Case Study: The Helsinki Cup App, the No. 1 channel for the junior football tournament

In large tournaments good communication tools come in handy. Here’s how one of the largest junior football tournaments in Europe uses their mobile app.

When you’re hosting a football tournament for over 20 000 junior players and their support groups, there are a lot of moving parts. In that setting, good communication tools come in handy.

Here’s a look into our collaboration with Helsinki Cup, one of the biggest junior football tournaments in Europe, and how their mobile app became the number one source of information for the tournament attendance.

We started working with the Helsinki Cup team in the spring of 2020. The tournament had used a different app in 2019 but it didn’t serve the tournament’s needs anymore. The management chose Choicely’s mobile app for its diverse features, and the amount of flexibility that comes with the app builder. Choicely team built the app for Helsinki Cup in the spring, well in time for the tournament in early July.

Using the app in tournament setting

The new Helsinki Cup app was a huge hit during its first year, as it was downloaded over 3 times more than the old 2019 app. It racked up an impressive 17 000 downloads and had an average usage time of 9 minutes and 30 seconds. It ranked first in App Store and Google Play Sports app listing 24 hours after the app launch. In the post tournament survey 74% of the participants said that the app was their primary source of information regarding the tournament, compared to the old app with only 40% favoring it in 2019.

Why did the attendees like to use the mobile app? Some reasons include:

The attendees can find the timetables and the tournament program easily in the app. This is crucial as the tournament has many football fields in the city of Helsinki, and it is critical for the players and attendees to be on time. If you need information fast, the experience is faster and better with a mobile app rather than using a website.

Users can find maps and directions in the app. Most of the attendees aren’t familiar with Helsinki. The directions are easy to use with the mobile phone and GPS.

The scoreboard can be found in the app, so players and their parents can follow the results easily in the app. This is done by integrating Helsinki Cup’s scoreboard solution Torneopal into the app.

The parents can watch the games through a livestream. If they want to follow the match but also explore the city, it can be done with the stream. The streaming service Solidsport was integrated into the app for the 2021 tournament. 90% of the games were streamed and the attendees could pay a fee to watch the stream.

Social media updates. Helsinki Cup’s Instagram feed has been integrated into the app where users can see them in one place.

On top of serving the attendees, there are also a number of reasons why the app is so useful for the organizers:

Push messages are a fast way to inform attendees. Organizers can send out a push message if something comes up that attendees need to know immediately. Pushes can also be scheduled in advance for certain times. Both are useful features in hectic tournaments like Helsinki Cup.

Sponsor visibility. A mobile app brings a new possibility to showcase the tournament sponsors, which benefits the partners and Helsinki Cup organization to fund, grow and develop the tournament even further.

Informing attendees also before and after the tournament. Right now Helsinki Cup is showing a compilation video from the previous tournament, offering registrations for next year – including an early bird raffle to win free tickets. The tournament is also sending a monthly push message about the latest news and keeping the audience active around the year.

This way the mobile app truly helps the whole tournament ecosystem connect before, during and after the intensive event.

Growth in numbers

Both the tournament and the app have seen growth in numbers during the three years of our collaboration.

For Helsinki Cup, 2022 was their biggest tournament in its 46-year history with 5140 teams attending.

In 2022, the mobile app had:

over 28 000 users between April and July – 24% more than the previous year.

440 000 sessions, a growth of 25% compared to 2021

average time spent of 12 minutes 42 seconds per user per day.

During the three years of the app has cemented its position as the most important communication channel, reported by the attendees. The app is popular among the users, and the information about the app has spread fast.

Kirsi Kavanne, Helsinki Cup CEO says: “We at Helsinki Cup have been extremely satisfied with the mobile application. In my opinion it is straightforward, customer-friendly, easy to use and convenient to update.

“Parents of children participating in Helsinki Cup also agree, according to the feedback we’ve received. Our annual visitor survey indicates that the Helsinki Cup mobile application has very quickly become the most important channel for following the tournament and getting news updates related to it.”

Click here to visit Choicely’s website

WTT announces Corpay as official Global FX Payments Supplier

World Table Tennis is pleased to announce an agreement with Corpay1, a FLEETCOR® brand, for Corpay’s Cross-Border business to become World Table Tennis’s official Global FX Payments Supplier.

Corpay, a global leader in business payments, will handle all World Table Tennis’ global foreign exchange payments for the 2023 season. With a record number of events planned on every continent, the need to process foreign exchange payments quickly and efficiently is a must to showcase the record-setting prize money World Table Tennis has to offer.
 
Corpay Cross-Border’s platform will enable eligible companies to manage their global payments from a single point of access, streamlining this process and limiting any potential exposure through currency exchanges. As part of the arrangement, World Table Tennis and its stakeholders – subject to Corpay compliance – will have access to Corpay’s innovative solutions and network.
 
Michael Brown, World Table Tennis Chief Financial Officer, commented, “In 2022, World Table Tennis has disbursed over $6M USD in prize money, processed more than 3,000 individual transactions, to over 80 different territories around the world. This was a record year, and we expect the prize money purse to continue to grow in the coming years, and likely to have doubled again by 2024. World Table Tennis has placed the athletes at the heart of its events. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure we have partners, such as Corpay, to help ensure they receive their prize money as easily as possible.”

“Corpay is very honoured to be named the official Global FX Payments Supplier for World Table Tennis,” said Brad Loder, Vice-President, Cross-Border Marketing, Corpay Cross-Border Solutions. “I am confident that World Table Tennis, the players and their business partner network will benefit from access to our comprehensive cross-border payments and FX risk management solutions, along with benefit from our payments experience gained within the world of sports.”
 
Kimberly Koh, World Table Tennis Partnerships Director, added, “We are delighted to welcome Corpay, a global leader in business payments, as World Table Tennis’s official Global FX Payments Supplier. As World Table Tennis continues to grow since its 2021 launch, Corpay will provide innovative payment services, playing a significant role in the transformation of the sport. We look forward to introducing Corpay through our corporate hospitality and business partner network and continuing to grow this partnership in the longer term.”

2023 Para Swimming World Championships appoint new commercial consultant

The 2023 Para Swimming World Championships has brought in Jonathan Neill as a commercial consultant for the event.

He will be responsible for creating the commercial strategy including the sales proposition to secure new partners, along with advising on partnership management and activation. Neill is already working with the International Paralympic Committee on their PARA SPORT commercial strategy.

The Para Swimming World Championships will be held at the Manchester Aquatics Centre from 31 July to 6 August 2023. The biggest Para swimming event outside of the Paralympic Games, it will be the third time the World Championships have taken place in Great Britain. The last time in London 2019, 637 swimmers from 73 nations were welcomed, with 188 records broken including 39 world records, and over 143 million people watching around the world. 

Having worked in a variety of agency, brand and rights holder roles, Neill set up his own consultancy 12 months ago. Other clients during this time include the Football Association of Ireland, Modern Pentathlon and Laser Run World Championships, Playermaker, VisitBritain, YouGov Sport and Guild.

Jonathan Neill said: “The Para Swimming World Championships truly demonstrate and celebrate diversity and inclusion, and the role that sport can play in creating positive social impacts to individuals, communities, and wider society. Para Swimming had the highest cumulative broadcast audience for any sport at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and with over 14 million persons in the UK living with a disability and having a spending power of over £274 billion a year, there are multiple reasons for brands to be involved and help create a more inclusive world.”

Katie Chapman, Manchester 2023 Para Swimming World Championships Event Director, added: “I’m proud and delighted that the UK is once again hosting these prestigious Championships, this time in Manchester, the perfect city with its rich heritage in world class sport. I’m looking forward to working in partnership with brands and organisations across a number of exciting opportunities to achieve our ambition to deliver not only a world class event, but an event that drives lasting positive change more widely for people and communities.”

Northampton Saints announce financial results for 2021/22

“The 2021/22 financial year was the Club’s first full season since the devastating impact of the pandemic, and I am pleased to report that Saints emerged strongly, making an excellent recovery in the aftermath of two very challenging financial years,” said John White, Northampton Saints Chairman.

“The return of crowds to cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens saw more than 220,000 people pass through our gates, with Saints one of only four clubs in the Premiership to have increased attendances compared to pre-pandemic crowds. But, despite a strong commercial bounce back, in reality the after-effects of the pandemic have put Saints’ financial plan back by approximately three years.

“Our turnover of £20.8m was up £2.4m from the 2018/19 season – the last full season which was unimpacted by Covid-19 – representing the Club’s highest-ever revenue, and a profit before tax of £0.3m. However, this figure is flattered by a one-off business interruption insurance payment of £0.5m. Without this, the underlying result was a loss before tax of £0.2m.

“As of 30 June, our cash balance was £8.5m. It should be noted though that during the year we issued £3m of preference shares to fund the construction of our new High Performance Centre, which was included in this figure at year end and will be spent by early 2023.

“We are operating in a challenging environment, both within the rugby Premiership and in the wider economic context. However, we are in a resilient position and have a clear plan for the future. Saints has a track record of responsible financial management and was profitable for 16 consecutive years, bucking the trend across the league and enabling us to maintain a strong balance sheet.”

To read more please click here

Member Insights “While all sports want to be on television, television does not want all sports”

Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, is the Senior Director Global Sports Marketing & Marketing Development at Nagra-Kudelski, in this Member Insights article he looks into the battle sports face for coverage.

An obvious observation: I hear you say! Well, not for everyone. Especially ordinary sports-fans who have no idea that TV is as complex as it is. Pay-TV business for sport, and all Pay-TV businesses compete for the same consumers’ eyeballs. We forget that almost all sports are behind a paywall—SkySports, BT Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN, etc. Pay-TV considers sport part of its ‘premium content,’ and often part of a larger viewing bundle. 

As these pay-TV operators have paid handsomely for sports rights, the consumer must pay to watch it and therein the top nine sports dominate that offer. However, some lower-tier sports are on the fringes within Pay-TV, and those get the smaller broadcast rights deals. The reality is that just because a sport is on TV doesn’t mean it reaches the total available TV market in a territory at the times people want to watch. 

The actual reach is only a percentage of a territory (say 20 per cent market share). A Pay-TV service provider will claim they have millions of subscribers, but the Pay-TV operator does not know if your sport fans are paying subscribers to their service.

In sports on TV: broadcast trumps streaming (due to rights there is geo-blocking), but broadcast does not mean greater reach to the masses – Whereas unfettered D2C streaming does (no geo-blocking and total market availability). It does mean you can look to capture all your fans, but it’s not that simple a direction to go in, either. Many businesses tout apps as the solution but it is far more complex than building an app.

Broadcast v Streaming – A business issue based on a sport’s desirability, ability, and scalability. All sports want to be on TV (market desirability; but not all can be). Some sports do realise D2C streaming is the future (still market desirability), but are they able to do the following? 

A) If it is there, stop taking the broadcast money and commit to D2C streaming (investment ability). B) treat the D2C streaming service as if they were on broadcast TV with excellent content production, marketing, and all the wrappers that make a sport an entertaining spectacle (investment ability). C) Further invest in fan engagement and social media at a level that the sport is top-of-mind amongst the new generation of digital natives (scalability). 

The discussion should not be broadcast v streaming; it should be focused on the federation situation (size of the sport, market reach capability and desired new market reach, financial capacity, federation desire) and how they can build a future for their sport.

Questions:

  1. I want to go D2C streaming! (Is my sport big enough? Does the Board of Directors get it, and will they back it?)
  2. Can I afford to go D2C streaming – Can I invest, and do I have a ‘team’ that can take it to market, or do I have to outsource? 
  3. What are the deeper investment needs (What are the costs of production, commentary, operations, etc.) – It is not just building an App and Website, and fans will come … see point 4.
  4. If I go D2C streaming, can I build out my sports offer as if I was a top-tier sport? (Tournament pre-show, mid-show, and post-show storytelling, multi-language, marketing, and live social-media content, driving conversion for a desirable premium content offer to the masses across the globe!)
  5. Can I charge a price that will allow me to attract fans, grow the offer and keep the lights on? If you have done stage 4. above, you can charge more!

Realising your sport’s business situation with good market understanding, BoD lobbying, planning, and investment is the way forward with a need for speedy decision-making and committed execution to deployment. Sports fans are not bothered by boardroom and industry business issues; they want to access and enjoy their favourite sports as they are accustomed to as digital natives. 

The modern fan understands streaming but does not understand broadcast rights complexities, geo-blocking, and all the nuances around this complex market situation. There is one thing for sure as fans get more Internet savvy – they know the latest URLs to the illegal pirate sites that seem to know how to stream sports better than many trying to do it in the media industry.

In business, farsightedness without politics and the ability to commit investment can grow any sport in a modern media world. Looking at it pragmatically and treating it as a journey – With a crawl, walk, run implementation for D2C streaming this can allow any federation to grow their sport significantly across the globe. But it comes with challenges and at a cost.

Visit Nagra’s website here:

Formula E unveil new look ahead of Season 9

Formula E today unveiled a fresh new look ahead of Season 9 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and the debut of the Gen3 car, new races in iconic world cities, new teams and new sporting formats.

The Gen3 – the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race car ever built – will make its competitive debut in Round 1 in Mexico City on 14 January, following pre-season testing next month in Valencia.

The championship will continue with three new cities hosting Formula E races for the first time: Hyderabad, India (Round 4, 11 February); Cape Town, South Africa (Round 5, 25 February) and São Paulo, Brazil (Round 6, 25 March).

McLaren and Maserati are new to the Formula E grid next season. They will join some of the biggest names in motorsport including Jaguar, Porsche and Nissan among the 11 teams and 22 drivers competing for world titles.

Sporting regulation updates include a return to racing over laps; rookie drivers taking a seat for teams in FP1 sessions; and a plan to introduce a 30-second 4kWh ‘Attack Charge’ boost at select races, made possible through the development of the most advanced EV battery in the world today.

To coincide with the start of the Gen3 era, Formula E has reimagined the visual and sonic brand identity of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

New look:

The new identity is inspired by the instant torque of electric acceleration.  The system also reflects the sport’s role as a catalyst; helping manufacturers accelerate electric vehicle technologies, the pace with which new fans are coming into the sport, the unprecedented speed that the sport achieved FIA World Championship status and more broadly the championship’s vision to accelerate sustainable human progress.

At the heart of the new system is the Torque Loop that represents the excitement and energy at the core of the brand and the sport. This self-sustaining loop is the source of the new logo, typeface and the brand’s new animation principles.

Formula E have maintained a core association with blue as a signifier of electricity but expanded its palette to include a more extensive colour system, enabling the championship to emphasise its unique offer in three modes: world class motorsport (Race); cutting-edge technology and sustainability credentials (Reason); and positive impact on the global community (Culture). 

The rebrand will be rolled out over the coming days, weeks and months starting with Formula E’s digital estate. In the new year, new web and app functionality will come online to enhance the fan experience. By the time Season 9 launches in Mexico City the new identity will be brought to life across hundreds of touchpoints from trackside to marketing to broadcast.

New sound of Formula E:

Sound has been one of Formula E’s most distinctive and disruptive qualities since the first race in 2014. For Season 9, an all-new sonic identity has been developed for use across broadcast, digital and marketing channels, with the new sound of the Gen3 race car at its core.

Test recordings of the race cars were captured to form the basis of the sonic identity, with the recordings remixed into a suite of sound assets. New broadcast title music and a full broadcast score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with a 55-piece orchestra.

Henry Chilcott, Chief Marketing Officer, Formula E, said: 

“This new identity is part of our ongoing mission to build a new category of tier one sport. It’s a system designed to inspire and excite fans around the world as well as create a stronger, more extensible platform for our partners, teams, manufacturers and broadcasters”.

Six Nations CEO to step down at end of the season

Six Nations Rugby today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Ben Morel, has decided to step down at the end of the current 2022/23 rugby season.

Morel has successfully led the organisation since 2018, during which time it has experienced unprecedented transformational change; particularly centered around its six member unions collaborating as strongly off the pitch as they compete on it and exemplified by the centralisation of key media and commercial rights, as well as a strategic partnership with private investment fund CVC Capital Partners.

New innovative partnerships have been secured within Morel’s tenure including that with TikTok focused on a revamped Women’s Six Nations Championship in its own dedicated window in the Rugby calendar; and with Amazon Prime Video in UK & Ireland to broadcast a re-branded Autumn Nations Series. Six Nations Rugby has also successfully extended its media partnerships around the Men’s and Women’s Six Nations Championships with its free-to-air partners in all domestic markets.

In that context, Ben Morel informed the Six Nations Board that the end of the 2022/23 season would be the right time to for him to step down after having ensured a best-in-class transition with his successor.

“It is an unbelievable privilege to be leading such an organisation as Six Nations Rugby and in particular such a talented group of people. I am immensely proud of the many accomplishments over the last five seasons ranging from successfully completing our Championships during the pandemic, centralising our rights to offer a better experience for our fans around the world, and bringing state-of-the-art partnerships to place rugby on a significant growth trajectory”, said Morel.

“I am at the stage in my life when I want to tackle other personal and professional projects and a Rugby World Cup year is the perfect time to ensure a smooth transition to keep the pace of our rapid transformation. There are several key projects I am focused on delivering before I depart and look forward to the next months ahead”.

Ronan Dunne, Chair of the Board of Six Nations Rugby said “We have been privileged to have Ben’s wise counsel and steadfast leadership during these past five seasons. He has delivered outstanding performance, whilst establishing a strong and effective organisation and executive leadership team, leaving us well placed to deliver on the next phase of our vision for Six Nations Rugby.”

The Six Nations Rugby Board are grateful that they have been given a long notice period to ensure a successful transition. The process to find a successor is underway with an announcement expected in the New Year.

Imran Khwaja reappointed Deputy Chair

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board has reappointed Imran Khwaja as Deputy Chair for a two-year term.

Khwaja currently holds an Associate Member Director position on the Board having been re-elected at the ICC Annual Conference in July 2022. Khwaja was first elected to the ICC Board in 2008 and has served as Deputy Chair since 2017.

FIM and Infront Moto Racing announce date and venue for FIM Snowcross World Championship

The FIM and Infront Moto Racing are delighted to share that the 2023 FIM Snowcross World Championship will head to Turkiye for the very first time.

The first FIM Snowcross World Championship in Turkiye will take place on 10-12 March 2023 under the auspices of the Presidency. As part of the Sports Tourism Development programme, various international events are being held in Turkiye and, for the first time, Kayseri – Erciyes will host the Snowcross World Championship in 2023.

The event, organised by the Turkish Motorcycling Federation and widely supported by the Kayseri Governor and Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, will bring the world’s best riders together at Mount Erciyes with Kayseri Snowcross Centre being the most important winter sports centre in Turkiye.

In addition to the championships, the biggest Winter Festival in Turkiye will take place in Kayseri Erciyes. The festival to be held on 11-12 March 2023 will bring extreme sports fans and thrill seekers together at Mount Erciyes.

Last time that the SNX World Championship took place it was in 2021 in Rovaniemi, Finland where Peter Nårsa and Hilda Arnesson were crowned as the FIM Snowcross World Champion and the FIM Women’s Snowcross World Cup winner respectively while Gustav Sahlsten who was victorious in the FIM Europe Snowcross Championship!

Kayseri is a large, industrialised city in Central Anatolia and is located around 350km from the capital city, Ankara.

Mount Erciyes (3.916 mt) is the symbol of Kayseri and one of the most important winter tourism centres in Turkiye. One of the few venues with that high quality of snow, Erciyes Snowcross Centre enjoys the intensive attention of ski fans while being notably close to the city centre.

HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein chairs FIBA safeguarding meeting

A major step in FIBA’s efforts to advance its safeguarding and protection approach has been reached today, when the FIBA Safeguarding Council met for a final review of the new Safeguarding Policy. Having gone through extensive reviews by the Council members as well as relevant FIBA internal structures, the draft Policy will be presented for approval at the forthcoming meeting of the FIBA Central Board.

Discussing the significance of this first step, the Council members reiterated the importance this Policy will have in ensuring basketball is being accessed by anyone who wants to take part and enjoy the game: in a fair and equitable safe space, free from all forms of harm and abuse, regardless of playing level.

The Council, the majority of which is composed of independent members, has also looked at the steps that will follow Policy’s adoption later this year. HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Council’s Founding Chairman, said: “FIBA moved fast to finalise its Safeguarding Policy, and is now ready to engage with its stakeholders, promote its safeguarding efforts, and contextualise and adjust practices that will protect not only vulnerable but all players and basketball participants, regardless of who or where they are. It is paramount for our Olympic and sport Movement to adopt such policies and standards, to follow FIBA and other stakeholders in making sure young people in particular are able to thrive while playing safe sport”.

FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis reiterated: “I have been delighted to welcome in the Patrick Baumann House of Basketball this important meeting of FIBA Safeguarding Council. We thank HRH Prince Feisal for leadership and members of this independent Council for their commitment, as we take full advantage of their analysis and recommendations”.

The six additional members of the Safeguarding Council include Slovakia’s four-time Olympian Danka Bartekova, FIBA Americas President Carol Callan, international basketball star Astou Ndour-Fall, Romanian Basketball Federation President and FIBA Executive Committee Member Carmen Tocala, award-winning journalist Alan Abrahamson and FIBA Chief Operating Officer Patrick Mariller.