#22 '24: Xabi, EPL and Liga MX games in the US, and more.
TOP-3 HIGHLIGHTS
#1) XABI
Drop whatever you're doing and check out this FANTASTIC piece on TPT not with, but BY Xabi Alonso, the one and only breaker of the Neverkusen spell. A world-class player turned into a spectacular coach. And I didn't know he was a childhood friend of ANOTHER great coach -- that was surprising!!
Thankfully, my own wife and kids are just as in love with football as I am. We lived this amazing season together, and my kids were absolutely thrilled. In football, and in life, happiness is precious.
#2) EURO 2024 USA -- no, WAIT.
According to ticket reselling service Viagogo, there is a surprise country buying more tickets than any other. In total, fans from 134 countries have bought tickets to Euro 2024. The leading nation in that statistic is the United States, which, according to the reselling service, has purchased 27% of all tickets to Euro 2024. That is more than even the host nation, Germany. The service claims Germans have only purchased 25% of tickets to the games.
#3) WALKING (NOT ALONE) IN NEW MARKETS
Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said he's ‘determined’ to play a Premier League game in the US and in several other countries, including Japan, Brazil and Saudi Arabia.
In similar news, Mexican powerhouses Club America and Chivas will reportedly play an official Liga MX match in the USA this season. The historic matchup, labeled El Súper Clásico, involves the two most successful soccer clubs in Mexico and is currently scheduled for Sep. 14.
Other relevant news
US
The NWSL set a single-game record with a crowd of 35,038 on Saturday at Wrigley Field for a game between the Red Stars and Bay FC. That event was also part of a total weekend mark of 110,845, the first time that the league has surpassed 100,000 in attendance in a single weekend.
It's no surprise that Inter Miami star Lionel Messi has the top-selling jersey in MLS so far this season. No. 2 is his teammate Luis Suárez. FC Cincinnati’s Luciano Acosta, Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernández, and Galaxy’s Riqui Puig round out the top five.
And it's not only about jersey sales. According to Sportico, since the Argentinian's arrival in the United States last July, MLS has seen its league sponsorship revenue grow 17% and club sponsorship revenue grow 15%. The league also said it saw a 200% average increase in gross gates for Messi’s matches. Also, according to KORE, a data and intelligence platform, Messi’s social media channels generated $52 million in adjusted ad value since last March, 2.5x more than the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
UK
Brighton & Hove Albion FC has signed a three-year sleeve deal with Experience Kissimmee, the travel authority of Osceola County, Florida.
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In a significant development in the world of football ownership, Dan Friedkin, the owner of Italian club Roma, has shown interest in purchasing Premier League club Everton from current owner Farhad Moshiri.
Premier League nears ‘UK£75m’ Barclays sponsorship renewal. The league is also looking for a new cloud partner due to Oracle opting not to extend its deal.
Scottish's SPFL league organizing body has concluded a lucrative new five-year title sponsorship deal with sports betting firm William Hill to cover its four tiers. The “record-breaking” agreement, which begins at the start of the 2024-25 season, is understood to be worth as much as £10 million ($12 million), or £2 million per year. GERMANY
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen have named industrial components manufacturer Niedax Group as their new sleeve sponsor through 2026-27.
FRANCE
Manchester United co-owners Ineos ‘looking’ to sell OGC Nice -- the Ligue 1 club may be sold by chemicals giant to comply with Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules.
TURKEY
Former New England Revolution manager Brad Friedel has re-entered the professional soccer world, joining the board of directors at Besiktas. This appointment marks Friedel’s first professional soccer role since his tenure with the Revolution ended in 2019.
UEFA
UEFA will achieve a 25% increase in revenue for the upcoming Euro 2024 compared to the previous edition and is confident of reaching a cumulative global audience of over 5 billion. UEFA and its CAA Eleven sales agency have secured five national sponsors for the tournament – Bitburger, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom, Ergo, and Wisenhof. This is in addition to 13 global partners – adidas, AliExpress, Alipay, Atos, Betano, Booking.com, BYD, Coca-Cola, Engelbert Strauss, Hisense, Lidl, Visit Qatar/Qatar Airways, and Vivo.
GLOBAL
UTA acquired European football agency ROOF. Representation agency of Virgil van Dijk and Serge Gnabry to be integrated with Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports Group.
About SOCCER FC
Soccer FC is a free weekly newsletter that I write as a hobby, where I summarize the most interesting news I've read throughout the week about the business of Global Football and US Soccer. I'm not the one writing any of these articles, therefore everything is properly linked to its original sources, making sure we all give credit and value its original writers. Have fun!