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.”

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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.

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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.

Red Bull Racing joins forces with New Era

Oracle Red Bull Racing is joining forces with globally renowned sports and lifestyle brand New Era, to create new ranges of Team headwear that uniquely fuse performance and style. 

Originating from New York, New Era brings over a century of experience in supplying quality headwear to some of the world’s biggest sports leagues including Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL) in the US, as well as teams in the English Premier League (EPL), France’s Ligue 1 and Spain’s La Liga. 

The partnership will see New Era produce headwear for the Team and drivers to wear throughout the season as well as being available to purchase from both New Era and Oracle Red Bull Racing online stores and outlets at the start of the 2023 Formula One season. 

The debut headwear collection will be available in the classic Oracle Red Bull Racing livery in a range of styles as well in a seasonal colour palette for fans who want to push the boundaries as much as the Team. 

Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO, Oracle Red Bull Racing said: “The New Era brand is iconic. Transcending sport and fashion, it is truly woven into the fabric of global culture. Our partnership with New Era will enable us to bring F1 and Oracle Red Bull Racing to an even wider audience through an innovative collection and line of headwear. The new range will be made available in the familiar Oracle Red Bull Racing livery colours and will also include a few race-specific specials through the season. The collaboration gives us the opportunity to connect with fans on a new level and we are excited to elevate that even further alongside a brand as synonymous with innovation and fashion as New Era.”

Paul Gils, VP EMEA at New Era added: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Oracle Red Bull Racing. As two globally revered brands who continue to push the boundaries in their respective fields, we are excited to bring a collection of headwear to the Oracle Red Bull Racing fanbase and team drivers in 2023 and beyond to further strengthen our presence in F1.” 

Australian Open has announced extensive rewards with AO ArtBall NFTs

The Australian Open (AO) has announced an extensive rewards program for holders of its hugely popular AO ArtBall NFTs. Designed by Tennis Australia and Web3 studio Run It Wild, the rewards program is one of the most generous on the blockchain and gives AO ArtBall holders an unprecedented number of tickets to tennis, live sport, and entertainment happening in both the real and virtual worlds.

The Australian Open was the first Grand Slam to enter the metaverse when it minted 6,776 unique AO ArtBalls in January 2022, with the award-winning project the first of its kind to incorporate live match data.

Each AO ArtBall is linked to a 19cm x 19cm plot of a tennis court surface and if the winning shot from any of the 400+ AO22 matches landed on that plot, the NFT metadata was updated in real-time to highlight the match information and the holder received benefits such as limited-edition wearables.

As part of the AO ArtBall rewards program, every holder will be able to claim a pair of complimentary Seven Day Ground Passes for week two of AO23. Given there are 6,776 AO ArtBalls in circulation, this represents the largest release of tickets to an AO membership program in the history of the event. Holders of more than one AO ArtBallwill be able to claim multiple pairs of Ground Passes based on the number of balls they own, capped at 20 tickets.

Other benefits include access to other major international sporting events, Web3 conferences, behind the scenes streams at the AO, limited edition merchandise, and more. 

“As one of the world’s biggest sport and entertainment events, we are always exploring opportunities to innovate, and we’re excited by the additions planned for AO ArtBall 2023. We look forward to welcoming AO ArtBall holders to experience the AO this summer,” said Cedric Cornelis, Chief Commercial Officer Tennis Australia.

“Last year we set a new precedent at the intersection of tech, art, tennis and live data. This year we’re breaking new ground in offering all holders a deeper fan experience. We’ve shifted gears to build out a sustainable membership platform for the future,” said Adam De Cata, Founder of Run it Wild and CEO of NFT Tech.

“AO ArtBalls offer new ways to experience sport and keep fans connected to the game beyond the 14 days of the tournament. We’re offering fans truly unique experiences and creating memories that last a lifetime,” said Ridley Plummer, Senior Manager Metaverse, NFT’s, Web3 and Cryptocurrency Tennis Australia.

“We don’t believe any other NFT project is offering Grand Slam tickets and the range of member benefits on this scale, to all holders. As an established project, in constant dialogue with our community, we’re optimistic about the next chapter and remain committed to announcing more exciting initiatives for our members.”

Fans who missed out on purchasing an AO22 ArtBall NFT will have the opportunity to become an owner and to benefit from the next round of exclusive rewards program when AO23 ArtBalls are released before the tournament starts. Investors wanting to benefit from this round of rewards can attempt to purchase an AO22 ArtBall on a secondary marketplace such as Opensea using a digital wallet.

Benefits for AO22 ArtBall Holders:

AO ArtBall Ground Passes – A pair of complimentary Seven Day Ground Passes for Finals Week at AO23 for each AO ArtBall.

United Cup – ArtBall holders will get access to select United Cup matches in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The United Cup is the first mixed teams event for equal points and equal pay, taking place across from 29 December to 8 January.

ArtBall Supersight – Designed to deepen the fan experience, ArtBall Supersight is an exclusive suite of streams and viewing tools including Player-cams, 3D Stats Explorer and AO personalised match highlights. With access to ArtBall Supersight, all holders will have behind the scenes access to AO23 from anywhere in the world.

Enhanced Match Point experience – In advance of AO23, every AO ArtBall will be re-rolled to determine its on-court position. Depending on the results of the random draw, holders in less desirables plots such as in the middle of the court will have the chance to secure Match Points and benefits from their new plot during AO23.

AO Academy – AO Academy is designed to help fans navigate the new exciting world of Web3. It offers a busy roster of conference tickets, meetups, and networking events and in 2023 will also include starter memberships to crypto education platform Collective Shift.