Man City inks deal with digital collectible platform Quidd

Manchester City has signed a new multi-year partnership with Quidd, one of the world’s leading digital collectible platforms.


Quidd is providing new experiences for fans to be able to swap and collect digital cards, transforming the football culture pastime of collecting stickers and cards into the modern age through the use of technology.

The partnership will give fans the opportunity to unlock a number of real-world rewards including official Manchester City merchandise, hospitality tickets and money-can’t-buy experiences, including an exclusive opportunity to watch a first team training session at the City Football Academy.

To mark the collaboration with the club, Quidd will be releasing a range of special edition digital collectibles which will allow Cityzens the ability to collect and benefit from Manchester City themed digital products.

This will be through the Quidd marketplace, which has facilitated the issue, sale and exchange of limited-edition, officially licensed digital collectibles since the brand’s formation in 2016.

The first series will feature over 200 bespoke player cards and will be available on the state-of-the-art Quidd marketplace at 2pm on Thursday 2nd May, with the first 10,000 Cityzens acquiring two free packs plus exclusive access to ‘For The Fans’ packs within 72 hours of release.

For more information on the digital collectible release, please visit: https://bit.ly/ManCityQuidd.

Tom Boyle, Vice-President, Global Partnerships Marketing and Operations at City Football Group, said: “We’re pleased to announce our new partnership with Quidd today.

“We’re excited to help transform the traditional football pastime of cards and collectibles in a new digital age alongside Quidd, enabling us to further connect with our fans across the globe.

“We look forward to working together on creating new digital experiences and games for our fans to enjoy”.

Michael Bramlage, Chief Executive Officer at Quidd, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Manchester City, one of the very best clubs in the game. This partnership signals our intent to revolutionise the world of sport collectibles.

“We have an ambition to be the best, most successful digital collectibles business – so it makes complete sense for Quidd to align with Manchester City, the most forward-thinking and progressive football club on earth.

“Quidd will provide fans with a fun and easy way to connect with their favourite football clubs and players”.

The Sport Apparel Drama – Adidas grow, Nike, Puma UA Struggle

“Carlo De Marchis ‘a guy with the yellow scarf pens down this month’s Business Index. Lots of big movers such as TKO, Guild eSports and Tencent but the focus is on apparel and adidas’ recent share price surge”

How come? New CEO? Rebound? Sponsorship deals? Streetwear coolness? 

Full disclosure: I wear Adidas most days, Munich, Hamburg, SL 72 etc…

Let’s dig in!

In a challenging period for the athletic footwear and apparel industry, Adidas has emerged as a standout performer. The German sportswear giant’s stock has climbed over 30% year-to-date, handily outpacing the broader market and key rivals like Nike, Puma and Under Armour.

Adidas’ resurgence comes on the heels of a difficult 2023, marred by the company’s costly split with rapper and designer Kanye West. The breakup over West’s antisemitic comments forced Adidas to abandon its lucrative Yeezy line, leading to the company’s first annual loss in over 30 years.

However, Adidas has rebounded impressively in 2024. The company’s fiscal Q1 results, released in a preliminary announcement on April 18, revealed a 4% increase in revenue to €5.5 billion, beating analyst expectations. Even more encouragingly, operating profit soared to €336 million from just €60 million a year earlier. Gross margins also expanded by over 6 percentage points to 51.2%.

The strong start to the year prompted Adidas to significantly raise its full-year guidance. The company now projects mid-to-high single digit revenue growth (up from mid-single digits previously) and operating profit of around €700 million, 40% higher than its prior forecast of €500 million. Analysts applauded the upgraded outlook, with Telsey Advisory Group’s Cristina Fernandez increasing her price target on Adidas shares to €225.

CEO Bjørn Gulden, who took the helm in January 2023, looks to be the steadying presence Adidas needs. If Adidas can build on its encouraging start to 2024, invest judiciously in product innovation and marquee partnerships, and avoid any more unforced errors, the company has a good shot at sustaining its stock market outperformance.

Adidas appears to be executing more effectively on the fashion and influencer partnerships that drive the athletic industry. While Nike and Under Armour have leaned heavily into performance sports like basketball, Adidas has cultivated popular streetwear collaborations with designers like Pharrell Williams and Sean Wotherspoon that generate buzz.

Adidas is also pursuing high-profile sponsorships, including a reported new kit deal with Liverpool F.C. starting in the 2025-26 season, swiping the Premier League club away from Nike. However, the company faces brand challenges, particularly on its home turf. In a major blow, Adidas lost its position as the German national soccer team’s kit supplier to Nike starting in 2027, ending a 70-year relationship. Some saw it as a stinging rebuke to a homegrown brand in favor of a foreign competitor. “I would have liked a bit more local patriotism,” lamented Germany’s economy minister.

Several other factors are fueling Adidas’ momentum. Robust demand for retro styles like the Samba and Gazelle is attracting consumers and driving sales growth. Adidas also still managed to generate €200 million in profitable Yeezy inventory liquidation in 2023 and early 2024, putting that turbulent chapter behind it. With major sporting events like the Olympics and Euro 2024 on tap, Adidas is well-positioned to capitalize on the heightened interest.

Adidas’ turnaround stands in stark contrast to the headwinds battering competitors Nike and Puma. Both companies recently warned of a slowdown in the athletic footwear and apparel market. Supply chain issues, weakening consumer demand, and unfavorable currency impacts are all weighing on their financial results.

In its most recent quarter, Nike’s revenue declined 1% year-over-year, with North American sales down 5%. The company is undergoing significant layoffs as it looks to cut $2 billion in costs. Puma has also felt the sting of macroeconomic pressures, especially from the devaluation of the Argentine peso in one of its key growth markets.

Under Armour, meanwhile, continues to lose ground to larger rivals. The company is struggling to gain traction with its flagship footwear like the Curry brand as it remains more reliant on the intensely competitive North American market.

The biggest contributor to Adidas’ 2024 comeback is undoubtedly the waning impact of the Yeezy debacle. With that painful and expensive episode receding, the company can refocus on its core offerings and storytelling.

The athletic footwear and apparel space will likely remain fiercely competitive and sensitive to shifting consumer tastes and spending. Companies will have to deftly navigate challenges from continued supply chain disruptions to online distribution to increasing calls for environmental and social responsibility.

In that context, Adidas’ strong 2024 rebound is all the more impressive. If the company can stay on offense, as Gulden urges, and keep making prudent strategic decisions, it has a chance to solidify its recent gains. After a humbling period, Adidas is showing a resilience and agility that the market is rewarding. The German giant looks ready to run again.

Here’s the full index:

The women’s game, immersive fan experiences and content commerce is the future of Sport

In his latest View From Asia column, Unmish Parthasarathi, the Singapore-based Founder of Picture Board Partners, the Strategy, Innovation & Venture Development boutique, shares insights from an event earlier this month at the intersection of Sports, Technology and Finance.

On 11th April, I had the privilege of hosting the second STF (Sport, Tech, Finance) Asia Leadership Dialogue – a private forum of decision makers from the worlds of Sport, Technology, Media, Finance, and, Government – at the Singapore Cricket Club, in association with the Professional Triathletes Organisation, on the eve of their first T100 Asia Race on the Marina. 

The 100-strong audience was treated to an insightful day listening to, and networking with, over two dozen speakers from London, Madrid, Dubai, Johannesburg, Seoul, Hong Kong, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur besides local representation from the Lion City – that remain the hub of Asia. 

The event theme “Connecting Content, Code & Capital to Engage The Gen-Z Fan” provided many answers and even posed some questions to the invite-only gathering. The following were my #TopTwentyTakeaways from six panels, three case studies, and an After Dinner Chat with Joseph Schooling – Singapore’s first Olympic gold medalist who famously beat Michael Phelps at Rio 2016!

1. Siddharth Patel (Asia Managing Partner, CVC Capital and Board Member, Gujarat Titans) spoke about the value of Sport in aggregating passion, at scale, gives its centrality to popular culture for the masses 


2. Nikhil Bahel (Managing Partners, Elysian Park Ventures) celebrated Sport as the last bastion of appointment to view content that enables value creation & capture to be scheduled around the Match Day window 

3. Matthew Wheeler (Founder & CEO, A&W Capital) located India as a forward indicator of what is Asia’s Decade as growing leisure for a young demographics boosts the growth of spectator and participant sports

4. Stirling Mortlock (CoFounder and CIO, VX Capital) cited Australia as the ideal lab where SportsTech companies can find their feet with a mix of innovation, insights and investment to then take on the world

5. Lawerence Duffy (Founder & CEO, Aurora Media Partners) shared how a next generation technology stack is enabling the omnichannel productisation of content at a speed and scale that’s unprecedented in the history of story telling in Sport

6. Anurag Dahiya (CCO, The International Cricket Council) looked into the future at how the women’s game and grassroots sport are the new foundations for future relevance – and hence growth – of Cricket

7. Erica Kerner (Global MD, Sponsorship & Events, Standard Chartered Bank) sensed a tipping point in the measurement of brand spends – from analogue metrics to behavioural & psychographic learnings

8. Javier Foncillas (Head of Commercial Partnerships, Dolby) shares how immersive experiences of sound and video allows promoters to bring the stadium to the fan – the reverse of a historical pattern 

9. Kelvin Watts explained the success of Rugby (Union) in South Africa with an emotional case study about Super Sport Schools in South Africa, an experience enabled by Pixellot’s computer vision tech. 

10. Mike Kerr (APAC MD, BeIN Sports) cited the concept of ‘concentrated engagement‘ as premium content and technology has combined to elevate Race Weekend experiences for Formula 1 fan across Asia

11. Mitch Hong (Chairman, Eclat Media and Group CEO SPOTV) shared how Sport is driving value for Pay-TV in markets such as Korea and Japan whilst recognising the challenges across SE Asia and Hong Kong. 

12. Yannick Colaco (CoFounder and CEO, FanCode) explained the thesis for the OTT first play in India that’s built a community that’s niche and deep and pioneered social commerce at the last Cricket World Cup 

13. Vikrant Mudaliar (CMO, Dream 11) was bullish about the growth of fantasy as an all-new genre that emerged as a larger revenue generator for federations over the last month and spoke about #WhatsNext

14. Sam Renouf (Founder and CEO of the Professional Triathletes Organisation) , and event host partner of #STFA24 explained the launch of Asia’s first T100 race on the Singapore Marina as part of a packed 2024 calendar 

15. David Franks (Chairman, The Protect Group) explained the concept of embedded insurance – a key feature to secure advance bookings by mitigating risk of cancellation tickets to major events for the punter and the player alike. 

16. Anthony Arena (Founder, Aura Platform) explained the concept of ‘orchestration’, as a the magic sauce that’s urgently needed to enable personalisation at scale that’s table stakes to engage the Gen-Z fan segment  


17. Iris Cordoba (General Manager, of the Global Sports Innovation Center Powered by Microsoft)explained how an ecosystem is being built using problem statement to drive innovation; it takes a village!!


18. Mark Chay (Chief Development Officer, Global Esports Federation) and a former Olympic swimmer who flew the Singapore flag at Sydney & Athens, celebrated Sport’s adoption of Gaming as a vital way to remain relevant to the next generation of Fandom!

19. Simon Davis (Founder CEO, Mighty Bear Games) shared a research trip to Las Vegas where he saw young punters consuming five discrete, yet complementary, content items simultaneously – it’s the North Star for Sport! 


20. Last, but nowhere the least, the recently retired Joseph Schooling shared his plans to launch a Sports Fund that will capitalise on opportunities in wellness and fitness – in Asia and beyond! 

The author can be contacted at unmish@pictureboard.asia

SentientSports hires Prof. Nick Jennings to senior leadership team

SentientSports, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) company who are revolutionising the sports industry by unlocking the full potential of AI in sporting organisations have hired Professor Nick Jennings to its senior leadership team.

As Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University, Professor Jennings will help Sentient Sports use Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automatically identify and block the toxic content online in real time and improve the safety of professional football players as well as adding value across a number of other AI applications for teams and fans.

Internationally recognised as one of the leading computer scientists, with over 95,000 citations to his name, Professor Jennings is the current Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University, who are consistently named the world’s best universities for Sport.

Elsewhere, he has previously held roles as the Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise at Imperial College London, along with becoming the UK’s first Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and the first Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security for the UK Government.

Throughout his career, he has been involved in a number of successful startups within the tech sector and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2016 for his services to computer science and national security science.

Professor Jennings said: “Joining SentientSports is a brilliant opportunity for me to apply my expertise in AI to real-world issues in the sports industry. I’m eager to work alongside Ryan and the team to enhance fan engagement and tackle the pressing challenge of online abuse towards players.”

He added: “I am passionate about sports, so combining my passion with my work motivates me and I’m looking forward to collaborating with the team to help them become world leaders in the AI and sports industry.”

Professor Jennings’ appointment sees him join an already established board at Sentient Sports, which is made up of three generations of AI talent. Professor Jennings was PhD supervisor to Professor Gopal Ramchurn, who chairs the board and is a prominent figure in the AI community. Professor Ramchurn is also a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton and similarly mentored Dr. Ryan Beal, CEO and founder of SentientSports, who was recently announced on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports List for 2024.

This latest appointment continues an exciting phase of board-level expansion for Southampton based Sentient Sports following the appointment of former Manchester United Chief Executive Ed Woodwood as a Strategic Advisor and Non-Executive Board Member in November last year.

Ed Woodward said: “Nick is a fantastic addition to our board. His appointment significantly enhances our ability to address the challenges we’ve identified within sports teams. His expertise in AI, coupled with his experience at Loughborough working alongside UK sports leaders, will be invaluable to us.”

Dr. Ryan Beal, CEO and founder of SentientSports said: “We are thrilled to have Nick join our board. He has been at the forefront of some of the most significant AI research and brings generational AI talent to our team. His PhD supervision of Gopal, who in turn supervised me, shows the depth of expertise he brings.”

Commenting further he said: “By leveraging cutting-edge AI technology, our aim is to build sophisticated AI agents across social media platforms and news outlets. These agents will be equipped to automatically detect abusive content, initiate legal takedown procedures, and alert the relevant authorities. Additionally, our AI tools will help sports clubs identify players at risk of such abuse, enabling timely intervention with appropriate support and training.”

He added: “Guided by Nick’s extensive experience in various AI domains, one of our key commitments at Sentient is to create a safer and more supportive environment for athletes online.”

MLB signs WM as official sustainability partner

Major League Baseball has named WM, a leading environmental services provider, as the Official Sustainability Partner of Major League Baseball.

This is the first sustainability-focused partner in League history, which will aim to elevate MLB’s continued sustainability-related efforts in ballparks and throughout communities.

WM will be the presenting sponsor of Major League Baseball’s official Earth Day and Green Week celebrations, which will include a variety of environmental-positive practices and messaging. Additionally, WM will offer sustainability advisory services to MLB Clubs, which includes end-to-end solutions intended to help customers achieve their sustainability goals in waste reduction and diversion, greenhouse gas emissions management, and more. WM also will support MLB Green Teams at MLB All-Star Week, the World Series and other MLB special events, as well as provide support to the League office and its facilities.

“As with any event driven industry that prioritizes sustainability at our facilities and in our communities, it is critical that we partner with organizations that share similar values in that space,” said Noah Garden, Deputy Commissioner, Business & Media, Major League Baseball. “This new partnership with WM takes our sustainability efforts to new heights. We look forward to continuing this work with WM as we host best-in-class events that are sustainability-focused driven for years to come.”

“WM has a more than 20-year history for its advisory services team, providing sustainability solutions for a variety of customers of all sizes and industries,” said Tara Hemmer, chief sustainability officer, WM. “Our expertise has helped us triple the number of customers in the sports space since 2021 – including leagues, events, teams and venues — and we look forward to the incredible opportunity to build comprehensive and custom plans designed to improve sustainable operations for MLB and its Clubs.”


This relationship follows MLB’s extensive history of sustainability efforts, which have garnered positive recognition from both the Green Sports Alliance and Council for Responsible Sport. MLB recently earned the highest honor and achievement in sports, receiving ‘Evergreen Status’ from the Council for Responsible Sport for the League’s efforts during 2023 MLB All-Star Week at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners. In years prior, MLB has consistently earned Gold Status, which is the second highest level granted by the council.

“The leadership and commitment of MLB in the delivery of environmental, social and economic impact has been evident, from being the first North American league to join the Green Sports Alliance, to achieving the Council for Responsible Sport’s top-level Evergreen status of Event Sustainability for the 2023 All Star Game in Seattle,” said Aileen McManamon, Chair, Green Sports Alliance. “Their holistic and substantive approach to sustainability merits notice and imitation by all sports rights holders.”

By the Numbers: Greening Efforts Across MLB

29 MLB Clubs have installed LED field lighting
11 Ballparks utilize on-site gardens
10 Ballparks utilize solar power
6 MLB Ballparks are LEED certified
MLB Clubs will host several activations in honor of Earth Day and throughout Earth Month including volunteer projects and other sustainability efforts such as field renovations and ballpark “Green Teams.” All 30 MLB Clubs have shared their efforts for the 2024 season, please visit MLB.com/Green for a more detailed list of annual sustainability efforts. Additional Club Activation Examples for 2024 Earth Day efforts is available here.

As an annual Earth Day tradition, MLB today also announced the recipient of the 2023 Green Glove Award, which recognizes the Club that demonstrates outstanding commitment to diverting waste from landfills at their ballpark. From implementing comprehensive recycling programs to promoting composting initiatives and reducing overall waste generation, this award celebrates the Club’s dedication to responsible waste management practices. This year, MLB recognizes the Toronto Blue Jays for their work reaching nearly 100% annual waste-diversion rate, this is the first time the Toronto Blue Jays have received this special honor. Award finalists for the Green Glove Award include the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres.

Additionally this year, MLB added three new sustainability award honors for Clubs including the Power Pitch Award, for the MLB Ballpark that demonstrates exemplary efforts in preserving power and energy usage from the previous year, H2O Home Run Award, which recognizes the Club that demonstrates exceptional dedication and achievement in reducing its water usage from the previous year and the Eco-Slugger Innovation Award, which is an honor given to the Club that demonstrates innovative efforts in implementing environmentally sustainable practices and initiatives either in the ballpark or in the community.

Is Netflix indicating it may be more open to sports? 

Ian Whittaker, Twice City AM Analyst of the Year explores the attitude of Netflix towards sports.

Netflix produced Q1 results last week that blew past expectations when it came to subscriber expectation although the news was overshadowed by its announcement it would stop reporting quarterly subscriber numbers from next year, a move that both caught the markets by surprise and raises questions about its expectations for future growth. However, there was also another comment in here about Netflix’s attitude to sports which may suggest a changing its strategy. 

Ted Saranos pointed out that Netflix is not “anti-sports” and the key is whether these events can make money. It was clear from the statement that “So when and if those opportunities arrive that we can come in and do that, which we feel like we did in our deal with WWE, if we can repeat those dynamics and other things, including sports, we’ll look at it for sure.” that Netflix is going to be looking at sports opportunities when they arise, 

That makes sense long-term. While it does not make economic sense for the major streaming players to pick up the major European sports rights given the trade off between the size of the market and the economics, in the US, if Netflix is a believer in its case that US linear television viewing will continue to decline and more move to streaming, then the logical conclusion should be that it needs to gain more sporting rights, given major sports games not make up over 90%+ of the most watched linear shows. If it doesn’t, it risks being condemned in the long-term to a more junior status. 

There are two other considerations here for Netflix when it comes to sports. The first is Netflix’s Gaming strategy. That has been touted as one of Netflix’s key routes to future revenue growth. But like the dog that didn’t bark, one thing that was interesting in the Netflix call was the lack of description of what is happening on the Games side, which is a big part of supposed future growth. Given the Games industry is not in the best shape right now, there is a question here for Netflix in whether their view of the opportunity has changed and, if it has, what will replace what it had told the financial markets was a key part of their growth strategy. Sports may play a role in this. 

However, the second factor is even more important. Another key part of Netflix’s growth strategy is to build up advertising revenues. Indeed it stated omn the call that its advertising membership tier was up 65% QoQ after nearly 70% growth in each of Q3 and Q4 23 (although it is hard to know how important it is given we do not have absolute numbers) and that over 40% of new subs took the ad tier product. That is great but – at least for the US – Netflix still has to answer the question of how it will build a meaningful advertising model if it does not get more aggressively into sports. That seems to be a fact that the likes of Amazon and YouTube (and, to some degree, Apple) have grasped but, while Netflix now has the WWE rights, this is now more niche than mainstream. The simple fact is that, compared to other Tech giants (and indeed the Media companies), Netflix is still outgunned when it comes to the amount of cash it generates and therefore how much it can bid for major rights. 

In conclusion, it feels like Netflix is preparing itself for more of a push into sports – at least in the US – even if this is a multi-year plan of attack. While it remains to be seen whether it will go for niche sports than the big premium ones, it feels like Netflix is realising it cannot avoid the sports question any longer.

As usual, this is not investment advice. 

ATPI Group acquires motorsport travel agency FAST

ATPI Group has announced the acquisition of Italian-founded motorsport travel agency, FAST.

The strategic move is part of the Group’s wider plans to expand and enhance its presence in the sports travel sector while allowing FAST to strengthen its presence internationally.

Headquartered in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, FAST organises travel solutions for prominent sporting events such as the World Speed Championship (MotoGP) and the World Superbike Championship, as well as specialising in business travel, television and film production sectors. With a remarkable 32-year accreditation in the MotoGP paddock, FAST has established itself as a key player, pioneering a circuit management and assistance system that is widely emulated across the industry.

ATPI Group’s acquisition of FAST demonstrates the company’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions to meet the evolving needs of customers within the dynamic world of sports travel. Boasting nearly three decades of experience working alongside high-profile athletes, international sports teams, and organising committees and federations, ATPI Group brings elite sporting travel expertise to major sporting events across the world every year.

Ian Sinderson, CEO of ATPI Group, said: “We’re delighted to begin our partnership with FAST and continue to develop our growth within the Sports Travel and Events sector. This combination of our two brands is a perfect opportunity, combining FAST’s specialisms in motorsports and ATPI’s global reach and experience with other leading events like the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, The Ocean Race and the Rugby World Cup.”

Massimo Bertozzi, CEO of FAST, added: “Today marks a significant milestone for FAST. With ATPI’s high-touch service levels and esteemed global reputation, matched with FAST’s extensive knowledge on the racetrack – the opportunity to expand our international reach opens up once unimaginable possibilities. We look forward to bringing our clients on this journey and establishing a formidable partnership with Ian and the wider team.”

IOC unveils the Olympic AI Agenda

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has launched the Olympic AI Agenda. The initiative was introduced during an interactive event held at Lee Valley VeloPark at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, home of the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012.

Introducing the topic to a global online audience and more than 100 journalists on site, President Bach explained: “When we launched Olympic Agenda, our comprehensive reform programme, in 2014, we did so under the slogan ‘change or be changed’– for some of you here in Great Britain this may sound familiar, it’s about ‘To be, or not to be? That is the question”. Today we are making another step to ensure the uniqueness of the Olympic Games and the relevance of sport, and to do this, we have to be leaders of change, and not the object of change. Today, with the ever-accelerating development of digital technology, and in particular AI, we are again at such a crossroads. From our Olympic Agenda, we know that you can only be the leader of change if you take a holistic approach. While we have already seen some stand-alone AI initiatives in some specific areas of sport, there has not yet been an overall strategy for AI and sport. This is why, today, we are presenting this first holistic approach: our Olympic AI Agenda.”

The IOC President continued: “At the centre of the Olympic AI Agenda are human beings. This means: the athletes. Because the athletes are the heart of the Olympic Movement. Unlike other sectors of society, we in sport are not confronted with the existential question of whether AI will replace human beings. In sport, the performances will always have to be delivered by the athletes. The 100 metres will always have to be run by an athlete – a human being. Therefore, we can concentrate on the potential of AI to support the athletes.

“AI can help to identify athletes and talent in every corner of the world. AI can provide more athletes with access to personalised training methods, superior sports equipment and more individualised programmes to stay fit and healthy. Beyond sporting performance, AI can revolutionise judging and refereeing, thereby strengthening fairness in sport. AI can improve safeguarding in sport. AI will make organising sporting events extremely efficient, transform sports broadcasting and make the spectator experience much more individualised and immersive.

The British & Irish Lions collaborate with production company Whisper

The British & Irish Lions have partnered with entertainment production company Whisper to create Lions Productions ahead of the 2025 Tour to Australia.

The partnership will see Lions Productions produce the documentary for the 2025 Tour as well as all in-house content production and exclusive behind-the-scenes content including for the newly formed Lions Women’s Team.

The formation of Lions Productions formalises a partnership which for the 2021 Tour delivered the Emmy-nominated all-access documentary Two Sides. This built on a heritage of iconic British & Irish Lions Tour documentaries and also told the story from within the South African camp for the first time.

This longer-term agreement will mean that as in 2021 Whisper will film all in-camp content incorporating broadcast, highlight packages and official digital content.

As well as being the exclusive provider of Lions content, Lions Productions will also act as the in-Tour production company for The British & Irish Lions partners, who together with the Lions and Whisper are focused on leveraging the reach and appeal of the Tour through ambitious and creative storytelling.

Whisper has been a multi-year production partner for World Rugby and produced the Front Row Daily Show for the All Blacks’ streaming platform NZR+ during the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Whisper Cymru produced the Rugby World Cup for S4C, and it is production partner for the Welsh Rugby Union as well as producing the Women’s Six Nations for the BBC.

Ben Calveley, CEO, British & Irish Lions said, “We are delighted to announce the formation of Lions Productions with Whisper which presents a milestone moment for The British & Irish Lions. For the first time the Lions now has an exclusive, in-house content offering which will allow us to bring fans premium and engaging content throughout our Tour cycle. We know how important connecting with our fans is and Lions Productions will allow us to do so like never before as well as providing greater value for our partners.”

Carys Owens, Managing Director, Whisper Cymru: “Delivering sport as entertainment and telling great stories is what we do at Whisper, so to join forces with a formidable sporting brand like The British & Irish Lions and its partners, who are bursting with stories waiting to be told, is beyond exciting. Our last partnership brought great success and we will once again draw on the expertise of our documentary, digital, entertainment and broadcast teams to produce exciting content for this groundbreaking agreement.”

FIBA 3X3 joins forces with Karl Lagerfield to engage new audience

FIBA 3×3 and KARL LAGERFELD have announced a unique partnership for the FIBA 3×3 2024 season that celebrates the urban culture of basketball and the global influence of KARL LAGERFELD’s iconic style and spirit. The collaboration will connect the world’s number one urban team sport with the world of fashion for the very first time.

As part of the collaboration, KARL LAGERFELD and FIBA 3×3 will collaborate with 3×3 players from different teams and countries to highlight their enthusiasm, urban street culture, and the vibrant array of communities they represent. Engaging intimately with this specific angle of urban culture through 3×3 and drawing from FIBA’s international audience which spans diverse cultures and communities.

“I am very proud to collaborate with FIBA 3×3,” says Pier Paolo Righi, CEO of KARL LAGERFELD. “Embrace the present and invent the future,” is our mantra, which strongly matches the ethos of this emerging sport. We believe that fusing our iconic DNA with the 3×3 urban twist will prove extremely exciting to KARL fans around the world, and we hope that bringing our innovative vision into the mix is going to prove inspirational for both the fashion and sports industries going forward.”

“We are delighted to partner with KARL LAGERFELD for this exclusive collaboration, which will engage new audiences in 3×3 basketball. Together, we share a commitment to innovation and to embrace the cultural influences that transcend sport and fashion. The urban spirit of the KARL LAGERFELD brand aligns perfectly with the dynamic, fast-paced nature of 3×3 basketball.” Alex Sanchez, Managing Director, FIBA 3×3.

Fans can look forward to a range of events and promotions throughout the season, blending 3×3’s playful spirit with KARL LAGERFELD’s signature contemporary style. The partnership launched with customised collaborations during the Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong on 12-14 April and will continue with the Qualification Tournaments in Japan and Hungary on 17-18 May, spotlighting the dynamic energy of 3×3 basketball and engaging with an enthusiastic global audience.