SportBusiness to launch international football title

SportBusiness Group is launching Football Business International, a magazine dedicated to the multi-billion pound commercial side of football, in September.

The magazine will be subscription-based at first, and is expected to have a readership of more than 50,000. There are also plans to distribute it to newsagents.

The first edition will carry an interview with Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon, an analysis of the football market in the US and an account of LG Electronics’ investment in football sponsorship programmes across the world.

Football Business International will target business professionals working in the top European leagues, Major League Soccer in the US, Australia’s NSL and the South American and African leagues.

The magazine will cover topics including sponsorship, licensing, TV and media, football politics, contracts and agents, as well as the Internet and football law.

Football Business International editor Simon Banks says: “Previously, the football industry had to rely on third-party advice from colleagues, and information circulated in national newspapers and other sporting journals. But the transformation that has taken place in football during the past decade has meant these information channels are no longer adequate as a standalone source for football.”