IGA Worldwide, Inc. the leading independent in-game advertising company, today announced an exclusive partnership deal with SEGA Europe Ltd. and Sports Interactive for forthcoming titles in the Football Manager( series, including the highly anticipated Massively Multiplayer Online version, Football Manager Live.

Football Manager Live, due for release this summer, combines the hugely successful Football Manager series gameplay, with the dynamic play experience of a Massively Multiplayer Online Game, allowing managers to pit their tactical skills directly against hundreds of other human players for the first time. Players can create their own team name, colours, badges and home ground, before deciding which players to sign from Sports Interactive’s world famous database of over 270,000 real life players.

This new development of the franchise offers aspiring football managers the opportunity to play the game their way, changing tactics within live matches from a virtual dugout, exchanging banter with other virtual managers through the in-game chat facilities, and balancing the books for their team, all directly against the tactical brains of other real managers from around the world.

Through IGA’s global sales team, brands will have access to a wide range of advertising prospects in keeping with the opportunities experienced in a real football environment, including league and tournament sponsorship, pitch-side billboards, web-based MPU’s plus a number of premium static integrations.

Uniquely, IGA will also be using its proprietary Radial technology to dynamically link ad spaces between the Football Manager Live game client and the corresponding locations on the Football Manager Live Web portal, giving advertisers extended and cohesive exposure as well as the ability to offer video and rich media content within the web-based MPU spaces.

Beyond simply a web portal, www.footballmanagerlive.co.uk links directly into the game servers, allowing managers as well as the public at large the ability to browse the profiles, teams and competition results of other managers as well as chatting via the forums, akin to Facebook for Football.

"The Football Manager series boasts 3 of the top 5 fastest selling PC games in history and we are extremely enthusiastic about partnering with Sports Interactive and SEGA on these world-leading titles leading into the Euro 2008 series this summer," said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA Worldwide. "The unique opportunities available to our clients in these titles offer unrivalled exposure, engagement and accountability whilst adding realism and context to a game environment that prides itself on these same qualities."

"By having all in-game advertising in-situ in our forthcoming titles, it will add to the game playing experience for our customers," said Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive. "With IGA we’ve found a partner who understands our needs in that regard, and will be helping to enhance this experience in both Football Manager and Football Manager Live"