Selections

News Tank Football: elections, appointments, promotions & departures recorded in March 2025

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Bundesliga) has announced three appointments to head up three of its departments on 31/03/2025. Marleen Groß has been appointed head of brand, Tobias Schmidt will be head of internationalisation for the club and Jan B. Thelen has been appointed head of marketing and B2C sales. Patrice Motsepe (RSA), born on 28/01/1962, was re-elected by acclamation as president of the Confédération Africaine de Football for a second four-year term (2025-2029), at CAF's 14^th Extraordinary General Assembly, in the presence of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, in Cairo (EGY) on 12/03/2025. The supervisory board of AFC Ajax (Eredivisie) "intends to extend Menno Geelen's contract (interim CEO since 10/05/2024) until 30/06/2027," announced the Dutch club on 28/03/2025. Simon Aström, born on 24/09/1982, was elected president of the Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF) at the General Assembly held in Solna, a suburb of Stockholm (SWE) on 22/03/2025. Ednaldo Rodrigues was unanimously re-elected president of the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol for the 2026-2030 cycle during the CBF general assembly held at the body's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on 24/03/2025. Take a look back at the movements (elections, appointments, promotions & departures) covered by News Tank Football in March 2025.

Selections

News Tank Football: interviews published in January & February 2025

• "I would like ESG themes to become a criterion for choosing future sponsors over time, as this would allow us to respect our objectives in this area even more," said Greta Bodino, chief people, culture and sustainability officer at Juventus FC (Serie A Enilive), to News Tank Football on 09/01/2025. • "We decided in 2024 to kick off "FIFA Campus" as a pilot, on four key subjects, in close conjunction with the regional teams that are working for FIFA. We asked: what is the educational need in each member association, in each region? Based on that, we organised a revenue generation executive programme for 15 African member associations. Then in Asia and Oceania, we did exactly the same. In the Americas and the Caribbean region, we did strategy implementation. And today, we're talking about good governance with the European member associations." (Tom Gorissen, director of member association services at FIFA, 23/01/2025) • "When an illegal broadcast of a sporting event is detected, it is essential to be able to block the stream immediately. In France, the existing system makes it difficult to do this. We hope that this will soon be the case in countries such as the UK, Portu…

Tank

Les 37 fédérations olympiques (35) et paralympiques (2) de sports d'été ont organisé leurs élections pour l'olympiade 2024-2028 entre le 09/10 et le 21/12/2024. Sur les 38 présidents et présidentes élus au sein de ces 37 instances - une co-présidence à deux personnes est plébiscitée au sein de la FF Lutte - 24 présidents étaient déjà en responsabilité durant l'olympiade 2020-2024 préparant les JOP de Paris 2024. Ainsi, 65 % des présidents voient leurs mandats renouvelés. Ce taux de renouvellement est plus élevé que lors de l'élection pour la précédente période quadriennale 2020-2024 (46 %, soit 17 présidents réélus.) 13 présidents, dont deux femmes, sont nouvellement élus (contre 20 en 2020). Dominique Mérieux, qui remporte l'élection à la FFGym face à deux autres candidats, et Lise Legrand, co-présidente de la FF Lutte aux côtés de Jean-Carl Fossati (seule liste candidate), sont les deux seules femmes élues. Les trois dirigeantes élues ou réélues en 2020 (Isabelle Jouin à la FFH, Brigitte Schleifer à la FF Football américain et Guislaine Westelynck à la FF Handisport), toutes rééligibles pour 2024-2028, n'étaient pas candidates à un nouveau mandat. Au total, 52 listes se sont présentées à ces élections, contre 60 pour celles de 2020-2024. Gaël Rivière, médaillé d’or en cécifoot lors des Je…

Data

European Top 5: attendance figures for the German, English, Spanish, French & Italian leagues in 2024-25

Find the attendance figures, per club, for the Bundesliga, LALIGA EA Sports, Ligue 1 McDonald's, Premier League and Serie A Enilive in 2024-25, according to information compiled by News Tank. The data is updated after each matchday.

Data

European Top 5: social media communities of the 96 clubs (April 2025)

• The clubs in the European Top 5 leagues registered 17.6 million new followers during the month of March 2025, bringing their total followers to 2.9 billion on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X. • Real Madrid CF (LALIGA EA Sports) is the club with the most followers with 411 million, ahead of FC Barcelona (LALIGA EA Sports, 355 million) and Manchester United FC (Premier League, 216 million). • Barça was the club that posted the best growth in absolute value, with 3.4 million new followers in March. • As was the case in March, RC Strasbourg Alsace (Ligue 1 McDonald's) was the club that experienced the greatest percentage growth in its community (+9.3%). The Alsatian club recorded the best growth among the clubs in the European Top 5 leagues on Instagram (+5.9%) and on TikTok (+16.7%). • Tottenham Hotspur FC have become the 11^th club to have more than 100 million followers, alongside five other Premier League clubs, two from LALIGA EA Sports, one from the Ligue 1 McDonald's, one from the Bundesliga and one from the Serie A Enilive. The infographics below show the ranking of clubs by aggregate number of fans, then by each platform. Instagram (number…

Think

Rugby: "Our sponsorship revenue has almost tripled since 2018-19" (François Vergnol, EPCR)

"Sponsorship revenue has almost tripled since 2018-19 and we have a lot of brands in our pipeline. We will be announcing a new one in May (at the rank of "premium partner", 2^nd level), for the 2025-2030 period," said François Vergnol, chief revenue officer at European Professional Club Rugby, to News Tank on 22/04/2025. Apicil Group (mutual insurance companies) became the first French group to enter into a partnership with the EPCR on 26/03/2025, running until 2027-28. It is the third new partner to join the international body in 2024-25, following the arrival of Omoda - Jaecoo (CHN), its first automotive sponsor, and the signing of Macron (ITA) as technical supplier for the officials. The EPCR, which has evolved its prospecting methods since 2019, will thus record the arrival of a fourth sponsor in one season, a performance never recorded by the organisation in six years. "Six months ago, and for the first time since I arrived, we didn't renew a partnership (IHG Hostels & Resorts). I was frustrated, because up until then I'd been quite proud to say that 100% of our partners had renewed or been replaced! We've put a lot of things in place to ensure…

Think

VfB Stuttgart: "5 foreign markets targeted with the support of regional companies" (R. Kasper)

"Our region's (Baden-Württemberg, GER) economic strength, with companies like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche (car manufacturers), Bosch (home appliances), Kärcher (cleaning machines), and Hugo Boss (clothing), supports our strategy. We focus on synergies in sports and commerce, targeting five key markets," said Rouven Kasper, chief marketing and sales officer at VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga), to News Tank Football on 22/04/2025. "In international markets, we position ourselves not just as a football club but as a platform for collaboration, attracting sponsors who typically wouldn't invest in football. This strategic approach benefits our partners and the region, fostering diverse connections," explained Rouven Kasper. "In Asia, we focus on three markets: Japan, China, and India, each with a tailored strategy. Japan is a hybrid market, important both athletically and commercially. We have long been a gateway for Japanese players to Europe. Our reputation in Japan is strong. Our companies, such as Kärcher, have significant economic ties with Japan, matching their revenue in Germany. This synergy benefits our sponsors, exemplified by our summer tour in Japan, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Advantest (electronic components), our Japanese partner," said Kasper. International strategy, the arrival of Porsche as a minority shareholder and stadium sponsor via its subsidiary MHP, collaboration with re…

Person

Agnès Desvaux

Directrice générale @ Association Nationale des Élus en charge du Sport (ANDES)

Person

Laurent Lafon

Président de la commission de la Culture, de l’Éducation et de la Communication @ Sénat • Sénateur (Union centriste) du Val-de-Marne @ Sénat

Organisation

WSC Sports

Sector: company specialised in technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in sports,Founded: 2011Headquarters: Ramat Gan (ISR)CEO: Daniel ShichmanCustomers: 450 leagues, broadcasters and professional clubsMain partnerships:• TF1• Canal+• ESPN• Sky• DAZN• NBA• DFL• LFP• Lega Serie A• Euroleague Basketball• LOSC Lille (Ligue 1 McDonald’s)• Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)

Organisation

Betsson AB

Sector: gambling, sports betting and online casinoFounded: 1963Headquarters: Stockholm (SWE)CEO: Pontus LindwallSubsidiaries: Betsson Sport (infotainment)Workforce (2023): 2,000 employeesTurnover (2023): €948.2m Sports sponsorship:• FC Inter Milan (Serie A Enilive): main shirt sponsor, 2024-2028• Angers SCO (Ligue 1 McDonald's): official partner, 2023-2025• FC Martigues (Ligue 2 BKT): official partner, since 2023-24• SSC Napoli (Serie A Enilive): official partner• Torino FC (Serie A Enilive): official partner, since 2023-24• Boca Juniors (Torneo Betano): main sponsor• AS Roma (Serie A Enilive): since 2022-23 (via StarCasino)