What now for Brand Beckham?

So it ends. David Beckham has played his last game for LA Galaxy, so after 5 years & 2 MLS trophies has Brand Beckham worked in the USA? After a scout on YouTube alone you can see Golden Balls being the face of  H &M Burger King & Sharpie pens over in the states. Whilst aside from advertising Beckham has appeared on the likes of the Elen Show, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman & Jay Leno.

All of which are major shows on American TV and will only serve to boost the game. Whilst Beckham has moved to the Galaxy the league has seen an influx of European players coming to the MLS towards the end of their career. In recent years Alessandro Nesta, Freddy Ljungberg, Rafael Marquez, Tim Cahill & Thierry Henry have all moved to the MLS.

Beckham was the trailblazer in many respects. The Midfielder had plenty of other options to join elsewhere when Galaxy came calling in 2007 with a salary cap busting wage offer and the promise of some shares in the club. Something that according to reports Beckham is interested in taking up.

Realistically now whatever the next stop is for the Brand Beckham bandwagon it should be his last. At 37 now Beckham perhaps has two maybe three good seasons left in him, and a move to a lower profile league would be a likelier option, where Beckham can wind down and count his sponsorship millions.  So whats more refreshing than a run down of some of the least fancied options for Beckham on his next club move.

Australia

Recent speculation has link Beckham with the A-league in recent weeks. Something which has just as last week was rejected from Beckham's camp. The Australian league is in its relative infancy having just formed in 2004. This year marked a serious change of tact from the sides, with selected clubs choosing to  pursue 'Marquee signings'. With former internationals  Shinji Ono, Brett Emerton & Err Emile Heskey all joining up. 

Pick of the star signings was Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero  who signed up for Sydney FC. Understandably the frenzy was inevitable and the league even created a 'Del Piero day' to market tickets for the games. Currently two teams have thrown their hat into the ring from the A-League in the form of Perth Glory & Melbourne Heart. The move certainly could make sense for Becks if he wishes to boost the profile of football in a far flung land. Just like he did when he signed for the Galaxy in 2006. 

Russia

 Perhaps a slightly left field shout would be Russia. In recent years the Russian Premier league has managed to snare the talents of  Hulk, Guus Hiddink, Slaven Bilic, Samuel Eto & David Bentley . The league is getting more competitive, and after winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup, the addition of Beckham would serve as a significant boon for the league and country.A move would definitely highlight the league to more established stars.

Money certainly would not be a problem for any potential buyers, as Russia is home to the world's most highest paid footballer in Samuel Eto'o. The Cameroon international earns a staggering £364,583 per week with Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. So if Beck's is looking to add to his status as the worlds richest sports person, he certainly could benefiting from receiving some pocket money from Russia's mega rich Oligarchs. 


China



Finally the last option on the Brand Beckham radar could be China. The country has in previous years gone to Beatle Mania like lengths of frenzy when Golden Balls visited Guangzhou with Real Madrid. Like Russia the league is furnished with a number of millionaires who are fast filling up teams with former European based players.

In the last two years Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Lucas Barrios  Yakubu &  Marcello Lippi have all made the Chinese Super league their home (along with a hefty pay rise).  Foreign players are on a quota of four per team, however teams competing in the Asian Champions league can call upon a extra foreign player. Perhaps Beckham could serve as a glamorous signing for a top 4 Chinese side.  

Beckham will of course not be the first English superstar to play in China. Notable players include Paul 'Gazza' Gascoines stint in 2003 with  Gansu Tianma & former Aston Villa 'danger man' Marlon Harewood lacing up with Shenzhen Phoenix for a six month stint in which he scored an impressive 4 goals.

Wherever Beckham decides to call home he will be inundated with offers from all the right places. Us at TDF will be looking on with interest hoping, wishing & even praying that Golden Balls heads to one of these destinations. Just so we can say 'we told you so!' 

Van Der Sar makes Marketing Move.

Ajax’s newest signing sees the return of Dutch goalkeeping legend Edwin van Der Sar as the club side’s marketing director (no seriously).

A report in UK business title Marketing Week, reports that the ex-Holland no.1 will head up the Amsterdam side’s marketing activity meaning he will now concern himself with organising Ajax’s Facebook wall as opposed to one defending a free kick.

Van der Sar’s publicly commented on his new appointment with his below post on his official Twitter profile merely remarking on his joy returning to Ajax.





This was after a glittering playing career that also saw him between the sticks at Juventus and Manchester United that saw him collect two Champion’s League Winners medals among others.

In light of the laboured Facebook/defensive wall pun made above – sorry we just wanted to get a digital angle on it – we’ve included the below video of some highlights of Van der Sar’s playing career, where indeed his prowess for organising walls is in evidence. 

Inter Milan’s Sneijder joins Twitter’s footballer blacklist

Inter Milan has banned Wesley Sneijder from using Twitter making him the latest in a long line of footballers to fall foul of authorities over their use of the social networking site.

The revelation was made last week via a post on the Holland-born midfielder’s wife’s official Twitter page where she said: “My husband @ sneijder101010 can not write more about Twitter, the choices of society…”

The actual post, in Italian, can be seen below, and the above translation is one using Google translate but it appears the sidelined Dutchman has been asked to remain silent on his feelings at the club.  

 

Although neither Twitter nor Inter have officially responded to the reports, since his wife’s original post on the social network earlier this month, the only post on Sneijder’s official profile has been the below post cheering on his native Holland against longtime foes Germany.
 

 

So it would appear that Sneijder, who has never caused much controversy on the social network, especially when compared to his English Premiership counterparts such as Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Wayne Rooney to mention a few, now finds himself served with a gagging order from his employers. 
 
In fact the conduct of professional players in the English leagues prompted the FA to issue guidelines on what they can and cannot post on such public forums, with on-field sanctions threatened should they fall out of perceived public decency. One report on the matter attributed this quote to an English FA spokesman:

“If players do not adhere to the rules they could face a range of sanctions including monetary fines, warnings and suspensions. This goes for all our rules.”






Total Digital Football will be looking Mr Sneijder's situation with some interest in January. Especially after being linked so heavily with Manchester United in the summer. The midfielder has only appeared three times this season for Inter in Serie A with the Nerazzurri currently in second place, just four points behind rivals Juventus.
 

Best signs up with BT.

 BT Sport are set to strengthen again by recruiting Grant Best, as senior channel executive producer. Best is one of the most highly regarded directors of live sport directing and producing more than 1,000 live sports events worldwide winning a Sports EMMY for his work on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

This also comes in the wake of BT poaching Jake Humphrey from the BBC, as presenter for the telecoms giant's Premier league football coverage. BT won the rights to show 38 live games a season for three seasons, including 18 of the best quality ‘first pick’ games,  which is the first time anyone but Sky has won any of the prime live Premier League matches. This comes in the wake of the mega £3Billion deal brokered in the summer, in which BT will be paying £246 million per season beating ESPN for the rights

Best will begin his new role on November 1 and will report to Simon Green, director of BT Sport.

Simon Green said: “We are delighted to have secured someone of Grant’s quality to help to mould the new sports channel. We know that we have to make this a top quality channel that sports fans feel they can’t afford to ignore. That is why we are bolstering the in-house talents at BT with some of the finest TV talents to work behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Grant’s quality and pedigree cannot be questioned and we are very happy that he’s decided to join us to be involved in this incredible opportunity to build a brilliant new sports channel.”

With BT set to step into the world of football broadcasting next season, we at Total Digital Football will be looking on with interest. It's also just been announced that the company have signed deals with MLS, Ligue 1 in France, Serie A in Italy & the Brazilian championship to broadcast over the next three seasons.

The brand will have to pull out the stops to prove itself as a credible rival to Sky Sports dominance in the arena, whilst the poaching of Humphrey and the hiring of Best seem wise additions to the telecoms behemoth's fledgling football broadcast team.  

Newcastle to end Virgin Money deal with Wonga waiting in the background.

Newcastle United is set to end it's association with Virgin Money canceling the deal with the Richard Branson owned company a year early.

The two year deal, which is estimated to be worth £10million will be cancelled early at the clubs request. Virgin Money came in early last January as the clubs principle kit sponsor in the wake of the Northern Rock banking bailout scandal.

The Magpies will now be on the look out for a new sponsor, with the club revealing a new deal should be announced soon. Controversial owner Mike Ashley has recently secured significant capital from the beleaguered sports retailer JJB. With the Wigan based company officially  going to liquidation yesterday. Ashley's company Sports Direct is set to secure the JJB brand, website and 20  existing stores in a £24m deal.

Of course this is not the first time that Newcastle have experimented with new sponsorship deals, the club renamed the iconic St James Park to the Sports Direct Arena in November 2011 with the club saying at the time the change is a temporary measure to "showcase" the sponsorship opportunitys to "interested parties". However little interest seems to have emerged on the deal, which was seen as an incredible PR mistake from the Newcastle hierarchy.

Speaking of the breakdown of the deal Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money said: "We were delighted to sponsor Newcastle United given the club's importance to the North East and had hoped that this would be a relationship that would flourish for years to come.

"However, they have found a different option and we have to respect that.We remain sponsor until the end of the current season and the Virgin Money name will continue to be worn on the iconic black and white shirts until then."

Speculation will now be rife as the potential new & stadium sponsors being lined up, recent reports linking the payday loans company Wonga with an £8million pound deal potentially on the cards. The company who already have a sponsorship with Championship side Blackpool, are the purveyor of loans which are payable back at extortionate rates of interest. Although the prospect of the Magpies of running out at the Wonga stadium is pretty funny, it's hardly the best example for a Premier League club of Newcastle's stature to take.

Newcastle have in the past have had a long and successful relationship with Newcastle Brown Ale in the past. With many of the kit designs transcending that tricky football stand to fashion boundary (well at least in Newcastle!) The awkward image below sums up the status of the kit in the late 90's of the shirt of choice for many North Eastern gents. With the bloke at the center of the picture, the toast of his friends.

Regardless of what happens with the deal, the powers at be should consider what to do in terms of the clubs next sponsorship opportunity. If all being well the club could have the potential to sell itself to a whole new world of fans, however if the proposed Wonga deal was to go through it could spell another PR disaster for the Toon Army.

Manchester City Link up with Hugo Boss.

Manchester City  has today announced yet another new partnership with Hugo Boss that will see the global fashion brand become the Club’s exclusive fashion and clothing partner of the first team. This goes along with a number of new deals signed by the Champions of England with Forsquare  &  Nike which have been covered in this humble blog.  

The partnership between Manchester City and Hugo Boss will ensure the first team squad, which includes stars such as Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, Mario Balotelli and Yaya Toure look just as sharp off the pitch as they do on it. As part of the partnership, Hugo Boss will design the player’s Club suits which are worn during official Manchester City engagements and Cup Finals. 

 Hugo Boss will also work closely with the Club and players on a range of photo-shoots, video content and money can’t buy experiences. Speaking of the Partnership, Tom Glick, new Chief Commercial & Operations Officer for Manchester City Football Club, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Hugo Boss to our family of partners at what is a very exciting time in the Club’s history.  Hugo Boss is not only one of most respected brands in the world, but their reputation for innovation and creativity within the fashion industry, is unparalleled. The opportunity to collaborate on a range of activities beyond simply the design of the player’s suits makes this a particularly compelling partnership.”

The deal is yet another example of the clubs development off the pitch, as they look to cement the clubs reputation as one of the best in Europe.  With the impending financial fair play rules being implemented many of Europe's elite teams are penning long term lucrative sponsorship deals. 

On the pitch City take on the German Champions Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday at the Etihad, as they look to get out of a tough group in the Champions League containing Ajax & Real Madrid.

Nike go back to 1888 in new Celtic kit design.

We at Total Digital Football are big fans of a kit launch. So when we noticed Celtic & Nike had teamed up to create Celtic's new 125th anniversary kit we got a little bit excited. Of course, this is not the first time Nike and a football team has linked up to create a special anniversary kit, Arsenal only last year was given the similar treatment from the American sporting behemoth. 

A replica of the kit worn by the Celtic players in the very first match of the club in 1888, the 125th anniversary kit features a white shirt with a black collar backed with green, black shorts and green and black hooped socks.

The very first Celtic cross club crest has also been redesigned representing the club’s origin and Irish heritage. To go along with the stylish retro kit, the club has also created a smart promo  video highlighting the clubs history ending in a retro photo of the current team (see below). Celtic who have won a total of 43 Scottish league titles, are odds on favorites to win a 44th. With Old Firm rivals Rangers banished to the third tier of Scottish football following liquidation. 

Non the less the Celts who are currently placed 3rd in the SPL will be looking for a big season. After returning  to the Champions League after a four year wait, Celtic are set to play glamour ties against Barcelona & Benfica. 

Also a big special shout out to the guys at The 12elfth Man blog for the heads up!

Humphrey set to be the face of new Football Channel.

BBC F1 Anchor Jake Humphrey is to be the anchor of BT’s Barclays Premier League football coverage.Jake, 33, who fronted some of the BBC’s European Championships football coverage from Poland and Ukraine this summer, will start work with BT’s forthcoming new sports channel in January 2013 on a four-year deal.

 Jake will be the studio face of BT Vision’s Barclays Premier League programming from the start of the 2013/14 season. BT won the rights to show 38 live games a season for three seasons, including 18 of the best quality ‘first pick’ games,  which is the first time anyone but Sky has won any of the prime live Premier League matches.

  As well as hosting live coverage of the 38 games, Jake will also be involved with the new channel’s other football programming. He will be working with BT’s creative teams and production partners to help to mould the style of the new football programme, in the months running up to the kick-off in August 2013. 

  It's all part of BT winning rights to broadcast Premier League games last summer, they are set to pay out £246 million per season beating ESPN for the rights. Details are currently sketchy at the moment, however we at Total Digital Football wouldn't be too surprised if online streaming & use of mobile devices will play a big part in the broadcasting strategy for the Telecoms giants.

     Jake said on the move: “I am incredibly excited to be joining the team at BT not just because I get to fulfil a lifelong dream of presenting the Barclays Premier League but because of the fresh perspective that BT will bring to both sport and broadcasting in this country. To be a part of this young, vibrant team who are as passionate about sport, as I am, is a privilege.

      “I've grown up at the BBC, and whilst I hope to work with them in the future, I'd also like to place on record my thanks to them. I am incredibly grateful to all colleagues, and of course the viewers, for their incredible support from CBBC all the way to Formula 1. My focus from the start of 2013 is on making BT's coverage of football the best this country has ever seen.”

To celebrate Jake's big move we at TDF dusted off one of his more memorable moments whilst presenting F1.

Gillette To Launch Football Channel.

Shaving brand Gillette have yesterday announced that it was to partner up with Google to launch a branded Youtube channel promoting the company named The Gillette Football Club. 

The deal will mean that the P&G company will be able to use Google's existing highlights linkups with European  league's such as La Liga in Spain & Serie A in Italy. This along with specialist football shows and behind the scenes action along with content based around over 50 league clubs including Manchester City & Chelsea.

The aim of the channel is to galvanize existing fans, who associate the brand with football. Gillette already have the main sponsorship rights to Sky Sports Soccer Saturday show, along with previous tie ups with football stars such as David Beckham & Thierry Henry.

Alex Tosolini, vice president of e-business for Gillette at P&G, told Marketing Week Magazine that he envisages users in the millions, rather than 100s of thousands, adding that the platform will grow because it is inherently social and will be shared by consumers’ conversations online.The platform is part of P&G’s strategy of using innovative digital platforms as part of its global brand building activity.

Allegedly the deal is the biggest between a brand and Google. Over 150 different channels of content will be available for users to personalise their own channel, including video content from Goal.com. The tag line for the new venture will be "The best a fan can get" playing on the "The best a man can get." Potential of this new link up is huge, not only for the P&G group but also other brands who are looking to market their products to Football fans.

The likes of Pepsico, 02 and Samsung have all used football to appeal to consumers. We at Total Digital Football can see a huge potential for branded football content over the likes of Facebook & Youtube. However it is now up to P&G to carefully develop the content available for it's audience, to ensure it's exciting, dynamic and importantly on brand for Gillette. If they get this right, Gilette and P&G could be stealing a real march on it's rivals.

Nike & England- A match in Marketing Heaven?

This week has seen the announcement of the FA signing up with Nike as official kit supplier of England. The deal, which runs to 2018, will also cover the 150th anniversary of the association. Initially excitement was high for the launch, with many fans taking to Twitter to make up their own interpretations of the kit .

The kit realise, which will certainly raise a huge profit for the FA and further raise the English brand across the world, particularly in North America, where Nike is certainly considered the biggest consumer sports brand. Last February the Oragon based brand delivered sales of over $560 million, which was a 7.1% raise on figures from the previous year.

It’s safe to say the arrangement is also set to benefit the FA, as Nike has also signed up as a supporter of England’s brand new St Georges National football centre. Providing equipment for the countries youth teams. Charlie Denson, Nike brand said on the deal: “We look forward to supporting England teams at every level with innovative product technology and playing our part to help develop the future of English football through our support of St George’s Park.”

Despite on the goodwill of Nike and all concerns there also seems to be a real risk of damage to “Brand England” with this impending kit change. Despite being an active part of the Nike brand since 2008, Umbro has always seen to be the “traditional” element of the team. The Manchester based brand has always supported the national team (aside from 8 years when Admiral took control from 1974-82) even creating the mythical 66 winning shirts.

The simple diamond shape celebrates the reasons that England is seen as throughout the football world, that of passion, pride and even strength. After all The Three Lions are still seen, somewhat bizarrely as guardians of the beautiful game, with the roots firmly placed in England.

Realistically Nike has been moving away from the Umbro brand for a number of years. Manchester City are set to be kitted out in Nike by 2013, having announced the switch in the summer (link to site). Deciding to consolidate and focus on the Nike brand, in recent years they have signed up the likes of Everton, France & Werder Bremen whilst also maintaining long term alliances with Barcelona, Arsenal, Brazil & Holland.

One case in point could be indeed the French football team, who were associated with Adidas for over 40 years. The German based brand had supplied the teams kits over the  time in which the nation won a major trophies in 1984, 1988 & 2000. Although not a homegrown brand such Le Coq Sportif, Adidas had a long-term association with the country, so when the reported €42million a year deal was signed many fans of Les Blues where apprehensive of the deal. The jury is still out on the deal, with the French side set to kick of their bid to reach Brazil 2014 tonight away against Finland.

Branding wise I think we should expect strong themes of pride, passion, and energy along with nods to England past. You only have to look at previous material on Nike star Wayne Rooney, and the imagery of revolution for the French kit release to see these devices being used.

The deal will also have implications for a host of the squad’s current stars, which are sponsored by Nike. Expect Arsenal stars Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Jack Wiltshire should bar catastrophic dip in form be a part of the marketing drive for the product.

England are set to kick off against Moldova tonight, uniquely in a position in which they will start and end a qualifications campaign with two different kit suppliers. The deal is set to benefit the English set up from grass roots, right to the elite squads. Perhaps Nike could be the brand that could end nearly 50 years of hurt for the three lions.

Online kick-off for Irish World Cup campaign.

The Republic of Ireland football team's FIFA World Cup campaign kicks off this evening with its opening qualifier against Kazakhstan being streamed exclusively online on Goal.com, well, kind of...

A press release issued today from sports rights group Perform, the agency which owns Goal.com, claimed the matches will be offered through its LIVESPORT.TV platform on a pay-per-view subscription basis.

Viewers can view tonight's game for £2.99, or pay £5.99 to watch the tie with Kazakhstan tonight along with Tuesday's friendly with Oman and next month's qualifier with the Faroe Islands exclusively in the UK, and Australia.

Perform's press release also says that the above Ireland games will only be available on its website in Northern Ireland but the fact that the game is also being screened by Irish national broadcaster RTE, which can also be picked up north of the island's border, would pick hole in that claim.

However, given the renewed wave of Irish immigration to English-speaking foreign lands, notably Great Britain and Australia, this seems like an ideal opportunity for Goal.com to cash-in on the ex-pat Irish crowd.

Sure, this is hardly what media types would call premium inventory, Ireland have yet to recapture the glory of their days under Big Jack, but non-the-less it's a start and probably the start of an emerging trend we can expect to see from other footballing nations.

Perform’s MD of consumer brands and portals Ben Warn said: “This is just the first of a number of deals to come, and there are so many opportunities to take the rights for content broadcasters don’t want to exploit.”

Spurs Ink commercial deals with Fifa & Real Madrid.

Tottenham Hotspur may have missed out on a slot Europe's premier footballing contest but its business manoeuvrings are of Champion's League quality.

The club has paired with EA Sports to promote its latest third-kit - manufactured by Under Armour - in the latest version of FIFA 13. Launched last Wednesday, the kit was revealed using an EA SPORTS ‘FIFA 13’ gameplay video, see below. 





 
Additionally, EA SPORTS will create a special Tottenham Hotspur game cover for FIFA 13, which fans can download from tottenhamhotspur.com from the 28th of September when the game launches.

The launch of the game forms part of EA's ambition to make its FIFA franchise 'the social network of the world game.'

And as part of the deal, the EA SPORTS Dugout, a mobile gaming trailer, will be promoted at certain Spurs home games where fans can play EA SPORTS titles.With US sportswear brand Under Armour looking to gain a foothold in the UK market, this deal undoubtedly males sense. And with Spurs as the fulcrum of the tie up between the US giants, you have to suspect the North London club will be financially well-rewarded.

With the ever-savvy Daniel Levey at Spurs' helm, its recent transfer deal with Real Madrid, which saw the side lose Luca Modric, was also marked by a "commercial partnership" between the pair.
The agreement pertains to players, coaching, best practices and commercial relationships according to a statement from the club. 

This vague statement may have been a statement to sweeten the news Spurs was losing one of its most potent on-field forces to the Spanish champions.  However, this looks lime a potential win-win situation for both clubs. 

For while Real Madrid may have superior credentials on the pitch, in terms of trophies in the cabinet, Spurs are leagues ahead commercially. So in return for Levy et al sharing their business acumen, in terms of branding and commercial tie-Ups, they could get first dibs on potential on some of Real's young talent and academy graduates. 

With the Spanish model of football the toast of the world game, this could pay dividends to the White Hart Lane faithful.

Paddy Power Reaping the Rewards with Strong Online Marketing Focus

Irish bookmakers Paddy have today recorded impressive half year profits up 21% from last year to £54.5 million. Which was firmly thanks to an impressive taking at Euro 2012 in which the company took €78 million worth of bets over the three week tournament.

 The major coup of the tournament came for the company when Danish striker Nicklas Bendner dropped his shorts to reveal his lucky Paddy Power pants after scoring against Portugal.Unsurprisingly Paddy Power immediately tweeted images of the pants, and thus proving the most inspirational piece of ambush marketing at the tournament.

 Uefa promptly banned the Arsenal striker for one 2014 qualifying game and dished out a record €100,000 fine.Compare this to the two fines to the Spanish & Russian football associations for racism which totalled €50,000 and it just shows how the antics of the bookmaker riled the authorities with

 The record profits of this came down to the vision of Chief executive Patrick Kennedy who regards football tournaments as marketing opportunities. Which is strongly been developed by the companies marketing focus.

 This coming in the form of engaging Facebook & Twitter feeds, short punchy TV adverts (see below) and close to the bone marketing which often comes a cropper of the ASA. Paddy Power also have the envious reputation of the most complained advert of 2010 which this humble blog looked at previously which this humble blog looked at previously.

 

 However crucially the companies policy of embracing mobile has been key in the financial profits of the bookmakers. Paddy Power are the only book-maker who has mobile betting apps across all mobile formats, including Nokia & Blackberry.

 Last year Paddy Power said that 34% of it’s customer base where accessing the site using their mobile device. This is set to rise significantly over the next year, and with the companies engaging digital content it’s hard not to see a rise in profit for the flamboyant Irish bookmakers.

Rio and the £45k choc ice-Social media guidelines and the game’s growing corporate culture .

Rio Ferdinand may not have kicked a ball in anger this season but the Manchester United No.5’s season has begun with a £45k fine for a racially-themed exchange on Twitter. The FA slapped Ferdinand with the fine for responding to a Tweet that labelled Ashley Cole a ‘choc-ice’ despite not directly using that term to describe his former England teammate, see below.

Of course this exchange was referring to Cole’s defence of Chelsea teammate John Terry in a court case involving Ferdinand’s brother Anton.Of course this case crowned a plethora of legal issues involving social media in the Premier League last season, in fact it could be argued that it was the first social media season.

One other notable lowlight of the season was ex-professional player and sports broadcaster Stan Collymore receiving legal threats via Twitter during last season. Of course Ferdinand’s club manager Sir Alex Ferguson has publicly expressed his desire for none of his players to Tweet but in an age where players are brands in their own right, how realistic is this?

The FA too has drawn up guidelines on how players can use social media responsibly with Arsenal player Emmanuel Frimpong also facing charges of improper conduct charges under FA Rule, section E3, for remarks he made to a Tottenham Hotspur fan on Twitter.

Some have called this curb on players’ freedom to make their opinion’s known an attack on freedom of speech but in the professional era the rush to implement ‘codes of conduct’ is reflective of the growing corporate culture in the game.

By Ronan Shields. 

Premier League Preview.

After the excitement of the Olympics the Premier League kicks off all over again this weekend. The governing body for the league pocketed a cool £3bn in the latest TV sponsorship deal, a 71% rise from the last deal. This means an extra £14million per club, so naturally this summer was a busy one on the commercial front, with clubs signing deals with companies from Nigeria to Malaysia. So kick back, relax and hopefully enjoy TDF’s commercial round up (along with a nice league prediction!)

Arsenal

It’s been an interesting summer on the commercial front for Arsenal. The club have made tentative steps to the African market with sponsorship link ups with mobile phone provider Airtel & drink manufacturer Malt Guinness. Three members of the Arsenal team visited Nigeria in July after the club cancelled a string of pre season games in the west African nation. Coupled with a  whistle stop commercial tour of south Asia, including stop offs in China, Hong Kong & Malaysia.

The club also released a new home and away kit with long time kit supplier Nike. Undoubtedly the sponsorship headlines should go to Arsenal Danish striker Nicolas Bentner this summer, who was fined a record £80K for showing some of his Paddy Power pants during the Euro 2012 tournament.

TDF Prediction- 4th.


Aston Villa

For Aston Villa, it’s been a summer of change on a personnel and commercial level. Paul Lambert came in to save the club from the pain of Alex Mcleish’s ill fated tenor at the club. Commercially the club signed a record £15 million deal with Italian kit supplier Macron, which was surprisingly voted most stylish in lad’s mag Zoo earlier on in the year.

For preseason the club jetted off to the USA, and played a host of MLS sides including the Portland Timbers & The Chicago Fire. Although with the clubs owner Randy Learner based in the States, it’s no surprise that the Villains headed across the pond. Famous fan Tom Hanks also dropped in during the tour, to add some Castaway magic on proceedings.

TDF Prediction- 11th


Chelsea

The European Champions have had a major summer on & off the pitch, with the commercial team looking at the clubs first Champions league trophy as an ideal starting point to earn some extra money for the West London. First up the club signed a sponsorship deal with F1 Team Sauber, the phrase “Chelsea FC” will be embellished on the team’s car for the remainder of the Formula 1 season.

Secondly and interestingly the side signed an exclusive “Energy provider” deal with Russian energy supplier Gazprom. The multi billion-dollar company is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world. This deal would no doubt of came from Roman Abramovich, who sold his own company to the energy behemoth back in 2005. In tour news Chelsea headed out to the states, and faced a number of different MLS sides, including the MLS all-star side.

TDF Prediction- 2nd.


Everton

The Toffee’s are feeling flush at the moment, with  £12million from Jack Rodwell’s departure to Manchester City firmly in their back pocket. But commercially the club have had mixed fortunes.  The summer started well with the Merseyside club signing a 3 year exclusive kit sponsorship deal with Nike. The reported £30million deal will boost the clubs profile across the world and comes from the clubs link up with Kitbag.

The Blues did also miss out on a lucrative pay-day for a tour of Indonesia, which was pulled just before the squad was due to board the plane. The club where not completely convinced on the safety of the teams players, and rightly pulled out, however it would have been a fantastic opurtunity for the club to build it’s South-East Asian sponsorship, afterall they do have Thailand’s most popular beer Chang as principle kit sponsor for the last 4 seasons.

TDF Prediction- 9th

Fulham

Fulham had a relatively low-key summer in terms of sponsorship with Martin Jol’s men pottering about Europe with a three-match tour of Germany. Taking on Nice of France was the clubs glamour tie of the close season. In the transfer market the club scooped in on the free transfers of Hugo Rodellaga of Wigan, and former Hamburg striker Milan Petric. The deals could prove to be a handy bit of business of the West London side. Particularly when the club’s talismanic American Clint Dempsey is gartering the attention of many of the leagues top sides.

TDF Prediction- 13th


Liverpool

Another fascinating summer this year from Liverpool, underperforming boss “King” Kenny was pushed aside in favour of a younger leaner manager Brendan Rodgers of Swansea. Commercially the club has also been busy with deals signed with Warrior Sports & Chevrolet, whilst also consolidating deals with Carlsberg. Importantly controversial striker Luis Suarez has also been tied down to the club on a new contact extension keeping the Uruguayan to the club to the summer of 2017.

On Pre-season Liverpool headed over to North America, to further strengthen bonds with the American owners with a jaunt taking on the likes of the Vancouver Whitecaps, Roma and erm Spurs.  Liverpool are still in the process of rebuilding with Joe Allen & Fabio Borini the pick of the new recruits.

TDF Prediction-  5th

Manchester City

Newly crowned Champions Manchester City have been positively revealing this pre-season in there new status at the top table of English football. They have moved extensively to capture the best administrators the game has to offer, from Tom Glick as the club’s chief commercial offer from Derby County. Along with former Barca CEO Ferran Soriano the latest to be recruited to the Sky Blue revolution.

On pre-season tour duty the club travelled extensively in the summer season taking in friendlies in Malaysia, China, Germany, and Ireland. However the club’s social media presence has been extensive over this period documenting all the action through the club’s Facebook, Twitter & Youtube accounts.  In the transfer market the club has only secured the services of Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell for £12million.

TDF Prediction- 1st

Manchester United

The Red Devils underwent an extensive rebuilding process in the close season this year, refreshing the squad with the youthful talent in the form of Shinji Kagawa & Nick Powell. The recently signed Robin Van Persie will form a major addition to the squads strike force, as Sir Alex Ferguson looks to win his 20th Premier League title.

Commercially the club ranked the biggest sporting brand in the world by Forbes magazine had a busy close season. They firstly went on an extensive preseason tour taking in South Africa, Norway and China. All of which came from the help of DHS who are the club’s official logistics partner. Whilst also signing a record shirt sponsorship deal with car brand Chevrolet  for the 2013/2014 season. Whilst the club also floated on the New York stock for the first time, with the clubs initial public offering raising £149 million for the clubs owners the Glazer family.

TDF Prediction- 3rd.

Newcastle.

After exceeding all exeptions last season Newcastle will have a tough season ahead. They have strengthened sightly with youthful signings of Vurnon Anita along with repeatedly attempting to buy Lille full-back Mathieu Debuchy. The club has signed an extension with existing kit supplier Puma in the close season, with the geordie nation hopeful of an impressive 5th placed position like last season. Pre-season took in a tour of Germany, along with a shock 4-1 defeat to championship side Cardiff.

TDF Prediction-8th

Norwich

It’s been a close season of change in East Anglia for the Caneries. After an impressive season in the league after promotion from the Championship. Unsuprisingly manager Paul Lambert was snapped up in the close season by Aston Villa, but the club moved quickly to secure the service of Chris Houghton from Birmingham City.

Commercially the club signed a 4 year extension with principal sponsor Aviva, leaving the insurance firm sponsoring the club till 2016. During pre-season the club faced Ajax, Peterborough & MK Dons amongst others. Striker Grant Holt eventually signed a new contract with the club, despite interest from West Ham & Aston Villa.

TDF- Prediction- 16th



Queens Park Rangers.

After just surviving last season, QPR spent the season strengthening significantly. The club secured the services of Park Ji Sung from Manchester United, along with beating a host of clubs for the signature of Junior Hoilett from relegated Blackburn Rovers. In the close season, the squad headed to Malaysia to play a selection of local sides. Commercially the club just a signed a deal with Hong Kong based freight supplier ASR, who are now the west London club’s official logistics partner.

TDF-Prediction- 15th.

Reading.

Promoted as Champions Reading will have a tough time ajsuting to life in the Premier League. They have made some estute signings in the form of Pavel Pogrebnyak & former player Nickey Shorey. Commercially the club have new owners with Russian Anton Zingarevich taking charge of the club, from longtime owner John Majeski. Preseason involved a low key affair playing the likes of Bournemouth and a brief tour of Portugal.

TDF Prediction- 18th.

Southampton.

The Saints are back in the Premier League after eight years away, and will be looking  to the likes of Swansea, Norwich & Queens Park Rangers who all managed to stay in the league. The club have brought wisely capturing Jay Rodregez & Nathaniel Clyne from the Championship, preseason involved ties against Udinese & Ajax. With the club needing the goals of Ricky Lambert to keep the team up.

TDF Prediction- 20th


Stoke

The Potters have had a relatively low-key close season. The club have new shirt suppliers in the form of Bet 365. Whilst in the summer the club strengthened ties with the club’s community trust, which seeks to benefit the local community. In more bizarre commercial news celebrity chief Gino D’acampo visited the club to cook up some food for the fans during the summer. Michael Knightly has arrived from Wolves, along with American Defender Geoff Cameron from Houston Dynamos.

TDF Prediction- 14th

Sunderland

The black cat’s had a busy pre-season taking in a trip to South Korea to partake in the Peace cup. The club have been on the lookout for a striker with Stephen Fletcher of Wolves the prime target for Martin O’Neil. The club also have a new kit supplier in the form of Adidas, kit sponsor from Invest in Africa & signed a new ticket supplier deal with Stubhub UK. The club have also strengthened with the signing of free agent Loius Saha, who was formerly with Tottenham.

TDF Prediction- 6th.

Swansea

After a fantastic debut season in the Premier League, Swansea will have a mountain to climb, after manager Brendan Rodgers have left for Liverpool. New manager Michael Laudraup has brought extensively from La Liga, with midfielder Michu looking like a great bit of business for £2.2 million. Pre-season the club took on the likes of Stuttgart & Blackpool, and the club have a brand new kit from Adidas which has a rather lovely silver trim.

TDF Predictaion-12th

Tottenham.

Tottenham have a new manager in the form of the charismatic Andre Vilas Boas, who replaced Harry Redknapp in the summer. Whilst the club also signed up a new kit supplier with Under armour, who are making their first forays into the English game. Pre-season involved a tour of the United States, where they played Liverpool & LA Galaxy amongst others.

TDF Prediction- 7th.

West Bromwich Albion

New season, and a new manager for the the Baggies. After Roy Hodgeson had the call from the FA for the England job. Former Liverpool assistant Steve Clark  is stepping up into his first managerial role, the club have strengthened with Markus Rosenburg & Belgiun striker Romelu Lukaku joining the club. Commercially the club have a new kit sponsor in property website Zoopla.

TDF Prediction-19th

West Ham

Newly promoted West Ham will be looking to survive in the league.  Commercially the Irons have been looking to secure the Olympic stadium in Stratford as the club’s new home. Whilst the club have secured experienced goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, to replace the departed former England keeper Rob Green. The club have also maintained deals with kit supplier Macron, and Isobet, whilst the club had a pre-season tour of Germany.

TDF Prediction- 9th

Wigan

The latics have had a busy pre-season. Manager Roberto Martinez pledged his future to the club after initial interest from both Liverpool & Aston Villa. The club have signed a host of players from La Liga, including Striker Aruna Kone &  defender Ivan Ramis. Arsenal youngster Ryo Manici also makes up the squad, as Wigan to reverse the familiar old pattern of a relegation dog fight.

TDF Prediction-14th