Barcelona has renewed its sponsorship with soft drink company BIG Cola for an additional three years through June '16. As Barcelona's regional partner, BIG Cola's sponsorship with the club, which began in '10, covers 12 Latin American countries as well as Egypt and Africa. More than 40% of Barcelona's 54 million Facebook fans are from Latin America (Barcelona). ... Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin has extended its partnership with sports marketing company SPORTFIVE until '25. SPORTFIVE will continue to be in charge of the club's marketing and TV rights, as well as its hospitality and new media offerings. The marketing company has been a partner of the club since '94 (Hertha Berlin). ... BMW has renewed its title sponsorship deal with the Berlin Marathon. The car company has been a partner of the event since '11 (Berlin Marathon). ... Nike has "produced yellow shirts for five Brazilian league teams as a special tribute to the country that will host the World Cup in June." Bahia, Corinthians, Coritiba, Internacional and Santos "have all been given a third shirt" embossed with the national team's logo "Nascido para jogar Futebol" ("Born to play football") (REUTERS, 6/5). ... Polish side Cracovia Krakow has signed a new kit deal with Italian sportswear manufacturer Legea. The contract with Legea begins in July '15. Legea will replace Nike, which has been Cracovia's kit supplier since '12. The value of the latest deal "was not disclosed by the club, but Cracovia says the sponsorship contract is the highest in its history" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 2/6). ... EPL side Newcastle United has named U.S.-based Papa John's its official pizza partner for the remainder of the season (Newcastle United).
O2 EXPANDING RUGBY SPONSORSHIP: England Rugby sponsor O2 is "promising to take experience of the sport to a whole new level by immersing fans fully within the team England using a virtual reality headset." The telecom firm has created a “Wear the Rose” game for the Oculus Rift-made virtual reality goggles that "lets fans feel they are a part of the national team." Audiences "will be given a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the England team set-up" -- participating in training drills directed by coach Mike Catt, receiving a team talk from captain Chris Robshaw or getting tackled by hooker Tom Youngs. The tie-up is "part of O2’s marketing around the RBS Six Nations tournament" (MARKETING WEEK, 2/6).
GMR MERGES WITH EXPERIENCE WORLDWIDE: GMR Marketing and Experience Worldwide announced a formal merger in the U.K. under the GMR name. The merger combines the agencies’ collective expertise in engagement marketing and sponsorship and their portfolios of int'l clients across sports, entertainment, music and lifestyle (GMR Marketing).
CONTINENTAL AG LINKS WITH UEFA: Continental AG has agreed to a new sponsorship with UEFA. The agreement includes touchline advertising at qualifiers for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and a presence on UEFA's website. Continental already has agreements covering the 2014 Brazil World Cup and Euro 2016 in France (TYRE PRESS, 2/6).
BANC SABADELL, BARCELONA OPEN RENEW: Spanish bank Banc Sabadell announced that is extending its sponsorship of the Barcelona Open through '20. The ATP tournament will continue to be known as the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The Barcelona Open is one of 11 annual ATP 500 tournaments (AS, 2/6).
LFP SIGNS WITH CHYRONHEGO: The Spanish Football League (LFP) and Mediapro have agreed to a four-year extension with ChyronHego (ChyronHego).
