Marketing & Sponsorship

FIFA, Konami Push Partnership Button Esports World Cups

After a gap in which FIFA was left without a major partner in the esports arena following the licensing fallout with EA Sports over the EA Sports long-running FIFA series, the world governing body has agreed a collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment Co.

Two editions of the FIFAe World Cup will be played on the Konami platform, utilising both mobile and gaming consoles.

EA Sports and its rebranded EA FC game runs its own global championships.

“We are incredibly excited to join forces with Konami. This collaboration aligns perfectly with our mission to promote football globally and to provide a platform for players to showcase their skills,” said Romy Gai, FIFA Chief Business Officer.

Qualifying for the FIFAe World Cup began yesterday. In the first year of the tournament, 18 nations have been invited with the participants selected on factors such as their player base and the previous performances of competitors from the respective countries.

Komani, senior executive officer Koji Kobayashi said: “At Konami we have continued to take on challenges in the development of football simulation and esports. We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the promotion of eFootball in a new dimension through this collaboration with FIFAe.”

Komani does have recent previous experience in this environment having hosted eFootball tournaments, most notably the Championship 2024 Club Event this year with European clubs, as well as the eJLeague in collaboration with the JLeague.

No value was given for the two-World Cup deal and Konami isn’t licensing the FIFA brand name for its game.

Since FIFA’s fallout with EA Sports (in 2020, $158.9 million of the governing body’s $266.5 million in total revenue for the year came from licensing rights, $100 million reckoned to be from EA Sports), FIFA has promised that it would be creating its own bigger and better video game with the belief that use of its FIFA name would blow allcomers – like EA FC and Konami – out the water.

It hasn’t so far and EA Sports and its new EA FC game have gone from strength to strength, proving that actually in the esports world, FIFA’s name doesn’t have a huge value, it is actually all about the game.

FIFA had wanted a significant increase on the reported $100 million a year EA was paying them for use of their name. EA took the view that they were overvaluing their license and FIFA brand name – it was their game and their ball and they took it away.

FIFA is now back in the esports game with a significant video gamemaker in Konami and with a branded FIFA efootball World Cup. But not yet with a branded efootball game that can compete with the efootball gold standard of EA FC, and unlikely anywhere near the $100 million per year they were receiving from EA.

Marketing & Sponsorship

Liverpool Sign $77.36 million Adidas Deal To Replace Nike

Liverpool have announced a multi-year kit deal with Adidas that will begin next season, replacing existing manufacturer Nike.

The club previously sported Adidas kits between 1985 to 1996, and again between 2006 and 2012. Liverpool did not say how long the new Adidas deal would be. British media reports previously said it was a five-year agreement worth more than £60 million per year.

The Premier League record kit deal belongs to Manchester United after they signed a £90m-per-year contract with Adidas in July 2023.

“Everyone at the club is incredibly excited to welcome adidas back into the LFC family,” Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan said in a statement on Monday.

“We have enjoyed fantastic success together in the past and created some of the most iconic LFC kits of all time. adidas and Liverpool share an ambition of success and we couldn’t be more excited to partner together again as we look forward to creating more incredible kits to help drive on pitch performance. We’d like to thank Nike for their support over the last five years and wish them well for the future.”

Marketing & Sponsorship

Lagos Sports Commission DG, Gaslink Commission Newly Refurbished Elegbata Sports Centre

Lagos State Sports scores another milestone in the public/private partnership with the recently commissioned Elegbata Sports Centre, Elegbata on Lagos Island.

Director General Lekan Fatodu led top management staff of the Lagos State Sports Commission to the Elegbata Sports Centre for the brief commissioning of the sports centre.

Also on hand was the Managing Director, Gas Distribution Axxela, Kehinde Alabi who also came along with some staff of the company.

Sports Marketing International reports that Gaslink refurbished the playing turf, perimeter fence, spectator gallery stand, and improved the overall aesthetic of the sports centre.

Marketing & Sponsorship

Niger Delta Sports Festival: Akwa Ibom ready to host – Gov Umoh Eno

The maiden edition of the Niger Delta Sports Festival has received a major boost with the assurance by the Akwa Ibom State Government of its readiness to host.

The State Governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umoh Eno, gave the assurance on Thursday during a courtesy visit by the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission led by the Managing Director, Dr Sam Ogbuku, accompanied Executive Director, Sector Directors, and the Project Consultants, Dunamis Icon, to brief the Governor on the objectives for instituting the multi sports competition and plans for its successful realisation.

Thanking the NDDC for initiating the festival and choosing Akwa Ibom State as host of the maiden edition, Gov Enoh said the visit by the NDDC shows it’s seriousness on the project.

“We thank you for the privilege to host. Your visit shows your seriousness, and there is no way we will reject it.

“The festival will promote the unity in our diversity and also help the local economy through the various commercial activities, from patronage of hotels, food, transportation and other things involved.

“We will set up a small committee to work with you to deliver the event. We look forward to welcoming the Niger Delta, and together, we will have a good time.”

On the availability of required sports facilities, the governor expressed pleasure that successive administrations in the state have contributed to the stock.

“These facilities have come through the combination of works done by each administration. The Godswill Akpabio Stadium done by our present Senate President has stood the test of time, and it also takes great efforts to maintain and sustain it.”

L-R: MD of NDDC, Dr Sam Ogbuku; Akwa Ibom State Governor, His Excellency, Pastor Umoh Eno; NDDC Executive Director of Projects, Sir Victor Antai; and Exective Director, Corporate Services, Hon Ifedayo Abegunde

Earlier in his address, the NDDC Managing Director said the key objectives of the initiative is to foster regional integration, project the identity of the region as a leader in Nigerian sports, and support the partner the states in the discovery and harnessing of talents for the attainment of gainful sporting careers and national excellence in international competitions.

“The Niger Delta is a leading sports hub in Nigeria. The region has produced great sports legends, but when we do not do something to sustain that, there will be a decline.

“We have done very well in our interventions on roads, bridges, education, health, the provision of infrastructure in various other sectors, and as we mark the 25th anniversary of the NDDC, we are starting with intervention in sports.

“We have had a meeting with the commissioners for sports of the nine states, and they are excited and confirmed their participation in the festival.”

“We chose Akwa Ibom after having confirmed that the state has the facilities for competition in the featured sports and we would only need to do a few touches on some of them, with the Godswill as the main venue.”

Rhe NDDC entourage included Sir Victor Antai, Executive Director, Projects; Hon Ifedayo Abegunde, Executive Director, Corporate Services; Apostle Edikan Nkono, Akwa Ibom representative on the board of the NDDC; Directors of various operational departments; Sir Itiako Ikpokpo, Chairman of Dunamis Icon Limited, and other officers of the company.

The Niger Delta Sports Festival is scheduled for April 1 to 8, 2025, with Uyo as the host city.

The activities would start with state trials and selection process, which the organisers say would begin from the local government areas and across the 85 federal constituencies in the region.