Vodafone links up with Manchester United

NEWS Vodafone AirTouch (quote: VOD) will become Manchester United's new shirt sponsor, replacing electronics maker Sharp, as the result of the biggest football sponsorship deal ever, announced last week. But the impact won't end with marketing Vodafone's telecommunications brand; according to experts, the deal is the most prominent evidence to date that the next generation of interactive mobile phones is becoming a reality. The deal is worth £30m over a four-year period, according to the groups. Vodafone -- which recently clinched another landmark deal with the biggest merger ever, buying Germany's Mannesmann for £114bn -- will supply wireless services such as live match scores and, eventually, live video clips from games over a mobile phone. The video coverage won't be available for a year or two, when more advanced phones and infrastructure arrive, but supporters can begin to see live news and information beginning this summer. The services use WAP, or Wireless Application Protocol, which is already available on some phones. E-commerce, retail and banking companies are all investigating ways of making their services available over WAP; Swedes can already do their banking via the screens of their mobiles. Many experts believe that in Europe at least, where mobile phone usage is far more common than in the US, wireless phones will overtake PCs as the way most people experience the Internet. Peter Bamford, CEO of Vodafone UK, said the deal goes beyond a pure shirt sponsorship. "This... will bring a new range of mobile information services to a loyal massive supporter base. There is additional business potential in the bringing together of the world's largest telecommunications company and the world's best known football club," he said in a statement. What do you think? Tell the Mailroom. And read what others have said.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Membership FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Hi Dava, I'm glad to hear from you, and glad that you see things from the other side. I think that is the most important point of the whole...

2 minutes ago by J.A. Watson on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and the Latest Tempest

please please please please please please kill that spam bot.

21 minutes ago by dava4444 on ZDNet UK: faster, smarter, still IT all the way

60 minutes ago by 253chelisa253 on How security will look in 10 years

it is only greedy[microsoft]?

2 hours ago by lezlow on Researchers break into BitLocker

it didn't post the link it's 'Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta-1 First Look' on youtube :) Dava

3 hours ago by dava4444 on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and the Latest Tempest

Hi James I disagree, Ubuntu needs a GUI update and this one IMO is quite good. your pics show a low res. here's a high res. on YouTube* The...

4 hours ago by dava4444 on Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) and the Latest Tempest

Hi any news on the comment bot? knocking me back from my own blog is a bit cheeky lol *Mulder to Scully* "I think it has an agenda.." I know, I...

5 hours ago by dava4444 on ZDNet UK: faster, smarter, still IT all the way

if you look at the Brentwood exchange on samknows it servers 21,000 residential propertiesm, Lowestoft serves 31,000! Come on BT sort yourselves...

5 hours ago by benny boy on BT fibre broadband coming to 69 more towns

[programming] H.264 - a sting in the tail http://reddit.com/bfu4q [zdnet.co.uk]

6 hours ago on Twitter by pbreddit

H.264 - a sting in the tail [programming] 13 points, submitted by zigzag [zdnet.co.uk] http://reddit.com/bfu4q

7 hours ago on Twitter by reddit

Malware infects second Vodafone HTC phone: [zdnet.co.uk] A second Android-based HTC Magic from Vodafone has been... http://dlvr.it/KhKx

9 hours ago on Twitter by cybfor

Chatter preview http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/application-development/2010/03/17/salesforce-opens-up-chatter-developer-preview-40088348/

10 hours ago on Twitter by miyabi81

US gov t considers undercover social networking: [zdnet.co.uk] The Obama administration has considered sending... http://dlvr.it/Kh3L

10 hours ago on Twitter by cybfor

Please give me chance in the vodafone essar Ltd as back office executive

12 hours ago by sudipta_vodafone on Vodafone culls 375 'mainly back-office' jobs

I want to get a back office job in vodafone direct payroll

12 hours ago by sudipta_vodafone on Vodafone culls 375 'mainly back-office' jobs

I also find it harder to use. It used to scale properly in Firefox. Text would size up and down without dragging all the right edge debris with it....

15 hours ago by Xwindowsjunkie on ZDNet UK: faster, smarter, still IT all the way

that comment bot is a nutter, it just referred me to the moderator on my own blog. shocked look. please help thank you Dava I'm afriad to...

19 hours ago by dava4444 on Welcome to the new ZDNet UK community!

Hi Rupert! Don't think I could fill the above shoes... but if your ever looking for a consumer rights Tech blogger..tip me the wink lol peace Dava

20 hours ago by dava4444 on Fancy working for ZDNet UK?

Hi Rupert My photo is gone from my profile and I just got told i was a spammer by the comment bot. the navigation is gone for my profile. :O on...

20 hours ago by dava4444 on Welcome to the new ZDNet UK community!

With windows it is always more bloat, and a lot of that seems to be duplicated in various places. I've noticed that you will have freed space on...

1 day ago by ator1940 on Can you believe it - 2765 kB will be freed?

Featured white papers

Achieving PCI Compliance for:Privileged Password Management & Remote Vendor Access

e-DMZ Security

For multi-store outlets, including retail, banking, grocery, gas, hospitality, convenience stores and others, reducing (or avoiding) the cost of in-store system support and maintenance while maintaining compliance with PCI and other requirements has become a strategic challenge.

Download now

Web 2.0 Security Threats: How to Protect Your Enterprise Network

Qualys

Speaker: Dr. Chenxi Wang, Principal Analyst, Security and Risk Management, Forrester Research, Inc. As Enterprises are increasingly connected to the Internet and as hard organizational boundaries are fast disappearing, security professionals are facing fresh challenges in Enterprise computing.

Download now