Marketing & Sponsorship

Arsenal, Liverpool net long-term partnerships with Google Pixel

Published

1 year ago

August 10, 2023

The English Premier League giants, Arsenal FC and Liverpool FC (LFC) have inked long-term partnerships with Google Pixel.

With this new arrangement, the two English top-flight football clubs have named Google Pixel as their official mobile phone partner.

Pixel will collaborate with both clubs’ men’s and women’s sides to help bring fans closer to the sport, using Pixel’s AI-powered technology.

This will contain unique material in addition to a tech-driven experience, with the gadget utilizing Google’s AI-enhanced camera technologies to amplify fan experiences throughout Anfield, Emirates Stadium, Meadow Park, and Prenton Park, as well as for supporters watching at home.

Furthermore, Pixel will also collaborate with Liverpool FC to develop its first dedicated women’s football program on YouTube in the first year of the arrangement along with partnering with Arsenal FC to broadcast unique pitchside videos of every home Premier League and Women’s Super League game. In addition, both teams will collaborate with Pixel to create a ‘Pitchside, Presented by Pixel’ multimedia series.

The clubs will also work with Google on Pixel FC, a group of specialized women’s football video makers who were unveiled ahead of the Women’s World Cup. Pixel FC members will get ‘long-term assistance’ from Pixel across the 2023–24 season, which includes unique access, training, resources, and investment.

Eileen Mannion, Vice President of Marketing at Google UK, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Arsenal and Liverpool football clubs. As their official mobile phone partner, Google Pixel will use its legendary AI-powered camera to enhance the matchday experience, bringing fans closer to the game they love, by helping them capture all the emotions of football. We will also work with both clubs to help close the visibility gap for the women’s game, delivering on our commitment of making football more accessible and equitable for all fans.”

Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal Football Club, said, “Our priority is to put our supporters at the heart of everything we do and we’re extremely pleased to announce this exciting partnership with Google Pixel that will help us achieve this. This is a first for us and will bring supporters much closer to the action through high quality content. This latest partnership is one of the many ways we are enhancing the club’s presence and transforming the game for football supporters everywhere. I’m particularly proud that it will help to make the game more accessible and boost the visibility of women’s football on the global stage.”

Ben Latty, Commercial Director at Liverpool Football Club, commented, “We are incredibly proud to be announcing this Partnership between Liverpool FC and Google Pixel. At LFC, it is important to us that we are not only Partnering with the biggest and most exciting brands, but that the brands we are Partnering with allow us to offer something of real value to our supporters. We are looking forward to seeing how over the course of the Partnership we will work together to give fans of our men’s, and women’s first teams exclusive content and experiences that will bring them closer to the game they love.”

The defending champions will commence their new edition in the season opener itself against Burnley FC while the Gunners will take on Nottingham Forest on Matchday 1.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Marketing & Sponsorship

DFB Betting Partner Interwetten Stops Making Markets In German Amateur Football

Published

21 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Germany-based bookmaker Interwetten, a partner of the DFB, has stopped offering betting markets for all amateur matches in the country.

The decision was taken after news last month that police in Germany confirmed they are investigating potential betting related match-fixing in 17 lower-league matches.

Matches being investigated were from Germany’s professional third division (3. Liga), semi-professional fourth tier (Regionalliga) and amateur fifth tier (Oberliga). Authorities said they are looking into suspicious refereeing decisions and unusual behaviour from goalkeepers and defenders.

As well as pulling betting markets from the men’s and women’s amateur game (both on their domestic and international platforms), Interwetten have tightened their betting registration rules.

German-based customers can no longer register for its international platform, and international gamblers cannot register on the German platform.

“We very much welcome this decision by Interwetten,” says Dr. Holger Blask, CEO of DFB GmbH & Co. KG.

“This shows the partner’s sense of responsibility. We are both convinced that a controlled sports betting market with licensed sports betting providers ensures proper game play and thus the integrity of sporting competition, as well as best taking player protection into account.”

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Marketing & Sponsorship

Adidas Release Absolutely Stunning Jude Bellingham Signature Predator

Published

21 hours ago

October 16, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Adidas has unveiled its first ever Predator football boot in collaboration with Jude Bellingham, Named ‘Belligold’, the England midifelder helped design the premium look and colourway, with the Adidas Preadator Elite x Jude Bellingham set to debut at Estadio de Balaídos as Real Madrid take on Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Along with the Predator unveiling, Adidas has also released a signature Gazelle trainer and another Bellingham Originals clothing collection. There’s a consistent theme throughout, as the 21-year-old continues to take world football by storm. What most will care about, though, is the stunning Predators…

Featuring the soon-to-be iconic ‘JB’ logo – Jude Bellingham’s initials, of course – on the fold-over tongue, the Adidas Predator Elite comes in a sleek black and gold colourway with subtle detailing and accents throughout.

Winning the Champions League and La Liga in his first season at Real Madrid is certainly the inspiration for that colourway, and is further emphasised by the catching gold outsole adorning the soleplate the boot. Bellingham’s La Liga Player of the Year award is just reason for the gold and black colourway, too.

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Marketing & Sponsorship

Brazil Cracks Down On Unlicensed Bookmakers’ Club Sponsorships

Published

3 days ago

October 14, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said it will enforce a ban on club sponsorship by bookmakers across all levels of Brazilian football starting last Friday (11 October).

Clubs and leagues have been instructed to end deals with operators lacking approval from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), following orders from the Ministry of Finance.

This move affects five Série A clubs, including Grêmio, Corinthians, Bahia, and Palmeiras, all of which are sponsored by Esportes da Sorte – the company challenging the SPA’s licensing process.

Athletico Paranaense has already suspended its sponsorship with the company, though other clubs maintain their partnerships.

The CBF’s decision aligns with Brazil’s broader effort to regulate betting through a new licensing regime, aimed at controlling the rapidly growing sports betting market in the country.

The SPA has issued 90 licenses but faced criticism from betting companies left out of the process, such as Esportes da Sorte, which only holds a state-level license from Rio de Janeiro, now invalid nationally due to a recent ruling.

Brazil has been plagued by allegations of betting related match-fixing with the unlicensed betting market impacting not only the sporting integrity of Brazilian football but also the country’s broader economic and legal framework.

However, betting sponsorships have quickly become a crucial revenue source for many clubs.

The lights-out approach adopted by Brazil’s regulators differs from that in Europe where regulators have generally given betting operators more time to comply with new regulations amid growing concerns of the need to increase consumer protections. In Brazil the issue has been that regulation has not been fast enough to keep up with the explosion of bookmakers in the market and the clubs’ financial ecosystems.