Portugal's Novo Banco decided to cancel the contract it had with Cristiano Ronaldo for €750,000 ($821,000) per year. The bank is in the process of "reducing its expenses, and in this will way it will save nearly €1M ($1.09M) per year." Ronaldo had been an endorser of the bank for the last 10 years, with the last renewal coming in '13 (NOTICIAS BANCARIAS, 8/3). ... Bundesliga side Hannover 96 has extended its partnership with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles for a further three years. The company has been a partner of the club since '07 (Sportfive). ... Swiss watch brand Tag Heuer agreed to a deal with the Bundesliga to become its official timekeeper and official watch. The three-year deal was announced on Sunday prior to the German Super Cup. The partnership includes stadium advertising boards and traditional event communication methods, websites and social media (Tag Heuer). ... Football DataCo and Perform Group have reached a "standstill agreement" to renew Opta’s official data partnership with the Premier League, Football League and Scottish Professional Football League for three seasons beyond '15-16 (Opta). ... Netbet has signed a one-year betting partnership with EPL club West Bromwich Albion. As part of the agreement Netbet will use stadium advertising and, from Aug. 10, the Netbet brand will appear inside The Hawthorns featuring on the pitchside LED system (West Brom). ... The Lotus F1 Team confirmed the continuation of its relationship with Siemens through utilization of its Fibersim portfolio of software for composites engineering, along with training and engineering services (Lotus F1).
OK WITH IT: The answer to the question, "Is Manchester United's new women's replica shirt sexist?'' seems to be "no." The club "came under fire, accused of sexism," after it released a new ManU women's shirt with a neckline "far less modest than the men's version." The men's strip "has been reasonably well-received" but one woman, using
the name @MUnitedGirl, posted on Twitter, "Seriously Adidas? Why is the
V-neck so low compared with the men's one? Some of us don't like to show
cleavage." But readers "reacted mainly favorably to the new replica kit," produced under a £750M ($1.1B) deal with adidas. When readers were asked whether they found the women's kit sexist, 29% answered yes and 71% no (Manchester EVENING NEWS, 8/3). ... The Tasmanian Government and Australian Football League side Hawthorn extended their partnership for a further five years. The club will continue to play home games in Tasmania until '21. Tasmania became naming rights sponsor of Hawthorn in '06 (Hawthorn FC). ... FAW-Audi has become the official sponsor of China’s figure skating, short-track skating, snowboard halfpipe, Alpine skiing and freestyle skiing aerials national team.
FAW-Audi "will not only support winter sports financially," but also offer ski teams the chance to train with top teams overseas, and practice and test in the Audi wind tunnels (YUTANG SPORTS, 8/3). ... Toyo Tire & Rubber announced that its Russian tire sales subsidiary Toyo Tire Rus concluded a sponsorship agreement with Russian Football Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg. The contract term will span three seasons, from August through July '18. As a partner of FC Zenit, TTRU will display the company logo at the team’s home stadium and engage in numerous marketing activities featuring the club’s players (Toyo Tire). ... EPL side Norwich City announced a deal confirming leading bookmakers Coral as the club's official betting partner and new sponsors of the Barclay Stand at Carrow Roa (Coral).
