EA Sports Inks Sky Premier League Sponsorship

EA Sports has signed a three-year deal with Sky Sports to sponsor the latter's Premier League soccer coverage in the U.K. The deal will run until the end of the 2024/25 season. It comes as EA prepares to mark the end of an era and rename its flagship FIFA series after failing to extend its close to 30-year partnership with soccer's global governing body. Following the release of most recent title FIFA 23, EA will instead use the moniker EA Sports FC on the IP. This season, EA will be focused on promoting FIFA 23 across Sky Sports' live coverage of the top-flight soccer tournament. From kickoff on Aug. 5, fans tuning in will be shown unique creative as part of their pre-and post-game viewing experience. The idents will draw parallels between real-life and game-play footage, which will be echoed across display and video campaigns on Sky Sports' website as well as on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. EA Sports marketing director James Salmon told Adweek: "The timing is perfect as we evolve as a brand and we’re excited to start this multiyear partnership, providing a unique opportunity to connect with Premier League fans through broadcast, social and interactive experiences." Salmon said the sponsorship creative will be agile and will change depending on which of the 20 soccer clubs is playing at their home stadium, creating "hyper relevant moments for fans that blurs the lines between the virtual and real world of football." The length of the deal means the EA Sports will be able to use Sky's platform to promote its EA Sports FC property post-FIFA. For now, though, Salmon said the priority is engaging soccer fans and embedding the business into the fabric of Premier League Football. "This partnership provides an outstanding opportunity to achieve this, reaching millions of football fans and growing the love of the game," he said, noting EA Sports would work with media agency mSix—which brokered the deal—and Sky to conduct brand research after this season that would offer up learnings for the years ahead. In 2021, the Premier League contributed to Sky Sports recording record daily viewing figures. Numbers peaked at 4.5 million last October during the match between Manchester United and Liverpool. A post-FIFA future Over the past few weeks, EA Sports has been lining up a number of deals that point toward what it's post-FIFA evolution might look like. Early August, the games publisher unveiled a multiyear partnership with Spain’s LaLiga, which hosts the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona. The title tournament sponsorship will start during the 2023/24 season. With England's Lionesses having just claimed victory in the 2022 edition of the Euros, EA is also going all in on women's soccer in its gameplay: the final FIFA 23 will, for the first time, include women’s club teams from the top leagues in England and France. Brett Aumuller, managing director at Sky Media, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to announce EA Sports joining our stellar line-up of sponsors for the Premier League. EA becomes the first official Premier League partner to sponsor our Sky Sports coverage, as well as first to include social media rights." He added: "This innovative partnership will come to life across multiple platforms and capture the excitement and scale only the Premier League can deliver." Euro 2022 Sponsors Are Playing the Long Game When it Comes to Women’s Soccer

Sports Marketing News

EA Sports Inks Sky Premier League Sponsorship as It Readies Post-FIFA Evolution

The three-year deal comes at the 'perfect' time says EA Sports marketing director

Rebecca Stewart

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Rebecca Stewart