14 DAY TRIAL // Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced that the sponsorship deal that it has with EUFA for the Champions League has just been renewed until 2012. The deal also covers the UEFA Super Cup for 2009, 2010 and 2011. Expect to see more PlayStation-oriented ads broadcast before the matches and at half-time.
Sony, with the PlayStation brand name, has been sponsoring the UEFA Champions League for the past nine years and is closely associated with the most important club level football competition in the world. The Japanese publisher is saying that the new deal shows the commitment that it has to the sport, which will also be reflected in the football-oriented videogames that will appear on the PlayStation 3 in 2009 and beyond.
Darren Carter, who is the vice president at the Consumer Marketing division of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, stated that “Football has been in our blood for a very long time and is something that along with unique and entertaining games excites PlayStation® fans. The UEFA Champions League offers us an opportunity to talk to football fans around the world, especially throughout Europe and by combining the incredible content of the UEFA Champions League with the diverse features of PlayStation products, we feel that we can bring football to our community in ways no one else can.”
Considering that the UEFA Champions League is still very much a magnet for fans, with tickets for big matches selling out despite the economic crunch, it makes sense for Sony to makes sure that it uses the venue to give the PlayStation brand increased visibility. The only question is whether the Japanese console manufacturer can afford spending such an amount of money on advertising as it is facing record losses, coming in at more than 1 billion for the last financial year.