Here are some of the top stories from last week from around the global soccer industry…
Italy Investigates Sale of Soccer Media Rights to Sky, Mediaset (Reuters)
Italy’s antitrust authority AGCM is investigating the sale of Serie A soccer rights to Sky Italia and Mediaset on suspicion the deal may have violated competition laws and excluded new entrants, the watchdog said on Tuesday.
Sky Italia, part of Sky Plc, and Mediaset were awarded rights last June to broadcast matches of the eight main teams in the top tier of Italian soccer in the three seasons to 2018 after an auction that was delayed by legal complaints from rivals.
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Platini Says European Soccer Financial Rules to be ‘Relaxed’ (Bloomberg)
UEFA President Michel Platini said soccer’s European ruling body may relax so-called Financial Fair Play rules which prevent Champions League clubs from racking up losses.
Platini told France’s RTL radio that UEFA executives will decide by the end of June whether to make changes to the regulations.
Under the rules, teams have to come close to breaking even or risk exclusion from UEFA competitions. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City got record fines in May 2014 for breaching the regulations.
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Dutch FA Adopts Domestic Transfer Matching System (FC Business)
Earlier this year, the global professional football transfer market entered what looks set to be a new era when the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) became the first national FA to handle all transfers of players among its affiliated clubs, both international and domestic, centrally on one platform.
For its January 2015 transfer window, KNVB and all professional Dutch clubs active during the window used the Domestic Transfer Matching System (DTMS), an online application designed to facilitate the domestic transfers of male 11-a-side players in professional football launched in 2014 by FIFA Transfer Matching System GmbH (FIFA TMS), a subsidiary of FIFA.
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New York City FC look to Kellogg’s (Soccerex)
Major League Soccer (MLS) side New York City FC have named Kellogg’s as their official breakfast partner.
As part of the deal, Kellogg’s will use its ‘See You At Breakfast’ programme to offer people the chance to win breakfast with New York City FC players and coaches.
The programme will run throughout the season with preferred retailers in the Tri-State Area providing fans the opportunity to win VIP experiences around New York City FC home games.
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LA Galaxy honor Steven Gerrard by taking out a full-page ad in Liverpool Echo Newspaper (Major League Soccer)
Steven Gerrard is an LA Galaxy player now.
And all of Liverpool was reminded of that fact on Monday morning when they woke up to a full-page ad in the Liverpool Echo newspaper.
Monday also happens to be the 10-year anniversary of the day Gerrard carried Liverpool to an epic UEFA Champions League triumph, coming all the way back from 3-0 down at halftime against AC Milan. And the Galaxy honored their new star and his most celebrated victory all in one shot.
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Adidas Launch the Ace 15 (Soccer Bible)
The adidas revolution has arrived, bringing with it chaos and control. The face of the control side is the adidas ACE 15. As one of two boots that replaces the F50, NitroCharge, 11 Pro, and Predator, will the newest piece of adidas hardware allow us to forget the boots of days gone by?
The new adidas ACE15 is here to give every player the control that they are hunting. With a design that separates it from any boot within previous boots from adidas, the ACE15 is for the player that adidas says takes the “coaches plan into action” and “bring order” to the chaos that we see on the pitch.
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Soccer Club Heads for USC (Los Angeles Business Journal)
L.A.’s new soccer franchise plans to build a new stadium at the site of the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena near USC, team officials announce Monday.
Owners of Los Angeles Football Club, which will join Major League Soccer in 2018, unveiled plans for the 22,000-seat stadium and more than 100,000-square feet of related development, including restaurants, office space, a conference center and a world soccer museum, according to a statement. The project will be designed by downtown L.A. architecture firm Gensler.
The decision was a blow to business leaders in the San Fernando Valley, who had lobbied the new club to build a stadium in that region and had pitched several potential sites. But LAFC opted to plant its flag in Exposition Park, long-rumored to be the team’s preferred destination.
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The Rise Of Telecom Stadium Naming Rights Deals (FC Business)
Across European football, by the time the 2015/16 season kicks off, the revenues generated by naming rights deals from telecommunications companies will have more than tripled in the space of four seasons.
This growing trend is shaping both the North American Major Leagues and the European football leagues where today, the investment from specifically telecommunication companies into stadium naming rights is one outstripping all other industry investments in stadium sponsorship, Repucom’s latest Naming Rights report which releases today, finds.
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Minnesota United Statement on Stadium Proposal (Minnesota United FC)
“Unfortunately the legislature, during the regular legislative session, was unable to reach agreement on a number of important issues including a tax bill, or to consider our request for tax relief and economic development tools that have been used for every professional sport facility as well as many major building projects throughout the state,” said United President Nick Rogers.
“Our belief that Major League Soccer is a fantastic economic and cultural opportunity for our region is confirmed by the outpouring of support for the soccer experience from current fans, the huge amateur soccer community throughout Minnesota, organizations representing businesses and community-based programs and many municipal and state legislative leaders.”
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Where We Stand on a South Boston Soccer Stadium (boston.com)
Bob Kraft and the rest of the New England Revolution’s management have said for nearly a decade that they would like to build a soccer stadium in Greater Boston. They may be a couple of meetings closer to that goal than they were six months ago.
City officials remain in talks with the Kraft family, which owns the Major League Soccer team, about the prospect of putting its new home on South Boston land currently owned by the city. A public records request from Boston.com revealed that they’ve met twice since December.
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This article originally appeared on Business of Soccer. To learn more about BOS you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter.
