#24, 2024. So much going on!

TOP-3 HIGHLIGHTS?

#1) THE MOST VALUABLE WOMEN'S TEAM IN HISTORY

Bob Iger, chief executive of The Walt Disney corporation, and his wife Willow Bay, have formally agreed a deal to become the controlling owners of the Angel City Football Club women’s soccer franchise in Los Angeles, US. The deal will make the Californian team from the NWSL the most valuable professional women’s sports outfit in history - the takeover will value the club at $250 million. In addition to the $250 million sale price, Bay and Iger will “invest an additional $50 million to support the club’s growth,” Angel City has said. Founded four years ago by actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman , Angel City generated the most revenue for any women’s team worldwide in 2023. It was the top-ranked NWSL team in terms of attendance, sponsorship income, and total revenue, and also has the largest season ticket membership. Portman, Ohanian, and Uhrman will all continue to sit on the board following the takeover. Other well-known Angel City investors include ex-athletes Billie Jean King (tennis), Abby Wambach (soccer), and Lindsey Vonn (skiing), as well as actors Jennifer Garner and Eva Longoria.

#2) THE COPA AMERICA FINAL DEBACLE

Check out Huddle Up's?breakdown of the reasons?why the final in Miami was such a logistical?nightmare and their pov on who's to blame for it.?

#3) UEFA MULTI CLUB?

UEFA has cleared the way for Manchester City and Manchester United to compete in its club competitions next season after the English Premier League giants made necessary changes to their multi-club relationships with Spain’s Girona and France’s Nice, respectively. Manchester City and Girona, both under the wing of City Football Group (CFG), are due to compete in the elite UEFA Champions League in the 2024-25 season, while Manchester United and Nice, owned either partially or fully by Ineos, will be in the secondary Europa League. The changes made by the owners of the respective clubs mean no one is simultaneously involved, directly or indirectly, in any capacity whatsoever in the management, administration and/or sporting performance of more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition, and no one has control or decisive influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA club competition.

Other relevant news?

US?

Check out this interesting POV about the upcoming USL Super League women's league debut and its non-traditional national media-rights deal with Peacock.

Still in the women's game, check out Michele Kang's interview on Forbes, where she says?that Multi-Club Ownership In Women’s Soccer is a ‘necessity’ -- Kang is the owner of?Washington Spirit, Olympique Lyonnais and London City Lionesses.?

The development of Miami Freedom Park, the new stadium for MLS' Inter Miami, will not be ready until 2026, according to a new report.

Audi signed a sponsorship deal with Inter Miami CF, adding to their MLS sponsorship and therefore expanding their existing commitment with soccer in the US.

Former USMNT and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has joined the ownership group of MLS’ Houston Dynamo FC and NWSL’s Houston Dash.?Howard is the latest big-name investor in the franchise, joining NBA star James Harden and Verance Capital founder and CEO Lyle Ayes, who serves as the Dynamo’s vice chairman.?

CBS Sports and Lega Serie A announced a new multi-platform, two-year agreement where CBS Sports continues as the exclusive U.S. English-language rights holder of every Serie A Championship, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana match. This extends the partnership that began when CBS Sports first aired Serie A matches in the 2021-22 season and underscores Lega Serie A’s strategic prioritization of investment in the league’s future growth in North America.

CBS also closed a deal with the?EFL, the organizer of the second, third, and fourth tiers of England's football league pyramid, announcing an exclusive, four-year, multi-platform rights agreement that will allow CBS Sports to offer the widest distribution of EFL matches ever in the US. CBS Sports will broadcast a minimum of 250 EFL matches per season across the Championship, League One, League Two, Carabao Cup, and Bristol Street Motors Trophy, starting from August this year and continuing through the end of the 2027-28 season. The previous EFL media rights-holder in the US was ESPN.

Fox Sports closed out its “Summer of Soccer” in a big way Sunday, as the Euro and Copa América finals doubleheader notched record high TV ratings in the U.S. According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, Spain’s 2-1 victory over England averaged 6.430 million viewers in Fox’s afternoon window, which marked a 7% increase over the linear-TV deliveries for the 2021 Italy-England Final on ESPN and ESPN2 (6.004 million).? In the primetime window, the Copa América Final between Argentina and Colombia averaged another 6.109 million viewers on Fox, making it the tourney’s most-watched title bout on an English-language network. Argentina’s 1-0 win in extra time, which may prove to be Lionel Messi’s last appearance with the national team, peaked with 7.074 million viewers.??

UK

Chelsea have extended their partnership with BingX, naming the cryptocurrency company as their training kit sponsor for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur have announced a new partnership with sports betting brand BetMGM.??BetMGM is Swedish mobile gaming company LeoVegas Group’s sportsbook brand and recently launched in the UK and the Netherlands. The company recently announced a partnership with Newcastle United, also making BetMGM the club’s official betting partner. The Spurs also sealed a sleeve sponsorship deal with Kraken -- the crypto platform replaces Cinch after the online car retailer cut short its partnership with the club.

Liverpool have unveiled Husqvarna, the Swedish robotic lawn mowing specialist, as a new global partner.As part of the multi-year agreement, Husqvarna will become the official groundskeeping partner of the club, the first partnership of its kind for both parties.?

Premier League champions Manchester City have partnered with Piing, the fan engagement platform. Through the deal, Piing becomes the official crowd games supplier to the club, further enhancing a relationship it has had with the team since it launched.

Liverpool owners FSG were also in the news for being "in talks" to buy French club Bordeaux.?

Leicester City made BC.Game?their front-of-shirt sponsor for their Premier League return, replacing?King Power.

Southampton signed a new shirt sponsorship deal with Rollbit -- the newly promoted Premier League team replaced Sportsbet.io with the online crypto and NFT gambling firm.

In the WSL, Chelsea?made Three the principal partner of its women’s team in an upgraded sponsorship deal.?Meanwhile, Crystal Palace, newly promoted to the WSL, have announced energy transport company TEN as their new front-of-shirt sponsor ahead of their first season in the top-flight.

ITALY

Inter Milan?signed?up?Betsson Sport?as their new shirt sponsor, replacing?Paramount+. They also?renewed?and expanded their partnership with banking group?BPER?until the 2025-26 season and?expanded?their partnership with?Qatar Airways?-- under the agreement, the company will become the Serie A club's main training kit partner and retain its position as its official airline partner.?

AC Milan?have?named?sports betting firm?Boomerang?as a new sponsor. Udinese?unveiled?Italian bank?Banca 360 FVG?as a new co-sponsor for the next two years.

Napoli?and?Coca-Cola?have?extended?and expanded their partnership for the 2024-25 season.

SPAIN

Barcelona?have?shelved?plans to float their?Barca Media?content creation subsidiary on the Nasdaq stock exchange. In other news, the club has?lost its protracted legal battle against global sportswear giants NIKE, meaning they must uphold its contract with its kit manufacturer through 2028.

LaLiga?has?announced?a new partnership with?Uber Eats?through the 2026-27 season.

FRANCE

DAZN?and?BeIN Sports?signed?a ‘€500m-a-year’ deal for domestic Ligue 1 TV rights, in a deal?worth less than the league's previous contract with?Amazon?and?Canal+.

BRAZIL

CazéTV, the Brazilian sports streaming platform run by my dear friends from the LiveMode agency alongside streamer Casimiro Miguel, has snapped up rights to the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Championship national teams’ soccer tournament.

UEFA

Check out this interesting piece about 海信 's sponsorship of the EURO 2024 and how it used the tournament to "get its televisions into more homes overseas". Full disclosure, Hisense USA was also one of 90min 's proud partners for our coverage of the EURO 2024 in North America.?

FIFA?

FIFA is seeking investment of up to $2 billion to expand its FIFA+ streaming service -- the organization is working with UBS, the multinational investment bank, and a formal fundraising process is expected to kick off this month, targeting?mostly financial investors from the US and the Middle East.

FIFA has begun the tender process for media rights to its revamped Club World Cup competition, across the (inaugural) 2025 and 2029 editions. The tender stretches across the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with a bid deadline of 4pm Central European Time on August 20. The first-ever edition of the new FIFA CWC, to be held in the US between June 15 and July 13, will include 32 clubs (a significant expansion from previous editions) divided into eight groups of four, with 63 matches to be played in total. Initial discussions between FIFA and global tech giant Apple about global streaming rights to the tournament have failed to produce a deal, necessitating a formal tender process.

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!