British Basketball League has record-breaking viewership season

The British Basketball League continues its rapid growth in popularity following a record-breaking season in which linear and digital viewership figures rose by over 200% in a season marked by impressive marketing efforts, historical wins and sell-out crowds. 

The curtain rose for the 2022/23 season on 3rd September, with the 10 British Basketball League teams launching into a revamped season, backed by a renewed broadcast deal with SkySports and a fresh #KnowOurName marketing campaign designed to ignite fans’ passion and drive awareness around the League.

Across YouTube and SkySports, British Basketball League viewership increased by 217% across the season as interest continued to grow around the three major tournaments, with the Play-Off Finals recording 377% growth compared to last season. On-the-ground viewership also reached new highs as fans arrived in record numbers at the three major finals namely the Cup, Trophy and Play-Offs held in Birmingham, Glasgow and London, respectively.15,000 fans alone packed into the London 02 Arena to witness history as the London Lions competed for the domestic treble.

The London team dominated proceedings both domestically and in Europe, becoming the first-ever British basketball team to compete in the play-off rounds of the prestigious EuroCup. A mixture of homegrown talent and ex-NBA and international stars ranging from Sam Dekker, Kosta Koufous and Tomislav Zubcic helped contribute to record viewership figures for their EuroCup games this season on BT Sport, with a 181% increase in peak viewership recorded compared to the last peak record.

On social media, both live and on-demand video views jumped from 1.4 million to a staggering 20 million during the 2022/23 season, while engagements across all platforms increased by 492%. The growth was aided by the launch of various user-generated campaigns including Your Coach which invited grassroots teams to nominate their coach for the Community Coach of the Year Award, as well as a Golden Ball treasure hunt around the Play-Off Finals which took place in each of the hometowns of the 10 teams. 

Marking the end of a record-breaking year, the season culminated with Leicester Riders star, Blake Bowman taking to the skies to complete a dunk contest on top of the London O2 Arena. The first-of-its-kind stunt was designed to shine a light on another incredible year for the League as it continues to take the game to new heights. The stunt contributed to an additional 5.3 million views across the league’s owned and social channels.

Commenting on the results, British Basketball League’s Head of Marketing, Joe Edwards said:

“The 2022/23 season has been a particularly exciting one as we continue on our mission to make the British Basketball League a household name. The League’s growth is reflected in the end-of-year marketing results in which digital viewership rocketed in comparison to last season. The increased viewership amongst fans and media alike is a clear indication that Basketball is becoming more popular in the UK and it’s a testament to the hard work of the teams, players and the growing in-house British Basketball League team who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes all season to make it a success.”

He added: “I’m already excited to see what is to come next season, and I have every confidence that we will continue to reach new heights and build upon what has been a landmark year for British basketball. Watch this space!”

Vodafone announced as Principal Partner of Wales Men’s Rugby Team

Vodafone has today made an addition to its partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), in a landmark deal becoming Principal Partner of the men’s senior squad and pathway teams consolidating Vodafone’s commitment to Welsh rugby across the board.  

Vodafone is now Principal Partner of men’s, women’s and pathway (U20s and U18s) rugby in Wales, uniting all teams within one partnership, committed to growing rugby at all levels in Wales. 

Throughout the partnership with the WRU, Vodafone will support player performance and welfare across the whole of Welsh rugby through innovative tech solutions. This includes the continued investment into its PLAYER.Connect platform. The technology has seen major developments in the past year with the addition of menstrual cycle tracking technology which helps the Wales Women’s rugby team analyse how the menstrual cycle impacts performance, wellbeing, and recovery, showcasing the brand’s commitment to growing women’s rugby.

Vodafone will also use its 5G network to enhance matchday experiences for both fans in Cardiff and those watching at home.

The new partnership with the men’s team builds on Vodafone’s first year with Wales Women’s team as Founding Principal Partner of Women’s and Girls’ rugby which saw a recording breaking crowd of 8,862 for Wales Women’s clash against England at Cardiff Arms Park during the Six Nations championship earlier this year.  

The announcement comes ahead of a busy year for Welsh rugby with World Rugby U20 Championship kicking off on June 24th in South Africa followed by the Vodafone Summer Series, the men’s Rugby World Cup in France, and the inaugural W.XV tournament in New Zealand for Wales Women.

Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone, Max Taylor, said: “Vodafone’s expanded partnership with Welsh Rugby Union now covers both the men’s and women’s game, from grassroots up. With the World Cup just around the corner it is a hugely exciting time for rugby, and we are excited to see how technical innovation can help take player performance, player welfare and fan engagement to the next level.”

WRU CEO, Nigel Walker added: “We are delighted to have secured Vodafone as our key front of shirt sponsor for the Wales senior men’s side and pathway teams.

“Vodafone’s partnership with and support for our Wales Women’s side and pathway teams, and with Principality Stadium as our digital transformation partner, is already paying huge dividends to Welsh rugby.

“These are exciting times for the game in Wales, with sustainability now established off the field allowing increased potential for long term success on it. 

“Through their partnership Vodafone will play an integral part in the future of the game in Wales and we are delighted to welcome their further commitment and support for Welsh rugby today. 

“Finally, I’d like to say good luck to the U20s team who play their first match of the World Rugby Championships against New Zealand in Paarl this Saturday proudly wearing that Vodafone sponsored jersey.”

The announcement continues Vodafone’s broader commitment to help grow rugby at all levels of the game, following their partnerships with the Armed Forces Men’s and Women’s Rugby Teams and Premier XVs side DMP Sharks, and their landmark sponsorship of the 2021 British & Irish Lions’ Tour.

Roundtable wrap-up: Empowering Sports Content with AI

The latest iSportConnect Roundtable followed on from one of our recent events by focussing on using AI to Empowering Sports Content. In this wrap-up we look back at the roundtable discussions and share some of the key takeaways from the conversation which included major rights holders and broadcasters.

While Magnifi, a company that offers cutting edge video solutions powered by AI, were the thought leaders in the room the conversation included great insights from the broadcasters and rights holders in attendance. 

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AI is still in its very early stages and the technology will be moving and developing at a rapid pace. 

In just a few months where we are now, will seem primitive compared to where the technology ends up. This will massively impact the way in which AI is used around content.

The AI conversation is not generic, it is actually incredibly problem-specific

When discussing the ways in which AI can have an impact on the workflow of a rights holder or business the approach it not one-size fits all. When used in the most specific ways AI can be very cost effective.

AI offers solutions that can benefit both small and large rights holders in very different ways

For a large rights holder AI can help them make their workforce more time effective when working on content. It can also help translate content into multiple languages. 

For a smaller rights holder they can use AI where they would otherwise have to use manpower to generate similar results. This applies to rights holders who have a lot of content but don’t have the time or resources to make the best use of it. 

The 20:80 approval rating is revolutionary and will only get better

If an organisation can rely on 80% of the content produced by AI to be perfect and not require approval that will mean resources previously used on simply approval can be used more effectively.

If you are a service provider or rights holder and would be interested in hosting a roundtable contact Joe Rowland here

Is sales a team game? You bet

In this article by Tim Barber, Chief Commercial Officer for EngageRM, he focuses on how a sales team needs to fit into the workings of the business as a whole.

How many times a week are you moaning about your marketing department failing to give you a quality lead (again), how admin is the stuff of nightmares or the hours you have spent on the phone with prospects knowing your efforts will not be rewarded? 

I am happy to put money on that at least one rings true for you.  

But as much as we love to blame marketing and their (lack of) leads and/or moan about admin, the reality is, when all these elements work together, sales can maximize their time and growth.  

You may have heard of the old proverb; “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together,”this works in business and sales.  

Only when we collaborate with different departments and maximize the technology available to us, do we achieve our potential.

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It’s on you to score 

Whilst selling is absolutely a team game, it is up to the individual to be tenacious by bringing in and managing leads. That does not mean sales are on their own, however. 

Think of the departments in your business as the different players that make up a soccer team. All have a distinct role to play for the system to be successful and increase your chances of winning. 

In this analogy, sales are your strikers, relying on the rest of the team to execute their role and bring the ball forward then, it is on them score.  

The same thing can be said in business, departments (yes, including marketing) to work together to bring in and influence leads, but at the end of the day, sales are responsible for sealing the deal. The key to success? Driving the efforts to close the deal whilst utilizing the team around you. 

To lead with your leads, think 1.5 

I was introduced to the concept of 1.5 from a former colleague Dale Morris, who met the mindset during his premiership year as an Aussie rules footballer in 2016.  

Simply put, 1.5 is a tenacious mindset where you focus on not just bringing your best self, but also going beyond your own remit to support and deliver for your team. It is a principle we follow in the EngageRM sales team. 

This can range from personally enhancing marketing efforts through sharing content on social channels, supporting the inside sales team by creating outreach sequences, or visiting clients in conjunction with customer experience to deliver a successful reference program. 

Like the title says, it is a team game. 

Looking for your best teammate? It’s data, every time. 

Resilience is a valuable skill in sales, for every yes, there are plenty more rejections, and they can add up, but it is how we bounce back that makes all the difference.  

The quickest way to rebound is to listen to what the data is telling you. “What data?” I hear you ask; the data you collect from every interaction you store in CRM (Customer Relationship Management).  

We know data admin is the bane of every salesperson’s existence, but it is a necessity during a sales cycle, especially when operating a culture of continuous improvement.  

It goes without saying the quality of data captured directly correlates to the quality of the insights provided. Simply put, if the data you add is rubbish (or non-existent), then you are on the back foot from the get-go. 

Nothing beats spending time face-to-face with a prospect, but scoring that face-to-face meeting is a much harder task. Decent quality data makes this occur more often.  

Data and admin are teammates that will speed you up, not slow you down. 

Invest in your team by investing in tech  

I often tell people in the business world that to be successful in this game you must be authentic. Authenticity leads to trust, and trust is the starting point of every successful business transaction. 

We are in the age of hyper personalization, a key concept for delivering authentic messaging. In sales for example, there is a shift from outreach consisting of cold calling hundreds, if not thousands, of prospects to a more personalized approach. It can be a tiring process if you do not utilize technology to perform heavy lifting. 

For sales teams, AI (Artificial Intelligence) powered platforms provide productivity tools such as lead scoring, opportunity prediction, in-call sentiment analysis, and real-time personalized recommendations.  

Investing in this type of tech will provide insights humans cannot, and evidence-based suggestions on how best to grow your business. The biggest win is you will not need to perform the analysis yourself. 

Let technology drive insights and actions, while your personality and skills do the selling. 

If it’s good enough for Michael Jordan, it’s good enough for you 

Tenacity, resilience, and authenticity are three traits all great salespeople have, but they are nothing without the support and unity of the team around you.  

If you do not work to a 1.5 mindset whilst utilizing the resources at your disposal, you may close a few deals, but you will not achieve long term success.  

As Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” 

Click here to connect with Tim on LinkedIn and here to find out more about EngageRM.

Photo Credit: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

EBU and FIFA agree media rights partnership for FIFA Women’s World Cup

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and FIFA have agreed to extend their existing media rights partnership, ensuring that the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ will be broadcast on the EBU’s free-to-air linear TV network across 34 European territories, whilst also making a substantial additional commitment to the regular transmission of women’s football content beyond the tournament. 

The memorandum of understanding follows initial discussions held at the Home of FIFA last month involving FIFA President Gianni Infantino, FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai, and representatives of the EBU, led by Director General Noel Curran, and the rights include broadcast across TV, digital and radio in a new arrangement that will also see the EBU provide more promotion to women’s football than ever before, thus helping to further grow the sport. 

In October 2022, the two parties had announced an initial deal confirming that the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ would be broadcast free-to-air across 28 European territories, but under this revised agreement, major European broadcast markets have been added, together with Ukraine. 

“FIFA is delighted to widen the deal with the European Broadcasting Union for the transmission of the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup to include the five major markets within their existing networks, namely France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as Ukraine, thus ensuring maximum exposure for the tournament,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “As part of this agreement, the EBU has committed to working towards broadcasting at least one hour of weekly content dedicated to women’s football on its own digital platform and broadcaster network. This will provide a huge promotional and exposure opportunity for women’s football, which is a top priority for us in line with FIFA’s commitment to the long-term development of the sport.”

EBU Director General Noel Curran said: “We are delighted to have been able to build on our long-term and successful relationship with FIFA to secure the rights on behalf of Europe’s biggest public-service broadcasters. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is one of sport’s most exciting and fastest growing events and we are committed to working hand-in-hand with FIFA to ensure the women’s game is enjoyed by as many people as possible across the continent. We see women’s football as being central to our content strategy and one of the cornerstones of the new digital platform we hope to launch next year.”

EBU Members, including ARD/ZDF (Germany), BBC/ITV (UK), France Télévisions, RAI (Italy) and RTVE (Spain), will also undertake to help market the tournament across all their channels as part of the EBU’s long-term strategy to promote the growth of women’s football in Europe and beyond. In Ukraine, the tournament will be shown by EBU Member, UA:PBC.

The new agreement continues the success story and legacy that was established with the FIFA-EBU partnership to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™, where EBU Members reported record audience figures as coverage of this event signalled a landmark moment for women’s sport. 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, which is the first to be held in the southern hemisphere and hosted in the Asia-Pacific region, will feature 32 teams, eight more than the previous edition in 2019, and will comprise 64 matches kicking off on Thursday, 20 July 2023 and concluding with the final at Sydney/Gadigal’s Stadium Australia on Sunday, 20 August 2023. 

List of territories in which EBU Members will broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Republic of), Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Roundtable wrap-up: Reflecting on the evolution of brand strategies around women’s sport

The latest iSportConnect Roundtable followed on from one of our recent events by focussing on Women’s sport. In this wrap-up we look back at the roundtable discussions and share some of the key takeaways from the brands in the room.

Thanks to the success of the Lionesses last summer, followed by a Women’s Football World Cup this year the time is ripe for Women’s sport to take centre stage this summer. 

The discussion was opened by talking about the bundling of the commercial rights of women’s teams with the men’s. 

This is a really interesting topic that I think will develop a lot over the next few years. Originally, a lot of teams would throw in the rights to the women’s team for no additional cost, but that has changed. In the case of Women’s football the WSL is being broadcast on Sky and BBC every weekend so their assets have a real value. As women’s sport continues to mature and more data is gathered on the unique audience it has, we will likely see brands targeting women’s sport separately to men’s because of the people they are trying to reach. 

The role of brands in women’s sport is different to that in men’s. 

Whereas men’s sport is all about eyeballs, women’s sport provides brands with a unique opportunity for storytelling. For a lot of brands, sponsoring women’s sport sits inside the brands CSR strategy. Part of this would involve brands helping sports explain what they can bring to the lives of young women and girls. The fact that these sponsorship’s still come under CSR clearly shows the way in which brands are still not viewing women’s sport as a place to find commercial returns. In a similar way to the point above as and when this changes will be very interesting to see. 

The experience of attending women’s sport is different to men’s and it should stay that way

Women’s sport has got a lot of praise for how accessible it is to a wide audience. Male sport is often attended by middle-aged men and can be associated with a drinking culture. Increasingly brands are seeing the hospitality opportunities in women’s sport becoming more attractive for B2B clients because they can bring families along. It is also important that as women’s sport continues to mature that it keeps its own identity and doesn’t follow in the same path as men’s sport. While men’s sport has previously been very attractive for B2B hospitality packages, some events are becoming overly corporate and this has pushed ‘real’ fans in the direction of women’s alternatives. This has made the women’s game a better proposition for B2B clients who really care about the sport. 

The fact that women’s sport is more welcoming needs to be used effectively

Brands in the room all spoke of the great experiences they have had when dealing with female athletes, especially in comparison to men. Female athletes were described as more authentic and relatable because they haven’t been media trained to the same degree as men. Authenticity is an incredibly important part of making engaging content specifically for Generation Z as was discussed at a recent iSportConnect Masterclass+ on the topic of Engaging Young Fans. This means that brands have an opportunity to create fantastic activations with female athletes. However, there is a fear that with exposure increasing the doors of accessibility will be closing. A delegate at our women’s sport Masterclass+ two weeks ago said that in the case of England’s Lionesses this is already beginning to happen.

If you are a service provider or rights holder and would be interested in hosting a roundtable contact Joe Rowland here

Member Insights: Berlusconi’s made-in-Hollywood success

In this Member Insight piece iSportConnect’s Content Director, Jay Stuart, former Variety correspondent in Rome, gives his perspective on the rise of Italian commercial TV.

Silvio Berlusconi as Mister Bunga-Bunga is unrecognisable to me. He gets a lot of justified criticism as a political figure and a malign cultural influence but you’re unlikely to hear anybody who was selling television programming in Europe for a living in the 1980s say an unflattering word. 

I was a staff correspondent in Rome for the showbiz paper Variety before anybody had ever heard of Berlusconi and as a reporter covering the TV business I had a front-row seat on his rise to the top. I’m going to share here a bit of perspective on an overlooked aspect of the story. 

So often the narrative starts with him having a commercial TV monopoly in Italy thanks to shady Italian politics and regulatory failures. Yes, that’s sort of true, but it misses out the best part. Successful TV networks are not created by politics or regulation but by content that audiences want to watch. The Berlusconi story is only partly about Italy. 

It’s also about Dallas. 

Remember that American primetime soap, the one with JR? When Berlusconi bought Dallas from Lorimar the ratings for his Canale 5 shot through the roof. An upstart channel from nowhere was suddenly a market leader. Dallas symbolised something brand new in the Italian TV market. 

Competition.

Berlusconi actually saw himself as challenging a monopoly. Back in those days Italy had the state-owned broadcaster RAI and that was it. In fact, it was the same all over Europe. There were only state broadcasters, no commercially owned channels allowed. Britain was the exception with the BBC-ITV duopoly, not hugely different. The programming philosophy was ‘public service.’ And advertising time was limited everywhere. 

Berlusconi viewed this situation through the only lens the man ever really understood, that of a salesman. Most obviously, as a seller of advertising. In a market choked with pent-up demand, he saw the bonanza there for the taking in opening up new airtime for commercials.

He also had a salesman’s view of the market for content. With RAI as the only Italian buyer for their movies and shows, American sellers weren’t getting good prices. He saw that by challenging the status quo he had something to offer Hollywood, a competitive market, and the studios weren’t slow on the uptake. American companies poured popular programming into Italy’s new commercial channels as fast as they could buy rights. 

Private stations launched by lesser entrepreneurs were sprouting up all over Italy like blocks of flats without permits. There were literally hundreds of them. 

Soon enough the Italian phenomenon was repeated across Europe, albeit less flamboyantly, as private television took off on the back of U.S. imports to the point where Brussels had to come up with a Directive to save European viewers from the likes of Miss Ellie and Magnum, P.I., and Brazilian telenovelas. But competition was here to stay.

A continent full of public broadcast monopolies? Pent-up advertising demand? Dynasty and Love Boat? It all seems rather quaint now.

I can’t leave off mentioning that early on Berlusconi bought the rights to a football exhibition tournament in Uruguay called the Mundialito. It was the first time that the Italian national team played on private TV. The ratings were great of course. The tournament cost him $1 million ¬ big bucks for sports back then.

It took a few years for the sellers of sports rights to follow in Hollywood’s footsteps. Then rights fees took off.

Photo Credit: Niccolò Caranti

Southampton Women extend partnership with Starling Bank

Starling shares our vision for the future of women’s football and we’re excited to continue working with them, following a remarkably successful first year in partnership. 

The three-year deal will see us work with Starling to create more grassroots football opportunities for women and girls in Hampshire, where the bank has also created 500 roles in banking, engineering, and operations at its Southampton base. 

The decision to extend the partnership comes following an extraordinary period for our Women’s side. Throughout the 2022/2023 season, the team has experienced unprecedented growth, with average attendances for each match increasing by 355% compared to the previous 2021/2022 season, highlighting the passion and loyalty you’ve shown for Saints Women. 

Furthermore, we’ve seen an outstanding increase in Season Ticket sales, with a remarkable 180% growth between the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 campaigns. 

The partnership renewal comes ahead of the team’s new kit launch, which will be Starling’s first sponsored shirt that’s available for fans to buy. 

It’ll also be the first time in the club’s history that women’s team shirts will be on sale with a specific women’s team sponsor, catering to the growing demand and dedication of our fan base. 

Charlie Boss, Chief Commercial Officer at Southampton FC said: “Our club is extremely proud of everything our women’s team has achieved on and off the pitch. Starling’s continued support and belief in our vision has been instrumental in the team’s remarkable growth and success. This renewed partnership is a testament to the unwavering commitment of both organisations to achieving greatness together.” 

Rachel Kerrone, Brand and Marketing Director at Starling said: “There has been so much progress in women’s football in the last year. We want to help the tide rise for women and girls everywhere, both in technology and in sport, and I can’t wait to see what we can do with Southampton FC Women in the next three years and beyond.” 

Since launching the partnership in 2022, we’ve made fantastic progress as we work together to bridge the gap between the matchday experience of the men’s and women’s teams and fuel the attendance of passionate fans. You may have also seen our ground-breaking new initiatives such as ‘Coaches of Tomorrow’ – a visionary programme that aims to empower and inspire a new generation of women and girls to conquer the realm of football coaching. In the last year, the initiative has trained 20 women in Hampshire into qualified grassroots football coaches. 

The bank also funded a free ticket giveaway to the Conti Cup in 2022, resulting in a record number of ticket sales (just over 8,000) for our Women’s team at St Mary’s Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur Women.

British Basketball Federation launch OTT service GB Basketball TV with Joymo

Joymo and the British Basketball Federation have today unveiled a ground-breaking partnership for the sport in England, Scotland and Wales, underpinned by the launch of GB Basketball TV – a new direct-to-fan digital service.

The Joymo-powered over-the-top (OTT) digital content hub becomes the home of GB Basketball content and is set to feature live match streams, highlights, short and long format video features available to fans to watch live and on demand.

The platform, accessible via https://gbbasketball.tv/home, will launch with live coverage of Women’s EuroBasket 2023 (June 15-25) – a key event in the Olympic qualification journey – after Joymo acquired the rights in the UK via the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Additionally, as a part of Joymo’s rights acquisition, GB Basketball TV will also be the only place to watch the Great Britain U20s, U18s and U16s representative teams compete in the FIBA European Youth Championships later this summer. 

The subscription-based service will offer fans the flexibility to purchase a range of pay-per-view options including a Summer Pass, with full coverage of all Team GB matches from Women’s EuroBasket 2023 and three age group levels at the FIBA European Youth Championships – a minimum of 45 matches – available for £19.99*.

Commenting on the launch of GB Basketball TV, Chris Grant, Chair of the British Basketball Federation, said: “This is a very important milestone in the development of British Basketball.  The launch of GB Basketball TV, and the provision of more opportunities to watch our amazing players compete at all levels, are key pillars in our strategy to grow the game. 

“Our partnership with Joymo creates a platform to deliver more coverage in an easily accessible way. Having a single online destination for all our content will enable us to introduce more people to the sport and give our fanbase more of what they want.”   

Hannah Griffiths, VP Content Acquisition & Partnerships at Joymo, said: “We are thrilled to be working with British Basketball to power their streaming ambitions and broader digital strategy. This new digital home of the sport can deliver to British Basketball’s most important stakeholders: fans, participants, and commercial partners.

“This is an alliance of great strategic importance for Joymo, showcasing the strength of our proposition as both a platform provider and rights acquisition partner,” she added.

As part of the agreement between Joymo and British Basketball, the streaming services provider becomes an Official Partner and title sponsor of the Great Britain Women’s Basketball team. Joymo will use the opportunity to promote GB Basketball TV, with the new brand logo set to appear on Team GB shirts during the Women’s EuroBasket 2023 tournament, and the European Youth Championships.

SailGP Season 4 to be broadcast on ITV

The world’s most exciting racing on water, SailGP, will now be seen by more viewers than ever across the UK with the announcement of a free-to-air broadcast deal with ITV. Exclusive live coverage of nine event weekends will be shown on ITVX in the first standalone live sports commission for ITV’s streaming service which was launched in late 2022. And all events in Season 4 of SailGP will be available across the ITV digital and linear network, including ITV1, ITV4 and ITVX.

SailGP is launching its biggest season ever opening with the Rolex United States Sail Grand Prix at Navy Pier, in Chicago, on June 16 and 17, which will be streamed live on ITVX in the first of 18 live 90-minute race day shows on the streamer. National teams in the mixed gender championship will battle at 12 iconic venues around the world across 2023 and 2024. Taking on the world’s best will be the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, led by the two most decorated Olympic sailors of all time, driver Sir Ben Ainslie and strategist Hannah Mills.

The British team dramatically qualified for last season’s three-boat Grand Final race for US $1million on the final day of the season, but finished third behind Tom Slingsby’s now triple defending champion Australia team and Peter Burling’s New Zealand SailGP Team and will be out to settle this score in Season 4. 

After Chicago the action will head to Los Angeles with highlights for both events broadcast on ITV4 and live racing all weekend on ITVX. Later this summer the league will then head to Europe and the France Sail Grand Prix in Saint-Tropez will be shown on the network’s flagship channel ITV1, which coincides with the broadcasters’ coverage of the Rugby World Cup. 

A full highlights show of the Season 4 Grand Final in San Francisco will also be seen on ITV1. All other events in the season will have highlights programs broadcast on ITV4. 

The SailGP Season 4 events in Sydney, Auckland and Canada will be shown on ITV4 on delay to ensure the best possible viewing times for UK-based fans. All other events can be enjoyed in full either live or on-demand on ITVX, ITV’s streaming service along with coverage of SailGP’s behind the scenes series ‘Racing on the Edge’.

This broadcast deal extends further than the action-packed, adrenaline-pumping racing as both companies have robust commitments and rigorous plans in place to hit key sustainable targets. SailGP has set a target of 55 percent reduction of its carbon footprint – based on science – by 2025, as well as committing to being fully powered by nature by 2025 on shore and on water. ITV has been recognized as a leader in transparency and governance of its ambitious climate action programme, ranked in the top 2 percent of companies worldwide by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). As the first sport to disclose its carbon strategy to CDP, SailGP is looking forward to furthering ITV’s mission to deliver shows with the biggest impact on audiences and the smallest impact on the planet.

SailGP global head of broadcast and media Tom Gracey said: “We’re thrilled to be working with the team at ITV to bring SailGP to more UK fans than ever across their linear and digital suite of channels, with Sir Ben Ainslie, Hannah Mills and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team taking on the world’s best. ITV are renowned at bringing the biggest sporting moments to audiences across the country and we’re excited to be part of their premium sports output for Season 4.

“We’re looking forward to continuing to re-imagine the sport of sailing and building on our significant growth trajectory through an integrated partnership with ITV, although rumors of Sir Ben entering the Jungle are entirely premature!”  

Ainslie said: “We are delighted to have ITV onboard as the official UK broadcaster for SailGP. Having Season 4 on the free-to-view network will introduce more people to the sport and we hope they’ll be supporting Emirates GBR! The team and I can’t wait to race against the world’s best in front of what’s sure to be our biggest ever UK audience and we will be doing everything we can to take home the title, to know our efforts will be on the ITV network for every fan to watch back home gives us even more incentive.”

Niall Slone, ITV Director of Sport, said: “We hope viewers will enjoy being able to watch, live and free to air, one of the most exciting and glamorous events in sailing.  With live coverage across 18 days throughout the season, coming from fantastic locations across the world, available on ITVX as well as highlights on ITV4 and ITV1, there is an opportunity for our audiences to engage with all the action and we’re delighted to be partnering with SailGP to bring viewers each event, starting this Friday in Chicago.” 

This new deal adds to ITV Sport’s portfolio of first class events, which also includes Six Nations rugby, The Rugby World Cup, England Women football team matches, UEFA EURO 2024, the FA Cup, EFL highlights including the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One, Sky Bet League Two, Carabao Cup and the EFL Trophy, La Liga, the Tour de France, the NFL, Heinekein Champions Cup, Gallagher Premiership Rugby and, in motosport, Extreme E, plus British Touring Car Championships and MotoGP, plus major competitions in snooker and darts.