2016-09-23

FIFA CLUBS’ WORLD CUP

FIFA are considering a World Cup for clubs, involving top teams from European leagues, the Chinese Super League and South American Leagues. The proposed competition would be played every two years and would be a major upgrade of the current FIFA Club World Cup, usually played in December.

The current FIFA Club World Cup is an annual seven-team tournament, played in the middle of the European season. The new proposal would mean the biennial competition would coincide with the years when there is neither a FIFA World Cup nor a UEFA European Championship.

The changes will satisfy European clubs, as the competition wouldn’t disrupt their domestic season, it will also act as a platform to boost the profile of other global leagues such as the CSL. FIFA will be hoping that the changed format will increase attendances, the 2015 tournament averaged 31,600 spectators.



EUROPEAN CLUBS EARN €2.65BN

This week Sports Sponsorship Insider published a report surveying sponsorship deals across the top 12 European football leagues and 25 selected UEFA Champions League teams. The report shows that this group of European clubs will generate €2.85bn during the 2016/17 season through sponsorships alone.

Premier League kit suppliers and shirt sponsorships dominate all of Europe; the 20 clubs will generate €512.3m this season through these deals alone, more than La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A combined. Despite the Premier League clubs dominance in earnings, it’s the Bundesliga that average the most sponsors per club. Each side averages 30.5 sponsors, where as Premier League clubs are represented by 13.8 sponsors.

Across all of the European clubs the three sectors with the most club deals are banking, with 143 club partnerships. The beer industry follows with 132 deals and in third is the gambling sector with 121 deals.



SKY & ITV INVEST IN ESPORTS
UK broadcasters Sky and ITV have each invested £1.55m in Ginx TV, which owns the 24hour esports channel Ginx eSports TV. Esports is traditionally viewed via live streams or YouTube, however the dedicated channel was launched on Sky’s platform in June and is the only channel of its type in the UK and Ireland.

GINX eSports TV is the largest eSports channel in the world, reaching 37 million homes and with esports viewing figures over 200 million on all platforms professional sports teams certainly see the value it can bring to their organisation, with many employing dedicated esports players.

In July Manchester City signed 18 year old Kieran Brown to represent the club at esports tournaments. West Ham and Wolfsberg have also acquired the help of professional gamers to build the clubs’ virtual presence.



XTRADE CR7 HUB

SportQuake client, XTrade, has launched their new online portal focussing on their brand ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo. The engagement tool allows fans to access stats about the Real Madrid player, as well as live feeds to all his social networks which have a following of over 241 million.

XTrade, who signed the deal with Ronaldo in March, are using the hub to hold a lottery draw for customers that sign up for an account with the brokerage. The main prize is a trip for two to Madrid where the winner will have the chance to watch CR7 play.

Crisitano Ronaldo, who won Euro 2016 with his Portuguese team-mates said that “to be a winner on the pitch you need the right tools. Online trading is no different, this is why I choose XTrade”.

SPORTQUAKE AWARD NOMINATIONS
SportQuake have been named as finalists for three industry sports awards for our work over the last year. SportQuake are nominated for two Asian Sport Industry Awards; ‘Best Sports Organisation of the Year’ and ‘Best Sponsorship of a Sport or Team’ for the work with consumer finance provider Home Credit and clubs in the CSL. SPIA Asia 2016 recognises and celebrates the achievements made by the sporting industry in Asia, this years’ awards will be held on the 3rd and 4th of October in Bangkok.

The agency are also nominated for the Football Business Awards’ ‘Agency of the Year’, recognition is based on campaigns including Sky Sports #PLMoments, Papa John’s #STHP and BetStars #GameChangers. The Football Business Awards recognise and reward the hard work that takes place to support the success of the game and will take place at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in November.

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