Sportswear manufacturer Umbro has agreed a deal to become the leading kit supplier for the newly reformed Major League Soccer (MLS) team The New York Cosmos.

The Cosmos folded in 1985 following the disintergration of the North American Soccer League but gained notoriety for signing famous players including Pele and Franz Beckenbauer.

As part of the deal Umbro has designed the team’s new home shirt, which is inspired by the old kit worn in 1977.

Chief marketing officer for Umbro International, Trevor Cairns, said: “Umbro was a partner of The New York Cosmos during the 1970s when they were unquestionably the world’s coolest football club. It’s a great opportunity to once again be involved with the club and we are committed to working with them to develop world-class soccer players worthy to wear the legendary New York Cosmos crest.

“From the reaction we’ve had from the few people who’ve seen the line, we’re confident it will become a modern day classic.”

Chairman of The New York Cosmos Paul Kemsley added: “We are excited about our kit deal with Umbro – namely because we both strongly embrace the heritage of the beautiful game, and are excited about its future here in New York City and throughout the United States.  The New York Cosmos will be much more than just a soccer club. The best way to describe it is a movement, for the advancement of soccer across the world.”

Drinks brand Powerade has taken advantage of its link with the Great Britain Olympic team by launching Powerade Zero – the official drink of Team GB.

The drink has been scientifically produced to provide hydration to athletes with hardly any calories and will form part of the British Olympic Association’s (BOA)hydration regime in the build up to the London 2012 Games.

Trade communications manager at Coca-Cola Enterprises, which owns Powerade, Selena Taylor, said: “The launch of Powerade Zero represents a huge opportunity to drive profits for retailers in the Sports & Energy sector. There are 1.8bn active sporting occasions among Powerade’s core audience each year.”

British athlete Jessica Ennis is a Powerade ambassador and would most likely front any marketing campaign that is rolled out surrounding the product.

Thomson Sport has been appointed as the Official Travel Partner to the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Supporters’ Club.

The four-year deal will see Thomson Sport become the preferred provider of Match Breaks for Scotland supporters, including matches in Scotland and overseas.

Managing director of Thomson Sport, Nathan Wilson, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this partnership with the Scottish Football Association and are excited at the opportunity to work with the Scottish national team.

“Scottish fans are some of the most passionate in the world of football and the Scotland Supporters’ Club has a record membership of 35,000 fans. We look forward to playing our part in ensuring they fully enjoy the football experience both at Hampden Park and internationally.”

Scottish FA acting chief executive, George Peat, added: “This partnership ensures the national team and its magnificent support enjoy the best possible travel experience for all our games during the Uefa Euro 2012 and 2014 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers.”

Thomson Sport will also be the preferred of travel and accommodation to the Scottish national teams, as well as for key executives linked to the Scottish FA travelling to matches.

Beer brand Carling has agreed a seven-figure two-year deal to sponsor coverage of 60 games from the Scottish Football Premier League (SPL) on ESPN and Sky Sports.

The deal, treatment which was brokered by agency ZenithOptimedia, will run from August 2010 until the end of the 2010/11 season.

Carling branding will appear in the opening and closing sequences of match programmes, on either side of commercial breaks, during matches as well as around online coverage of the SPL on ESPNsoccernet.com and the Sky Sports network.

Director of sales at Molson Coors Scotland (owner of Carling), Paul Miller, said: “As a brand which is as passionate about football as the fans are, there is no better platform than the Scottish Premier League for sharing the highs and the lows of the beautiful game.”

Sky Media handles all the advertising sales for all the ESPN channels, and head of business development at Sky Media, David Shore, added: “Working on behalf of both Sky and ESPN, Sky Media are in the enviable position of being able to offer brands such as Carling a valuable presence across both channel.

“This enables Carling to really own multiplatform coverage of the SPL, and we look forward to working with them over the next two seasons.”

German tyre manufacturer Continental has signed a five-year sponsorship deal with German Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

The deal, which runs through to 2015, follows Continental’s recently announced tie ups with the German DFB cup, the North American Major Soccer League, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Head of the passenger and light truck tyres divisions for Continental, Nikolai Setzer, said: “We are delighted with the attractive possibility our role as exclusive tyre partner offers to link two premium brands, Continental and FC Bayern Munich.

“This adds a further component to our international football sponsoring strategy. Hooking up with Germany’s most successful club and the one best known around the world boosts the image of the premium Continental brand.

“FC Bayern Munich stands for a highly professional and impassioned approach of the playing field, too. These are attributes that perfectly match our products and our brands.”

Market research company YouGov has teamed up with sports marketing consultancy SMG Insight to launch a new business initiative that will “deliver a fresh approach to sports sponsorship research and consulting”.

The initiative will be targeted at rights-holders, view sponsors, here brands, story agencies and other investors in sport, and services will including measuring sponsorship opportunities and optimising sponsorship objectives.

The initiative will be headed by Frank Saez, former vice president of international sports agency IMG and managing director of IFM sports marketing surveys.

Saez said: “Many traditional sports and sponsorship market research services have become less insightful and obsolete.

“YouGov has a strong reputation for incisive international consumer research and and this exclusive partnership provides SMG Insight with an opportunity to provide the sports and sponsorship industry with higher added value services, delivering much more than traditional media valuations.”

Saez launched SMG in April after leaving IMF. As part of the alliance, YouGov has taken a minority stake in SMG.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has signed a four-year contract extension with Red Bull for the energy drink to remain an official supplier of the England Cricket team until the summer of 2013, symptoms it has been announced.

As part of the deal, view Red Bull, who first became an ECB partner in 2005, will supply the team with their products at all international matches. In return it will receive a comprehensive range of sponsorship assets including in-ground advertising, ticketing and hospitality and product placement around international cricket stadia.

ECB head of sponsorship Mark Pearce said: “Red Bull is an established partner of the England cricket team and we are delighted it continues to see great benefit from its association with the team.

“Having recently regained the Ashes and been crowned ICC World Twenty20 champions this is an exciting time for the England cricket team.

“Over the coming 12 months the team has the chance to retain the Ashes down under and compete for the ICC World Cup in India in early 2011 so it promises to be a year in which cricket continues to attract huge media attention.”

Earlier this month the ECB announced Jaguar as its Official Vehicle Supplier of the England team.

The English football Premier League has signed a deal with gaming giants EA Sports for it to become the League’s first sports technology partner.

As part of the deal EA’s on-screen branding will be shown during all live Premier League broadcasts, including coverage on Sky, ESPN and all overseas broadcasts.

EA will also sponsor the Premier League’s player performance index, replacing Actim as the league’s player rating system.

As well as this, the US gaming company will also publish a team of the week on the Premier League’s website.

Premier League director of sales and marketing, Richard Masters, said: “We are extremely pleased that EA Sports has had the foresight to enter into this exciting new partnership that will connect with Barclays Premier League fans in new and inventive ways.

“Fans have a thirst for statistics and and information and that is something that the Premier League, working with EA, will provide to a level not seen before in professional football.”

EA Sports said the deal would help it further establish itself as the leading football gaming experience.

English Championship club Middlesbrough are offering shirt sponsorship deals on a monthly basis after it failed to attract a season-long offer which met its expectations.

The sponsorship offer, named ‘Tailored for You…’, expects to attract local, national and international attention.

The club’s chief operating officer, Neil Bausor, said: “For some months now we have also been proactively engaged with numerous organisations for the club’s front of shirt sponsorship rights from the start of the new season.

“Those conversations have ultimately not progressed to a satisfactory conclusion for us, and whilst it is important to recognise we are in a turbulent economic climate, I must also protect the best interests of the club commercially.”

Middlesbrough’s head of commercial partnerships, Matt Smith, added; “We are all genuinely excited in taking this new approach to the market. Sponsorship in football is long established now but this will definitely offer something different.”

The club will offer packages for each of the ten months for the upcoming 2010/11 season.

Social networking site Facebook has denied reports that it is in advanced talks with the Football Association (FA) about becoming the new major sponsor of the England national team.

Current sponsor Nationwide is set to discontinue its backing of the team at the end of the month, and it has been claimed that Facebook was one of four companies vying for the contract.

Telecommunications companies 02 and Orange, as well as banking group Santander have been named as the other on the shortlist, but Facebook has denied it is in talks with the FA.

In a statement released by the company, it said: “Facebook is not in talks with the England football team regarding sponsorship. I don’t know where it has come from but it is not true. It’s bizarre.

“We obviously work with lots of different brands and the FA have used the Facebook platform and the England team have a page. We’ve obviously been talking to them about those sorts of things, just like any other brand.”