications agency, Jon Tibbs Associates, thinks some of the good habits and innovative thinking Olympic federations have adopted during the Covid-19 lockdown could endure long after the crisis.
Anthony Goddard | Premier League returns with record audiences
Anthony Goddard, head of media research, Publicis Sport & Entertainment, delves into the numbers to see how the UK’s football public returned to their seats for Premier League action after the Covid-19 enforced hiatus.
Organised, timely and efficient: German football shows the way out of lockdown
There have been positive tests, protocol breaches and postponements, but nothing has been able to derail the project.
‘Eight to nine clubs in the Championship are available for sale’ | Adam Sommerfeld, Certus Capital Partners
Covid-19 pandemic means ‘up to 50 per cent’ of EFL clubs available for sale as distressed assets
Premier League clubs thinking of selling minority shareholdings
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Legal challenges ‘inevitable’ after pandemic leaves mark on football calendar
As the end of May approaches and the Premier League continues to work on ‘Project Restart’, Adam Nelson examines the legal issues facing English football’s operating bodies as they push for football’s return.
Fiorentina’s Joe Barone – A salary cap won’t work without Fifa mandate
In the third and final part of our interview, Fiorentina general director Joe Barone says that while a salary cap might work in US sport it would create competitive imbalance in European football unless …
Fiorentina’s Joe Barone – Overseas investment shows belief in the commercial potential of Serie A
In part two of a three-part interview, Fiorentina general director Joe Barone explains why lack of modern infrastructure limits gameday revenue and impacts competition, and outlines his club's infrastructure…
Fiorentina’s Joe Barone on Covid-19: Uncertainty and a lack of protocol is tough to deal with
In part one of a three-part interview, Joe Barone, director general of Italian Serie A club Fiorentina, discusses the challenges of running a club in lockdown, the accelerated focus on going digital, the…
Umberto Gandini – Fear is a major factor among decision-makers
Part two of our video interview with Umberto Gandini, senior Italian sports business and administration figure and president of Lega Basket
Virtual cuppas and food bank donations: How football clubs are supporting communities during lockdown
Adam Nelson takes a look at how the community initiatives at Liverpool FC and Everton FC are providing fans with much-needed support during the Covid-19 lockdown.
‘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.
‘Some clubs will really struggle’ | Tifosy CEO Fausto Zanetton on surviving the shutdown
Fausto Zanetton, chief executive of Tifosy Capital & Advisory, discusses why player salaries have become such a burning issue for clubs, the knock-on affects of France’s media rights cycle, and the potential long-term impacts of the shutdown.