Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has agreed to become one of the faces of BT Sport’s football after signing a three-year contract with the broadcaster.
The Special One has agreed a three-year deal that will see him carry out various roles, including appearances as a studio pundit and on other football programmes, as well as acting as a BT Sport brand ambassador.
Mourinho won the Premier League title two years running with his first stint at Chelsea in 2005 and 2006, alongside the FA Cup and League Cup double in 2007.
He has also won the UEFA Champions League with two different teams – Porto and Inter Milan – as well as winning league titles in four different countries.
Mourinho kicks off his partnership with BT Sport with a role in the latest BT Sport TV advert, which airs for the first time on Saturday, July 12 on ITV at approximately 8.50pm, just prior to the World Cup third place play-off match between Brazil and the Netherlands.
It will be broadcast days after BT was forced to pull an advert featuring Gareth Bale, which promoted its future Champions League football coverage, after the trail broke UEFA rules in only permits current rights holders, such as Sky and ITV, to run such promos.
“I’m looking forward to working with BT Sport”, said Mourinho, who was previously an ambassador for BT’s arch-rivals Sky Sports.
“In their first year they have shown they are not afraid to challenge, are open to new ideas and want to do things differently. This is the kind of team and ambition that I want to work with.”
Mourinho will also take a central role in BT Sport’s new wider marketing campaign ahead of the 2014/15 season which celebrates unmissable moments from some of the biggest games shown on BT Sport during its debut Premier League season.
The campaign illustrates the line – ‘You have to see it to believe it’ – and showcases the effects on players, managers, spectators and fans.
Alongside Mourinho, the advert features Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge teaching a Zumba class his trademark goal celebration alongside his celebration on the pitch after scoring at Anfield.
Arsenal and England star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain features in an identity parade line-up with four other players wearing Kieran Gibbs masks, the scene being a reference to the mistaken identity incident during Arsenal’s 6-0 defeat by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.
The TV treatment is part of a wider multi-media campaign which will also feature in print, posters, online, radio and social media including the likes of BT Sport ambassadors Mourinho, Sturridge, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Bale, Rio Ferdinand and Jake Humphrey.
Grant Best, senior channel executive producer, BT Sport, said: “Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers of all time.
“He is a double UEFA Champions League winner, has won seven domestic league titles including the Barclays Premier League, which he has won twice, as well as numerous domestic cup competitions including the FA Cup.
“To add this winning mentality and wealth of experience to BT Sport’s football coverage, and with the UEFA Champions League coming to BT Sport next season, is simply fantastic.
“Jose is well known for his sense of humour, strong views and unique character and we will showcase this along with his expert insight into our coverage of the Barclays Premier League, European leagues and competitions.”
BT Sport also has the rights to live top tier matches from the FA Cup, Scottish Professional Football League, UEFA Europa League and the German Bundesliga, Serie A in Italy, Ligue 1 in France, Brasileiro in Brazil and Major League Soccer in the USA.
Watch BT Sport’s new promo featuring Jose Mourinho below:
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