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FIFA Ends Two-Year Drought With Eight-Year Club World Cup Deal With Alibaba E-Auto

FIFA signed its first major new sponsor on Wednesday "after a gap of more than two scandal-filled years," according to Jim Armstrong of the AP. FIFA announced an eight-year partnership deal with Alibaba E-Auto for the Club World Cup, starting this week. Alibaba E-Auto is the car manufacturing brand of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group, the world's largest online and mobile commerce company. It is the first new sponsor contracted by FIFA since Sept. 13, when Russian state-controlled gas company Gazprom signed up only for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. FIFA Marketing Dir Thierry Weil said, "It is not easy to sell. You can imagine in the given period and given circumstance with what's going on at FIFA" (AP, 12/9). XINHUA reported Alibaba became the "first Chinese company" to have a presenting partnership with the FIFA tournament and both sides "vowed to promote the world's most prestigious club football competition to a global audience through the exclusive rights associated with their cooperation." Alibaba E-Auto will present the MVP award at each match during the tournament, including the final match on Dec. 20. Alibaba Sport CEO Zhang Dazhong said, "Partnering with a major sporting event with a global audience such as FIFA Club World Cup is also an important part of Alibaba Group's globalization strategy for connecting China to the world" (XINHUA, 12/9).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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