The most awaited time of the year for football and especially premier league fans, mid of August.

The ‘August’ kick off will happen on 13th Aug, 2021. Friday the 13th. It looks like a great script for the start of a season long competition which will see teams focusing on targets. While the primary target for all 20 teams is not end up as the relegated team, the higher the team finishes the better will be for the club, fans and the sponsors.

A look at this year’s shirt and kit sponsors:-

• The new teams for this season: Brentford FC, Norwich City FC and Watford FC.
• New kit sponsors who made it, courtesy the deal they signed with Premier League teams, include Joma, Kelme and Castore.
• Major deal: Teamviewer replacing Chevrolet at the heart of Old Trafford.
• Other new shirt sponsor entrants : FBS Trading, Hollywood Bets, SpreadEX Sports, Lotus Automobiles and Stakes.com
• Teams with Shirt Sponsors linked to Betting: 9
• Adidas was the kit sponsor for 7 teams in 2020-21, now reduced to 4 teams. Fulham, Sheffield United getting relegated and Wolves replacing them with the new kid in the block – Castore.
• Watch out for Socios – who are creating a revolution in the fan token and coin space.

Castore is a 6 years old sportswear manufacturer based out of Manchester, UK founded by brothers Philip and Thomas Beahon. They have recently got investment from the famous Issa brothers.

Joma is 55 years old brand which had always focused on sports especially football shoes. At one point in time, they had association with players from Real Madrid FC and FC Barcelona at the same time.

Kelme , a 44 years old sports wear brand has a great presence in Spain.

After almost 15 months of football action without the fans, it is time to make some noise.

Clubs are all geared up to welcome the fans back. We did see teams getting fans back in phased manner towards the end of last season , the Euro Cup and the pre season friendlies.

Players will be really happy to have the supporters back. It gives that extra oomph to perform.

The most happy lot will be the Sponsors. Though online especially digital marketing took over the traditional marketing in the last one and half years, for brands associated with sports it is always to good to have the stadium full of supporters. Brands want to see their names on the big screens, walls and the supporters wearing them.

Teamviewer with its recent partnership with Manchester United will be looking at using their expertise in technology to keep the supporters engaged. With the acquisition of Augmented Reality company, Teamviewer will definitely be utilising AR to create activities surrounding the fans.

The kit sales will go up, which is good for the clubs. Clubs along with brands are also venturing out into new arenas to enhance the fan engagement. Fan Engagement has been a major talking point. This is where Socios.com is becoming a game changer.

Socios says “Talking to fans is what we love to do – all day, everyday. Sports and Crypto move at lightning speed. And so do we.” It provides digital asset to the fans in the form of tokens. They already have 5 of the premier league clubs signed up : Manchester City, Arsenal, Leeds United, Aston Villa and Everton.

Crypto exchanges also have started making their presence felt with picking up sleeve sponsorships, betting exchanges, etc.

Sports Marketing is growing at steady pace and at the same time is at the verge of going through a revolution. Clubs were focused on creating social media channels specific to countries to make sure that no one is left out. Soon or rather already the sports fans have started hearing the terms AR, VR, XR, Blockchain, Crypto and all. It is just the beginning but surely traditional marketing will still hold good. Old is good.

Do not switch off. Fasten your seat belts – the action is going to begin, On & Off the ground…!!!