LONDON: City Football Group, the holding company of Premier League giants Manchester City, has appointed CAA Sports, a division of leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), to develop global partnerships.
CAA Sports will work alongside CFG’s in-house sales team on a range of projects, with an initial focus on global agreements for CFG’s clubs with leading brands.
CFG owns football-related businesses in major cities around the world, including football clubs, academies, technical support, and marketing companies.
As well as Manchester City, CFG owns Major League Soccer’s New York City FC, the A-League’s Melbourne City FC, La Liga’s FC Girona, J-League’s Yokohama F Marinos, and the Uruguayan Primera Division’s CA Torque.
Given CFG’s current stable, speculative reports suggest that the appointment of CAA comes as City’s owners are looking to move into the Chinese market.
It was in April 2017 that CAA partnered with Chinese media investment fund CMC Capital Partners (CMC), to form CAA China, a world-class media and entertainment platform, and a minority strategic investment by CMC in CAA. Creating alignment throughout the agency, CMC Chairman Li Ruigang will join CAA’s Board of Directors.
Since its formation in May 2013, CFG has experienced significant growth, having expanded to 10 offices around the world. Alongside its commercial headquarters in London, the group operates from Manchester, Abu Dhabi, Girona, Melbourne, Montevideo, New York, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. The news follows a successful year for CFG, which has seen global partnerships with the likes of Amazon, Gatorade and Nexen Tire.
Paul Danforth, global head of sales, CAA Sports, commented: “City Football Group is a unique football organization that is growing globally at an unprecedented pace.
“We are excited to be helping CFG commercialise this potential and bringing blue chip brands on board as partners of CFG clubs. Two ground breaking partnerships with Gatorade and Amazon are the first outcomes of our collaboration.”
City Football Group joins CAA Sports’ existing portfolio of properties, which includes Formula One, Red Bull Racing, the Golden State Warriors, and Riot Games’ League of Legends, among others.
