Six Nations in-game ads pave way for football to be split into quarters Sport Business Like many Welsh rugby fans, the highlight of the first round of the Six Nations was the small moment of relief granted by the ad breaks in either half, twenty seconds of respite from giving away penalties, points and accumulating yellow cards. I’m not sure everyone was as pleased to see them as me. They [...]
Is Guinness Bristol City deal a sign of football shirt sponsorships to come? Sport Business Looming exit of betting companies from football front-of-shirt sponsorship opens the door for more consumer brands like Guinness to return, writes Matthew Fletcher-Jones. Having made the often-regrettable decision to support Tottenham Hotspur in the 1980s, I’m still pleased to see any corner shop selling Holsten Pils – the club’s shirt sponsor throughout my youth. Chelsea [...]
Snoop Dogg, Reynolds and Modric: What’s luring stars to Welsh football? Sport Business From Wrexham to Swansea and, perhaps soon, Cardiff: is the need for narratives leading the rich and famous to Welsh football? Two years ago, an American couple at Crewe train station asked me if they were on the right platform. They’d travelled from the other side of the world to go on a football pilgrimage. [...]
The best and worst sports marketing campaigns of 2024 December 25, 2024 In the true Christmas spirit of judging others, I’ve looked at my favourite – and not so favourite – sports marketing campaigns of 2024. I had planned to hand out awards with categories based on the startling number of current football pundits who were in Graham Taylor’s Euro 92 England squad. The Gary Lineker Award [...]
Manchester United have got it right where Jaguar rebrand got it wrong November 30, 2024 Manchester United are showing Jaguar that inclusivity is about doing, not just showing, through their action on prostate cancer, writes Matthew Fletcher-Jones. It’s been a good week or so for football. Promotion for England and Wales in the Nations League (a format innovation that actually works), a Premier League weekend with the champions in ‘crisis’, [...]
Why sponsorship at the 2023 Rugby World Cup offered hope for a troubled sport November 10, 2023 For once, it wasn't more of the same brands doing the same things.
Trussonomics, Super League and Qatar World Cup: Why proactive PR matters November 10, 2022 Communications expert Matthew Fletcher-Jones explains why Qatar and Fifa are fighting a losing PR battle over perceptions of this year’s World Cup. Imagine you proposed a revolutionary approach, promising growth and a brighter future. Yet you never got out of the blocks as your first step was revealing that the rich would get richer. Revolutions [...]
Why sport is taking over terrestrial TV airwaves again February 21, 2022 If you’ve turned on your subscription-free, Nadine Dorries-unfriendly, terrestrial TV recently you may have been transported back to a time when moustachioed behemoths like Dickie Davies and Des Lynam ruled the afternoon airwaves – for we again live in an era of live, free-to-air sport. Of course, you may not have noticed. Sky and BT [...]
The strange case of The Hundred: a North-South divide? January 1, 2022 Recently this country has been roughly split down the middle on, well, virtually everything. Opinions are polarised and if there’s a fence in the middle, we’re damn well not sitting on it. Summer 2021 saw a new concept dividing the nation. Sports fans, I give you the strange case of The Hundred. Unlike most cricket [...]
Why brand Manchester United keeps them hooked November 30, 2021 Around this time of year, Christmas comes early for many football fans with the release of the immersive fantasy world that is Football Manager. Will this be the year I take Newport County from League Two to Champions League glory? Let’s spend 250 hours over the next 12 months finding out. In this year’s game [...]
