Wix.com and City Football Group Launch Global Partnership

MANCHESTER, England and TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 17, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading web development platform Wix.com (Nasdaq:WIX) and City Football Group (CFG) have today announced their new global partnership which sees Wix become CFG’s Official Website Design & Hosting partner for their clubs Manchester City FC, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC.

Wix.com will first collaborate with Manchester City FC engaging with fans across the Club’s digital channels including their website and extensive range of social media networks. The Wix brand will also have a presence on matchdays at the Etihad Stadium appearing on the Club’s pitchside LEDs during Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup games.

The partnership officially kicks off with the release of an online video featuring Manchester City FC players Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Nicolas Otamendi and Raheem Sterling. In the video the players can be seen building a Wix website dedicated to the fans and the chants they love as former professional footballer and pundit, Chris Kamara, commentates on every click. The video also served as inspiration for the creation of an all new Wix website ‘Sing Loud, Sing Proud’ where Manchester City fans can listen to some of their favourite chants, and later on upload their very own renditions of the City songs they love.

The partnership will give Wix.com users and fans of all three CFG clubs the chance to win hospitality tickets to selected fixtures as well as “money can’t buy” experiences that range from attending first team training sessions to joining the teams for away games. Wix and CFG will work collaboratively to regularly enhance their partnership to give fans greater opportunities to engage with both Wix’s innovative website design platform and with the clubs they support year in and year out. The first fan engagement activity is due to launch within the next week, and will involve fans creating their own videos to feature on Sergio Aguero’s official website created in partnership with Wix.

“Working with a globally recognized football club like CFG is part of our overall strategy to use the power of sport to reach worldwide audiences with our brand. We have seen great success advertising in the NFL’s Super Bowl, and now we’re looking to expand to the most popular sport in the world – football,” commented Omer Shai, Wix.com Chief Marketing Officer. “The partnership with CFG is a natural one as our two brands share values and vision, and we’re confident it will boost the Wix brand amongst the massive fan bases of all three clubs.”

Echoing Shai’s sentiments, Omar Berrada, Group Commercial Director for City Football Marketing, which brokers City Football Group’s commercial partnerships, said:

“We are excited to announce our new partnership with Wix, who offer a unique website design and hosting platform that reflects City Football Group’s passion for creating an innovative and engaging product. This partnership will not only introduce our clubs’ global fan bases to an easily accessible online tool, but will also provide them with increased opportunities to get closer than ever to all the on the pitch and behind the scenes action taking place across Manchester City FC, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC.”

About Wix.com Ltd.

Wix.com is a leading cloud-based web development platform with over 79 million registered users worldwide. Wix was founded on the belief that the Internet should be accessible to everyone to develop, create and contribute. Through free and premium subscriptions, Wix empowers millions of businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals to take their businesses, brands and workflow online. The Wix Editor and highly curated App Market enable users to build and manage a fully integrated and dynamic digital presence. Wix's headquarters are in Tel Aviv with offices in San Francisco, New York, Miami, Vilnius and Dnepropetrovsk.

About City Football Group

City Football Group is the owner of a number of football related businesses with global relevance. These include high profile professional football clubs, academies, technical support and marketing companies. CFG’s clubs include Premier League Title Winners 2011-2012 and 2013-14 Manchester City FC, Melbourne City FC of the A-League and MLS Franchise New York City Football Club. CFG is also a minority shareholder in Yokohama F. Marinos of the J-League. The Group also includes Manchester City Women’s FC and 2015-16 Westfield W-League Premiership and Championship Winners, Melbourne City Women’s FC. The common aim across all clubs is to provide the best possible experience and an unmatched opportunity for fans and communities to participate in, and benefit from, football at both a local and global level.

The Group’s support companies – City Football Services and City Football Marketing – operate from a number of offices around the world in support of the Group’s clubs, associate organisations and customer organisations. City Football Services shares footballing IP and “know-how” to recruit, develop, train and win. City Football Marketing creates media, marketing and fan engagement properties to support the commercial development of clubs and their partners.

City Football Group is majority owned by Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). ADUG is an investment and development company privately owned by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. In December 2015, ADUG divested a 13% shareholding to a China Media Capital-led consortium, creating an unprecedented platform for the growth of CFG clubs and companies in China and internationally. City Football Group’s headquarters are in Manchester and it has offices in Abu Dhabi, London, New York, Melbourne, Singapore and Tokyo.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements may include projections regarding our future performance and may be identified by words like “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “outlook,” “future,” “will,” “seek” and similar terms or phrases. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management’s current expectations, which are subject to uncertainty, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, our ability to grow our user base and premium subscriptions; our ability to maintain and enhance our brand and reputation; our ability to manage the growth of our infrastructure effectively; changes to technologies used in our solutions or in global, national, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, regulatory and other factors discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the company’s 2014 annual report on Form 20-F filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2015. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date hereof. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Media Relations:
Vivian Hernandez
Wix.com
pr@wix.com
+1 415.517.6539