Why brands can fail miserably at sponsoring Wimbledon Sport Business With the Grand Slam in full swing, Sam Milne discusses why brands still manage to fail at Wimbledon Pimm’s, strawberries and cream, pristine grass courts, and royalty and sporting legends intermingling evoke only one place: Wimbledon. It’s one of the few global sporting events that feels timeless, and minus the players themselves, an image from [...]
Exclusive: F1 Academy launch partnership with Unilever’s Dirt is Good Sport Business Unilever brand Dirt Is Good will today announce a partnership with the all-female racing series F1 Academy, Morning Wire can reveal. The laundry group, which counts OMO, Persil, breeze and Skip within its brand portfolio, has signed a multi-year deal with the single-seater series which will begin this weekend in Canada. F1 Academy is an [...]
Man City Puma kit deal helps UK sponsorship market hit £5bn Sport Business Manchester City’s Puma kit extension helped the UK sponsorship market top £5bn in 2025, up over 10 per cent on 2024. City signed a record-breaking 10-year kit partnership extension last year which could be worth around £100m per season. It, combined with other sponsorship activity across the UK saw the sector grow 10.5 per cent [...]
Chelsea reveal first ever back-of-shirt sponsor – but it could last just one game March 6, 2026 Chelsea have unveiled a second new kit sponsor in as many weeks after agreeing a deal for trading platform TMGM to appear on the back of their shirts. The deal is an expansion of the club’s partnership with the Australian company, which has been Chelsea’s official regional forex and CFD trading partner in Asia-Pacific since [...]
Formula 1 presents creativity conundrum for brands and sponsors March 6, 2026 They know how to make noise in Formula 1. This week, motorsport’s premier championship explodes back into life across its ever-expanding media universe. Twenty-four high-glamour race weekends, driving peerless broadcast innovation. A mould-breaking, news-making Netflix docuseries. An official film starring Brad Pitt, the highest-grossing sports movie ever made and an Oscar nominee to boot. More [...]
Emirates boss on Arsenal stadium, leaving F1 and NBA Europe February 26, 2026 Matt Hardy talks sponsorship and strategy with the executive vice president of corporate communications, marketing and brand at global airline Emirates. At the end of the Premier League season 11 teams will be forced to change their front-of-shirt sponsor and, for some sides, the brand on their strip is synonymous with a particular era of [...]
Is Guinness Bristol City deal a sign of football shirt sponsorships to come? February 4, 2026 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 [...]
IMG’s three sports sponsorship trends to watch in 2026 December 31, 2025 Look out for higher demands on AI, more prediction markets and greater sophistication in women’s sport sponsorships next year, says IMG partnerships expert Sam Galet. As we close out 2025 and look ahead to 2026, the sports business landscape is once again at an inflection point. Rightsholders, brands and agencies are all asking the same [...]
Barclays Hampden: Scottish FA sells naming rights for national stadium December 1, 2025 Scotland’s national football stadium has been renamed Barclays Hampden in a multi-million-pound agreement with the bank. It is part of a wide-ranging deal that will also see Barclays become a partner of the men’s and women’s Scottish Cup and primary sponsor of a girls’ programme. “We’re excited to have Barclays on board as naming partner [...]
Arsenal praised for ‘Big Club’ move after ending Visit Rwanda partnership November 19, 2025 Arsenal fans have welcomed the club’s decision to end a controversial eight-year partnership with Visit Rwanda at the end of this season. The Premier League leaders had been in talks to extend the deal, which sees Rwanda’s tourism arm displayed on the team’s sleeves, beyond the current campaign. But both parties have now decided to [...]