The Football Business Headlines – November 30th, 2020
SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
Liga MX, the top professional football division of the Mexican football league system has formed an exclusive data, streaming, and integrity partnership with Genius Sports Group. As part of the partnership, Genius Sports Group will have exclusive rights across all Liga MX, Liga de Expansion, Copa MX, and Liga BBVA Femenil games to capture live data from in-stadia. (Source)
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced a partnership with China Mobile Migu for the 2021 to 2024 rights cycle. China Mobile Migu becomes the first official partner of the AFC National Competitions in China PR and will provide extensive coverage of all major AFC national team and club competitions. (Source)
ESPORTS
Olympique de Marseille has announced a collaboration with Grizi Esport, a French esports organization formed and owned by Antoine Griezmann. The collaboration will allow the Ligue 1 team to organize online and in-person activations with its supporters and will help connect the club with gaming fans. (Source)
Tottenham Hotspur and England National team player Dele Alli has entered into a long-term partnership with British esports team Excel Esports. The partnership is a testimony to both the parties’ shared values and will look to bridge the gap between sports and competitive gaming. (Source)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) has approved the establishment of a Women’s Football Department to develop women’s football. The department will develop a strategy and a detailed implementation plan to promote women’s football and expand female participation across the country. Furthermore, the department will support the existing women’s football community in the country and raise public awareness of the importance of women’s football. (Source)
Global leader in AI-powered sports recording and analysis technology, Veo Technologies has announced a partnership with West ham Women’s academy. Thanks to the partnership, West Ham Women will be able to use Veo’s AI camera technology to record and analyse training sessions. (Source)
INNOVATIONS AND NEW TRENDS
English OTT subscription-based streaming service DAZN will launch the football entertainment series ‘Yabecchi Stadium’ in Japan. The series, hosted by comedian Hiroyuki Yabe will feature weekly J. League news alongside exclusive player insights. (Source)
LAW, STAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) will become ‘Football Australia’ following a consultation process as part of the development of the XI Principles for the future of Australian football. The members of the FFA unanimously approved a proposal by FFA to change its company name. (Source)
“Today we took another significant step on this new journey we have embarked upon when the FFA Congress unanimously resolved to change the organisation’s name from Football Federation Australia to ‘Football Australia’. This new name – which we will transition to over the coming months – signifies a fresh and exciting start for the game under the new strategic agenda, and a return to the roots of football in Australia.” – Mr Chris Nikou, Chairman, FFA
The Association of Indian Football Coaches (AIFC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Union Nationale des Entraîneurs et Cadres Techniques professionnels du Football (UNECATEF), the association of coaches in France. The MoU will focus on the exchange of ideas, sharing best practices, and cultural exchange programs between the two countries and its’ coaches’ associations. (Source)
The Football Business Headlines – November 23rd, 2020
SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
The Football Business Academy partner Servette Fc has announced a partnership with football analytics experts StatsBomb. Thanks to the new partnership, the Swiss club will now be able to improve and enhance their performance analysis business. (Source)
The Football Business Academy partner and Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais has extended their partnership with Moroccan club Fath Union Sport (FUS). The collaboration allows the continuation of agreement between academies of both the clubs and sharing of expertise to promote local talent. (Source)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
The FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee (FSC) has acknowledged two landmark reforms for the protection of female players and football coaches. The proposed new rules guarantee the following minimum labor conditions for women players.
- Mandatory maternity leave of at least 14 weeks, at a minimum of two-thirds of the player’s contracted salary.
- On their return to work, clubs must reintegrate female players and provide adequate medical and physical support.
- No female player should ever suffer a disadvantage as a result of becoming pregnant, thus securing greater employment protection for women in football.
The new rules also establish minimum standards for contracts of the coaches. (Source)
“Following the recent phenomenal growth and the unprecedented success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France last year, women’s football is now entering its next stage of development. It follows that we also have to adopt a regulatory framework that is appropriate and suitable for the needs of the women’s game. Coaches play a vital role in the game, but historically they have been left outside the football regulatory framework. We needed to plug this gap and recognize the key role they have”: Gianni Infantino, FIFA President
INNOVATIONS AND NEW TRENDS
Serie A giants AC Milan and AIM Sport have announced a partnership for the digital overlay technology to be implemented at the San Siro stadium. The technology will allow the Italian club to advertise dedicated LED perimeter advertising campaigns that can be broadcasted to separate geographic audiences thereby opening new opportunities for the club’s partners. (Source)
Arsenal FC has become the first Premier League club to sign the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. The framework aims to bring together global sports organizations with a goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 by adhering to the five principles:
- Undertake systematic efforts to promote environmental responsibility
- Reduce overall climate impact
- Educate on climate action
- Promote sustainable and responsible consumption
- Advocate for climate action through communication (Source)
LAW, STAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
Roma Cares, an initiative of Italian club AS Roma has joined forces with the city of Rome to launch an anti-domestic violence campaign. Awareness will be raised on the issue of domestic violence through social services, anti-violence centres across the capital, and information and support through various institutions. (Source)
The Football Business Headlines – November 16th, 2020
SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
Indian Super League club FC Goa has announced a strategic partnership with the German Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. The focus of the partnership is on youth development, exchanging ideas, and making football industry knowledge more accessible. RB Leipzig’s academy coached will visit Goa to impart knowledge via workshops and FC Goa will be sending coaches and players from the club’s youth set-up for training and learning from the Bundesliga club. (Source)
Manchester United has entered into a strategic partnership with equality charity Stonewall, to promote diversity and inclusion under its banner of ‘All Red Are Equal’. The Premier League club will sign up to Stonewall’s Diversity Champions Program, which helps employers embed LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace. (Source)
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has selected Genius Sports Group as its exclusive live data and integrity partner. Genius Sports will have exclusive rights to capture official live game data from in-stadia across various competitions of AFA. (Source)
ESPORTS
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and South Korean electronics company LG will work together for the development of virtual football in Portugal. LG becomes the official sponsor of FPF esports. As part of the agreement, LG will introduce OLED technology as a unique experience to play virtual football and support the creation of esports spaces. (Source)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
FIFPro has released a new survey showing the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Women’s football. Data for the survey was collected from national player unions in 62 different countries from July through October. Key findings of the survey include:
- In 47 percent of countries player salaries were reduced or suspended
- In 26 percent of countries women’s clubs were not included in “return to play” protocols
- In 84 percent of countries players did not receive mental health support
- In the United States, the NWSL players association and the league negotiated contract guarantees for players covering salary, housing and benefits
The entire survey can be downloaded by clicking here.
INNOVATIONS AND NEW TRENDS
Chelsea Football Club becomes the first Premier League club to agree on a strategic partnership with Chinese social media platform Weibo. The club will provide unique and exclusive content on a daily basis to its fans in China through Weibo. (Source)
Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are joining the virtual fantasy football game Sorare. Sorare is 5 a side fantasy game where players collect cards on the digital platform and earn prizes every week. (Source)
STADIUM DEVELOPMENT AND FAN ENGAGEMENT
FC Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS) has completed the first phase of the IoTwins project. IoTwins is an innovative system that applies the internet of things and artificial intelligence to analyze and predict the movement of people inside and outside the club’s facilities. The project is funded by the European Commission and part of the Horizon 2020 program. (Source)
LAW, STAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
ELEVEN Sports has completed the acquisition of live streaming company MyCujoo and its streaming technology MyCujoo Live Services. The deal will see MyCujoo’s consumer platform being folded into ELEVEN and MyCujoo’s tech stack will power the new ELEVEN service. (Source)
“We’re delighted to welcome MyCujoo into the ELEVEN family. We will be coming together to give federations, teams, and players a new and improved home to showcase their talent. We aim to serve dedicated communities of supporters everywhere with a first-class global sports destination and thousands of hours of LIVE sport.”: Luis Vicente, ELEVEN CEO
“In ELEVEN, we’ve found a partner that not only shares our commitment to celebrating local and grassroots sport, but also accelerating untapped broadcast potential in live video for organizations worldwide.”: Pedro and João Presa, MyCujoo Co-founders
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that Unitel will be the first ever broadcaster in Mongolia for AFC Competitions. The deal from 2021 to 2024 includes all major AFC national team and club competitions including the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar, the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup from the 2021 season, the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 and the AFC U23 Asian Cup Finals 2022 and 2024.
The Football Business Headlines – November 9th, 2020
SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and tech company Bybit has announced a global multi-year partnership. Bybit is a fast-growing cryptocurrency platform and this partnership is a clear testament of Dortmund’s will to embrace innovative technologies. (Source)
Scottish professional football club Rangers FC has announced a partnership with Glasgow Airport for the 2020/21 season. As part of the partnership, there will be branding colors of Glasgow Airport at Ibrox Stadium, the home of Rangers. Furthermore, the club will have a significant advertising presence within the airport, and fans of the club will benefit from giveaways which will be announced later. (Source)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
BBC Sport and London based football media business COPA90 have partnered up for a global multi-platform women’s football podcast called ‘The Players’. The podcast hosted by The Football Business Academy guest lecturer Rebecca Smith will launch on November 11th and invites professional women’s football players to share their stories. The podcast revolves around themes like leadership, resilience, and relationships. (Source)
ESPORTS
Italian professional football club AC Milan has entered the Esports industry through a strategic partnership with QLASH, a leading global Esports organization. The Rossoneri’s team will be called AC Milan QLASH and will compete across both football simulation and other competitive tournaments. (Source)
“We’re happy to announce this brand-new partnership with QLASH. This agreement is another important step in our Club’s modernization and innovation path. We are sure it will be an exciting and incredible experience, both for us and for our fans around the world, and we’re delighted to be embarking on this new adventure in the world of Esports in partnership with a leading company like QLASH.“: Casper Stylsvig, Chief Revenue Officer, AC Milan
Premier League Club Wolverhampton Wanderer’s Esports team Wolves Esports has launched a Rocket League team. Wolverhampton has thus become the first Premier League club with an Esports team in the rocket league. Rocket League is a video game developed by Psyonix where rocket-powered cars play football. (Source)
INNOVATIONS AND NEW TRENDS
Serie A giants Juventus are joining streaming platform Amazon Prime video by launching its own television channel on the platform called Juventus TV. This is the first and only official channel of a European football club to be available on Prime Video. The channel will feature exclusive content, including player and staff interviews, and match broadcasts. (Source)
Manchester United has launched an official TikTok channel to engage their millions of fans around the world with exclusive behind the scenes content, engaging hashtag challenges, and other feature highlights. The channel ‘@manutd’ will also feature short-form videos of the first-team squad, U-23s, and women’s team players. (Source)
LAW, STAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has published its first-ever annual report of the Players’ Status Department. The report provides an overview of the player status department’s activities from 1st July 2019 to 30th June 2020 and is a part of FIFA’s push towards greater transparency. The entire report can be downloaded here.
The European Club Association (ECA) has published its annual report for the 2019/20 season. The report outlines the ECA’s activities during and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and summarizes work done with respective to the association’s six strategic goals. A full version of the report can be downloaded here.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Club Licensing Task Force approved the revisions to the AFC Club Licensing Regulations and recognised the need to introduce more innovative steps to enhance the professional development of football clubs within the region. Among the new recommendations were: inclusion of women’s team as well as provisions for child protection, welfare and humanitarian goals, regulations in areas of legal group structures, and the controlling parties of football clubs. The Task Force also agreed to introduce the AFC Women’s Champions League Club Licensing criteria. (Source)
The Football Business Headlines – November 2nd, 2020
SPONSORSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP
The English Football League (EFL) and pizza restaurant franchise Papa John’s have announced a three-year deal that will see Papa John’s become the official title sponsor of the EFL Trophy. The competition will now be rebranded as the ‘Papa John’s Trophy’. (Source)
Indian Super League club Hyderabad FC and Spanish club Marbella FC have announced a strategic tie-up. The partnership will give Hyderabad FC the liberty to utilize the facilities and infrastructure of the Andalusian club for conducting pre-season training in addition to using their medical personnel and facilities. (Source)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALL
FA Women’s Super League club Everton Women has signed a multi-year partnership with Russian based mobile network MegaFon. As part of the deal, MegaFon will receive branding on the front of the Everton Women’s jersey while mobile network operator Yota (which is also part of the MegaFon group) will be added to the left sleeve of the jersey. (Source)
INNOVATIONS AND NEW TRENDS
LaLiga club Real Betis Balompié launched a sustainability platform called ‘Forever Green’ for companies through football. The program endorsed by the United Nations and Amazon focuses on creating conscience about the current need to fight against climate change. Forever Green is developed in five key areas: climate change, recycling, mobility, nature, and a sustainable club. (Source)
Italian club AC Milan has joined Apple Music. The Rossoneri music includes two playlists: ‘Match Day’ and ‘Women’s Team’, featuring songs selected by the club’s players and will give fans a glimpse of the team’s day with songs that reflect the players during their training sessions and victory celebrations. (Source)
LAW, STAKEHOLDER GOVERNANCE AND FINANCE
The Football Association of England (The FA) launched a new Football Leadership Diversity Code to drive inclusion and diversity across English football. The Code, which was developed in collaboration with coaches, players, club executives, HR directors, media, and other prominent leaders, focuses on increasing equality of opportunity with hiring talents. Over 40 clubs from the Premier League, EFL, FA Women’s Super League, and FA Women’s Championship have already committed to the Code. A full version of the document can be downloaded by clicking here.
The UAE Pro League and the Israeli Professional Football League have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), a first of its kind deal in the Middle East region. The agreement aims to lay a foundation for cooperation and securing a joint mechanism to achieve practical steps to develop all matters related to football. The MoU includes terms to hold workshops for developing the marketing and promotional side of the competitions, developing the technical aspects of the game, and being updated with the sports sector. (Source)
“We look forward to the contribution that this agreement would bring to establishing bilateral workshops to share experiences, research, and technology in football and the development of administrative and technical work. We also aim to organize joint activities between the two leagues and to assure cooperation to reinforce the economic – commercial – technological and technical sides between the two leagues.” – Abdulla Naser Al Junaibi, Chairman of the UAE Pro League
“It shall not only be a bridge between football clubs, but shall also be a platform for a series of initiatives – business, technologies and above all – will be a bridge for the development of social and cultural ties between people from both sides.” – Erez Halfon, Chairman of the Israeli Professional Football League
STADIUM DEVELOPMENT AND FAN ENGAGEMENT
FBA Partners, Olympique Lyonnais are planning to unveil the Olympique Lyonnais Arena project by the end of 2023. Located right next to the Groupama Stadium, the Arena can host cultural, sporting, or economic events. The arena would be a continuation of the OL Vallée project led by OL Groupe and will accommodate up to 16,000 people on four levels. (Source)
About The Football Business Academy Master Degree in Football Business
The Football Business Academy is a Swiss-based high level international educational institution whose goal is to professionalize the management of the football industry and facilitate the insertion of qualified professionals and future leaders in the game. Its flagship program, a Professional Master in Football Business, was codeveloped with international football industry experts from around the world around one foremost objective: to provide Candidates with all the necessary tools and an optimal learning environment in order to succeed in this passionate and dynamic industry.
