Toyota pulls Olympic related TV ads in Japan on eve of Games amid public opposition to Tokyo 2020 going ahead July 19, 2021 Major Olympic sponsor Toyota says it will not air Tokyo 2020-related TV advertising in Japan during the Games amid negative public sentiment towards the event. The Japanese car-maker has also decided not to send any executives to the opening ceremony, which takes place on Friday. More than half of Japanese are opposed to the delayed [...]
The brands that won Euro 2020, from Volkswagen’s tiny ball-carrying car to Bud Light ‘box heads’ and ITV super-pundit Emma Hayes July 12, 2021 Italy were deserved winners of Euro 2020, which will be remembered as one of the best football tournaments all of time. Off the field brands have had their own competition for the hearts and wallets of consumers. Here are my thoughts on who emerged as the winners. EE EE is a long-standing sponsor of the [...]
Burnley Women agree groundbreaking deal with TikTok to live-stream all home matches on the social media platform July 3, 2021 Burnley FC Women are to become the first UK football team to live-stream all of their home matches on TikTok. The groundbreaking arrangement is part of a wider deal with the social media platform which also sees TikTok become the team’s sleeve sponsor. It is the latest innovation adopted by Burnley FC’s American owners ALK [...]
Sport sees steep fall in gambling sponsorship as government considers ban and demand grows for social responsibility, says new study July 3, 2021 Gambling sponsorship in sport has fallen sharply ahead of a possible ban, a new report has found. The number of betting companies sponsoring sports teams in England has almost halved since 2019, according to the study by consultancy Caytoo. Gambling’s share of the market has dropped from 15.3 per cent to 8.1 per cent and [...]
Net profits: Andy Murray on life as an entrepreneur and investor, his new sports drink venture and why he’ll focus more on business after tennis June 25, 2021 Sportswear entrepreneur Tom Beahon can remember one of his first meetings with Andy Murray, at the 2019 Australian Open. “Andy was in his hotel room, watching a Djokovic match, making notes on which side of the service box Novak was serving to just in case he played him in that tournament,” recalls Beahon, whose company, [...]
Explained: Why Cristiano Ronaldo’s Coke snub at Euro 2020 was not the cause of Coca-Cola’s share price drop June 17, 2021 Cristiano Ronaldo was credited with knocking $4bn off the value of Coca-Cola earlier this week when he snubbed the soft drink – but does the theory stack up? The Portuguese football superstar pointedly moved two bottles of Coke from his desk at a Euro 2020 press conference and instead held up a bottle of water, [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Ukraine told to change Russia-baiting Euro 2020 kit; Germany muscles in on London NFL patch; beIN and Channel 4 bag rights deals June 10, 2021 Euro 2020 may not have started yet but it has already kicked off between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine tweaked the nose of Russia earlier this week when it revealed a Moscow-baiting new football kit, to be worn at Euro 2020. The yellow shirt features a map of Ukraine that includes Crimea, which Russia annexed in [...]
Private equity giant CVC in talks to invest in OneTennis, a proposed merger between of the men’s ATP Tour and women’s WTA Tour June 7, 2021 CVC Capital Partners is in talks to buy a stake in a proposed new entity that combines the men’s and women’s tennis tours, according to reports. OneTennis would unify the ATP Tour and WTA Tour under one organisation, with CVC taking a minority shareholding in the new commercial vehicle. Approval for the merger could come [...]
Premier League deal: Fast-growing sportswear brand owned by Andy Murray signs up Wolverhampton Wanderers May 21, 2021 Fast-growing UK sportswear brand Castore, which is part owned by Sir Andy Murray, has agreed its first kit deal with a Premier League club. The company will now supply Wolverhampton Wanderers in a multi-year partnership thought to be worth several million pounds. It comes less than a week after it was disclosed that the Liverpool-based [...]
Bankers appointed to find buyers for Rugby World Cup commercial rights April 20, 2021 The Rugby World Cup could be set for a commercial shake-up with City bankers now working with rugby’s governing body. Jefferies and Rothschild have been appointed by World Rugby to appraise their fundraising options after a year disrupted by Covid-19, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman has reported. Sources told Kleinman that the body would speak to [...]