German soccer champions Bayern Munich have been added to the bulging soccer partnerships stable for internet search engine giant Google.
Through a tie-up made public yesterday, Google Gemini becomes the consumer AI of the Bavarian club, while the Google Pixel brand becomes Bayern's official smartphone partner.
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The tie-up gets underway at the start of the 2026-27 German soccer season, which for Bayern will kick off with the German Supercup next weekend, in which fixture they will take on Borussia Dortmund.
Through the deal, Google Pixel will work with Bayern to provide fans with exclusive content, to appear both on the Bavarian club's channels, and via Google Pixel platforms. This will include behind-the-scenes footage from Bayern's training ground, and from their Allianz Arena home stadium.
Google Pixel is also now making Bayern-themed features available on its phones, such as personalized wallpapers.
Rouven Kasper, board member for marketing and sales at Bayern Munich, commented: "This long-term partnership represents a fascinating intersection of football culture and technological innovation. We are convinced that, together with Google, we can bring our teams even closer to the fans through exclusive digital content, AI-powered insights, and much more."
Last week, Bayern agreed a new global commercial tie-up with Asia-based green energy company LONGi.
The partners will explore opportunities to bring LONGi's solar solutions into the club's own sustainability efforts, with potential applications across training facilities and stadium infrastructure.
In terms of recent Google soccer sponsorship activity, meanwhile, a deal between that giant and French champions Paris Saint-Germain was unveiled earlier this month.
Elsewhere in European soccer, Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) have brought in investment platform XTB as a new major partner.
A three-season tie-up between the two parties has been struck, through which XTB's logo will appear on the lower back of the team's match shirts.
In addition, XTB will have a presence across all the Lyon digital media assets, as well as on signage at the club's Groupama Stadium.
Only last week, a three-season sleeve sponsorship deal between XTB and Porto was announced.
The platform also has a deal in place with Italian heavyweights Napoli.
Thibaut Chatelard, senior vice president of revenue and marketing at Olympique Lyonnais, commented: "XTB’s decision to partner with us for the next three seasons demonstrates the strength of OL’s brand platform and the power of our fan community. We look forward to building value-creating activations together for both XTB and our fans."
Celta Vigo, meanwhile, of Spanish soccer's LaLiga, have tied up with sports and entertainment facilities development and management firm Oak View Group.
OVG has been placed in charge of handling the food and hospitality offerings at Celta's Balaidos stadium.
This marks OVG's entry into Spain.
This deal, Celta have said, will "enable the development of a new food and beverage offering at the stadium."
This will contribute to a wider plan around modernizing the Celta stadium, which was opened in 1928 and – as of the current reconstruction works – has a capacity of just under 25,000.
Amy Latimer, president of operations at OVG, explained: "A world-class venue like Balaídos can be transformative for Vigo and the region as a whole. A high-quality food and beverage offering will help drive tourism, create new opportunities for local businesses, and generate a positive and sustainable economic impact in the long term.”
Last month, SURJ Sports Investments, the sporting arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), launched a venue-based joint venture with Live Nation and OVG.
The JV, to be called radia, will act as an integrated venue-services provider, aimed at "supporting the full lifecycle of sports venues and precincts," across Saudi Arabia.
