Manchester United inks Alibaba partnership

Deal will involve localised content, a new channel plus a flagship Tmall store and merchandise.

Manchester United has secured a new deal with Alibaba Group.

The deal gives the ecommerce conglomerate exclusive rights to share club content in China across its eco-system for the first time, reported SportIndustry.biz.

Man United content will be presented and localised on multiple Alibaba platforms, giving Chinese fans access to club content including select first team matches, highlights and localised original productions.

A new Manchester United channel will also launch on Alibaba’s video streaming platform, Youku.

In addition, the partnership will also include collaborations on a Manchester United flagship store on Tmall, which will become the official marketplace store selling merchandise to Chinese consumers. It will be linked from the Youku channel.

“We look forward to working with Alibaba to further grow our fanbase in China and building on other areas of the partnership in the near future,” said Richard Arnold, group md of Manchester United.

Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group, added: “With this cooperation we are leveraging Alibaba’s ecosystem to bring a unique Manchester United experience closer to fans and consumers in China. I look forward to developing other areas of strategic business cooperation in the future.”

Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow @LicensingSource on Twitter.