Watchmaker Tag Heuer is paying about £5M ($7.3M) a season to become a sponsor of the Premier League, "which is embracing a new marketing strategy that includes many corporate partners instead of one title sponsor," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG.
The value of the three-year deal "was revealed by a person familiar with the terms." Tag Heuer, which has agreements with Germany’s Bundesliga and Major League Soccer in the U.S., "will be the league’s first official time keeper and watch partner."
Tag Heuer U.K. Managing Partner Rob Diver said, "It’s probably our biggest sports sponsorship ever." Diver said football is the "biggest platform in the world." The agreement, which calls for the watch company’s logo to be used in TV broadcasts around the world and on the boards officials use to display substitutions and stoppage time, "had been under discussion for about two years." It "accelerated after the Premier League announced its new marketing strategy" (BLOOMBERG, 4/26). THE DRUM's Tony Connelly wrote the decision "is based on a new sponsorship strategy designed to open up more sponsorship opportunities worldwide." The absence of a title sponsor "is expected to attract more secondary sponsors while also allowing clubs to sign up their own financial partners."
Alongside Tag Heuer the Premier League "has Nike, Electronic Arts and Barclays on board as sponsors for next season" (THE DRUM, 4/26).
A NEW LOOK: In London, Laurie Whitwell wrote the EPL's substitutes boards are "set to be replaced by a stylish new design next season." The English top flight unveiled Tag Heuer as its official timekeeper along with a new "hi-tech board for its fourth officials." The new board "resembles the face of a watch and will come into use from the beginning of next season." It "is a substantial break from the old design, with the old rectangular shape being replaced by a new curved look, while Tag Heuer's branding is impossible to miss." The style "is based around the Carrera chronograph watches manufactured by the company." Tag Heuer "will also provide specially designed watches for officials next season which were also unveiled on Tuesday" (DAILY MAIL, 4/26).
