Football clubs pitch year-round media deals as ad budgets shift, Dinamo exec says
Manchester City has turned its digital channels into a stand-alone media operation, releasing documentary mini-series, training-ground footage and player interviews between matches. Partner OKX is embedded across these formats, giving the brand a season-long presence in City's content. Julia Koroleva, senior account manager in FC Dinamo-Moscow's sponsorship department, cites City as a model for where football sponsorship is heading and sets out a five-part partnership framework spanning media, data, content, activation and measurement. She backs the argument with Nielsen Sports research covering 100 sponsorship projects in seven countries and 20 industries, which found that well-integrated sports sponsorship lifts purchase intent by an average of 10%, while 81% of consumers trust brands that support sports projects fully or partially.
Sponsorship budgets that once bought a stadium board or a shirt patch now buy access to a fan base that clubs measure through apps, loyalty programs and ticketing data. Brands weighing a football partnership need to ask clubs what data they collect, which audience segments are available, and which performance metrics will be reported after the campaign, since the value of the deal now rests on the club's ability to turn matchday attention into tracked engagement across the season.