Welcome to Sportico’s transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships and products across the sports business industry.
PERSONNEL
New York Red Bulls Name Scott Epstein Head of Corporate Partnerships
The New York Red Bulls have named Scott Epstein the head of corporate partnerships for the Major League Soccer club. In his role, Epstein will oversee all partnership opportunities for both the club and Red Bull Arena. This encompasses identifying new partnership opportunities including brand partners for venue naming rights, maximizing existing partnerships and business development opportunities. Prior to joining the Red Bulls, Epstein served as managing partner at Force Sports + Entertainment and SVP of live events for Townsquare Media.
Footballco Names Andy Jackson SVP for the Middle East
Footballco, a football content and media company, has promoted Andy Jackson to the newly created position of SVP for the Middle East. Before the promotion, Jackson was Footballco’s VP of global football partnerships. Footballco has had a growing presence in the Middle East in recent years and acquired Kooora, the largest digital sports publisher in the region, in April 2022. Footballco has a representation partnership with Digital Media Services, a Choueiri Group brand, and clients in the region include the likes of BYD, Samsung, Qiddiya and Coca-Cola.
PARTNERSHIPS
Liverpool FC Partners With Strauss in Premier League First
Liverpool Football Club and Strauss, a German brand that engineers and manufactures performance workwear, have signed a multiyear global partnership to become the club’s Official Workwear Partner, the first of its kind in the Premier League. Beginning on LFC’s preseason tour of the U.S. this week, supporters see the Strauss brand given premium visibility across club channels, branded signage and all high-visibility assets. This will include pitch-side LED screens, which will also be visible at Anfield come August and seen by more than 400 million TV viewers across the new season. Strauss has longstanding relationships with the German Football Association as well as several Bundesliga clubs.
Western Union Named Money Transfer Partner of Mexican National Team
The Federación Mexicana de Futbol (FMF) and Soccer United Marketing (SUM) have reached an agreement between Western Union and the Mexican men’s national team, naming the financial services provider as a new official partner during the team’s annual “MexTour” which includes matches across the United States. Western Union’s collaboration with the Mexican national team’s tour began this past May and June with matches against Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil. Through the partnership, Western Union will engage with Mexican national team fans across the country via media assets, fan engagement programs with current and former players and unique hospitality experiences.
Detroit Lions Expand and Extend Partnership With Meijer
The Detroit Lions have named their headquarters and training facility in Allen Park, Mich., the Meijer Performance Center as part of an expanded partnership with Michigan-based grocery retailer Meijer. This expansion of the partnership will include interior and exterior Meijer Performance Center branding elements around the building, as well as branding on the team’s practice uniforms during the regular season. Additionally, Meijer will be the presenting partner of the Brush Street Concourse at Ford Field with visible branding for all Lions home games and other events and will be featured in multiple gameday elements. Meijer is now the Lions’ exclusive grocery partner and the first and only grocery retailer that has naming rights of an NFL club’s training facility.
DAZN to Broadcast the Women’s Cup
DAZN has partnered with The Women’s Cup soccer competition to broadcast eight international matches featuring clubs from across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. With eight teams, this summer will mark the largest iteration of The Women’s Cup as the competition continues to grow. All DAZN coverage of women’s soccer sits in DAZN’s freemium environment, making these matches available to all fans in Europe at no cost.
PRODUCTS
Innovation to Take Center Stage at First World Technology Games in 2026
The World Technology Games (WTG), a global competition in innovation, technology and science, will stage its inaugural event for Q3 2026. The annual, five-day event will include competitions, a festival and a leadership summit. The games will celebrate and elevate advancements across life, earth, data and industrial sciences, through themes like sustainability and AI. The event will be supported by the Indy Autonomous Challenge and Global Esports Federation. Through the live event and digital content, the WTG targets a global audience of more than 1.6 billion people who consider technology an essential component of their daily lives.
LEAD Launches Direct Investment Vehicle Targeting Pre-Seed Companies
LEAD Sports and Health Tech Partners, a sports and health tech venture corporation, unveiled LEAD One, a new direct, pre-seed investment vehicle. LEAD One is an evolution of LEAD’s accelerator vehicle, reworked to meet the changing global market dynamics of early-stage venture and remove obstacles for organizations to get from their A to B faster. With $1 million allocated annually, LEAD One will look to invest in 10 companies per year that are building technology around the sports and health industry, such as healthcare accessibility, youth sports, food as medicine, media/IP, women’s health, orthopedics, wellness modalities, gaming and fan engagement.
PURCHASES
Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Acquires Stake in Fintech Firm Sokin
Investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital have acquired a stake in UK headquartered payments business Sokin, an expanding fintech firm. Sokin will continue operating as an independent unit and brand, and the current management team will remain to lead its expansion, with CEO Vroon Modgill maintaining a material shareholding. While Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital has led the transaction, it also includes investment from prominent U.S. investors including Gary Marino, a former chief commercial officer at PayPal who will join the board, Mark Britto, former chief product officer at PayPal, and Aurum Partners, the investment fund affiliated with the owners of the San Francisco 49ers and other LPs. Existing investors in Sokin include former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.
WMT Acquires AI Ticket-Pricing Platform Event Dynamic, Rebrands as Tillion
WMT, a technology firm, has acquired AI ticket-pricing platform Event Dynamic. Under the WMT umbrella, Event Dynamic will be rebranded as Tillion. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Tillion leverages AI to optimize ticket pricing for stadiums, determining the value of each seat based on its location and other factors. This acquisition enhances WMT’s suite of products, which includes website/app design, fan data acquisition and marketing services. Tillion will benefit from integration with WMT’s enhanced data offering, including the recent hiring of data scientist Leigh Wojtkiewicz as chief data and insights officer.
