Football Manager developer Sports Interactive has announced a four-year licensing partnership with The Premier League.
It means, for the first time ever, Football Manager players will be able to take their team to the top of English football, with all 20 clubs fully licensed including official logos, kits, and player photos.
The deal will begin with the 2024/25 season, due later this year.
“Since Football Manager’s inception, we have always wanted to work with the Premier League, and we’re delighted to announce today that at last we are”, said Sports Interactive studio director Miles Jacobson.
“The partnership isn’t just about the huge in-game benefits it’ll give our fans, but also the opportunities it provides us to help with the incredible things that the Premier League and their clubs do off the pitch. That includes community and charitable work, two things we’re enormously passionate about, as well as the ability to work with some of their existing partners.
“We are very grateful to the Premier League and their other partners in our space for enabling us to be an officially licensed product of the world’s most commercially successful football league.”
Premier League chief commercial officer Will Brass added: “Football Manager has been a big part of the sporting landscape for decades, and is loved and enjoyed by millions of fans around the world. We are thrilled that the Premier League will now feature even more prominently in the game, helping to deliver a deeper, more authentic experience for anybody who takes on the challenge of managing a Premier League club.”
Football Manager first released in 2005, after its previous iteration as Championship Manager that began in 1992. It’s surprising, therefore, it’s taken so long for The Premier League to be officially licensed.
“What should be a transitional year for Football Manager feels like a quietly revolutionary one, thanks to a handful of little changes with big impacts,” reads Eurogamer’s Football Manager 2024 review.
