Japan looks to host Formula E race

Japan has taken the first positive step towards hosting a round of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship after Formula E and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government today signed an agreement with the goal of delivering a race in Tokyo.

Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, and Jamie Reigle, CEO, Formula E, met this morning at an official signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The agreement will see Tokyo city authorities and Formula E work together with the objective of bringing a race to Tokyo in spring 2024, subject to FIA approval, in the area around Tokyo Big Sight, the largest international exhibition centre in Japan.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been working to promote the use of ZEV (Zero Emission Vehicles) to realise “Zero Emission Tokyo” – an environmentally advanced city that emits no CO2 – and Formula E will work with the city to promote the ZEV strategy.

“I am excited and honoured to stand alongside Governor Koike and announce the collaborative partnership between Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Formula E,” said Reigle. “Together we will work to bring a Formula E race to the city in 2024 in support of the Zero Emission Tokyo commitment. Tokyo is an iconic world city, recognised as an innovator in consumer technology, a leader in the automotive industry and a global cultural trendsetter. Formula E is delighted to partner with Tokyo Metropolitan Government to establish the city as a reference in zero emissions initiatives.”

Nissan was among the first to commit to Formula E’s new Gen3 era, set to get underway with testing in Valencia in December, before the lights go out on the Season 9 opener in Mexico City on 14 January.

The Japanese outfit’s Managing Director, Tommaso Volpe, spoke of the team’s excitement of the prospect of Japan joining the calendar for the first time from Season 10.

“We are very enthusiastic about this announcement from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Formula E. As the first Japanese automaker participating in the championship, we would be delighted to have an E-Prix in Tokyo in 2024. In addition, from this season we will be competing as one team for the first time, following the acquisition of e.dams earlier this year, and we would love to have the opportunity to race with our own racing team in our home market.”

The planned schedule for next season currently features 18 races between January and July 2023 on street circuits in 13 world cities, beating the previous record of 16 races in 10 different cities this season to be Formula E’s biggest and boldest campaign yet as the electric race series launches into a new era.

Springboks and Nike announce six-year partnership

Nike and SA Rugby have agreed a six-year deal – to include the 2023 and 2027 Rugby World Cups – which will see the famous Swoosh appear on the front of the Springbok jersey for the second time. Nike was the team’s apparel partner between 1996 and 2003.

“We enjoyed a great relationship with ASICS and really appreciate the contribution that the company made over the past eight years,” said Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby.

“It’s always sad to see a valued partner depart but we understand that business strategies shift over time and we wish ASICS well in its continued journey in South Africa.”

ASICS EMEA CEO, Carsten Unbehaun, said: “ASICS has been a proud sponsor of the South African Rugby Union (SARU) since 2014, supporting their national squads including the famous Blitzboks Sevens and Springboks teams.

“However, since 2020, ASICS EMEA has been realigning its activities to focus on key sports categories; running, tennis and indoor. Consequently, and in agreement with SARU, ASICS will not renew the contract. We want to thank SARU for its support through the years and wish the team the very best.”

Roux said: “We’re delighted to welcome Nike on board. It is an iconic global brand whose vision for their Springbok partnership impressed us from our first conversation.

“Nike has big plans for the partnership and we’re looking forward to formally launching our new alliance next year,” he added.

Nike takes over as apparel partner from July 2023 and will supply all South Africa’s national teams. It will provide playing kit as well as off-field apparel and footwear for the Boks as well as Springbok Women, the men’s and women’s sevens teams and Junior Boks.

Nike-branded jerseys will only be revealed and in store from July 2023.

Singapore to remain home of FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup

After a successful FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2022, the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup will take place in Singapore for the next three editions (2023, 2024 and 2025).

Just two months removed from the 2022 edition, which featured a record 51 teams from 29 different countries, Sport Singapore and FIBA announced that Singapore will continue to host the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup for the next three years.

“After such an exciting return to Singapore this year, we couldn’t be happier to establish the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in the country long term,” FIBA Secretary General Andreas Zagklis said. “This will allow us to build an even greater and more engaged community of fans in Singapore and solidify the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup as one of the highlights of the 3×3 season.”

The next edition will be staged in the Singapore Sports Hub from March 27 to April 2, marking the first major milestone of the 3×3 season in 2023. In addition to the competition, fans can look forward to community activations organized in conjunction with the event happening across the Sports Hub precinct.

“Sport Singapore is excited to build on the success of the 2022 edition for the next three years, and we are committed to growing the local and regional interest in 3×3 together with FIBA. This event at the Sports Hub next year, promises to be a pulsating live and digital spectator experience. Watch out for it!” said Marcus Tan, Chief, Sport Development Group.

China’s women and Australia’s men won the fifth edition of the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup on July 10, 2022. The winners of the 2023 edition will earn a ticket to one of the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments for Paris 2024.

Over the 5-day competition, the event attracted more than 4,000 spectators with an estimated digital outreach of 35 million.

Chelsea announce five-year partnership with AiSCOUT

Chelsea FC has today announced the signing of AiSCOUT – the world’s first fully automated talent analysis and development platform.

The six-times Premier League and two-times Champions League winners negotiated a deal to secure AiSCOUT as their Official Academy Research Partner, with the platform set to become an integral part of the club’s recruitment and scouting process for academy players over the next five years.

The platform has been developed by industry-leading experts in data, talent ID and artificial intelligence, with the assistance of professional football clubs, and is the only digital scouting product invited into the FIFA Innovation Programme.  

During the initial Research and Development phase, one of the players out of a test pool of 50 who downloaded the AiSCOUT player app and had never been trialled or scouted before, was Ben Greenwood. Ben was 17 when he downloaded the app. He completed his profile, added images and videos, and more importantly, generated impressive data by entering the club trials. His data pinged the AiSCOUT app, and within days he was invited to trial with the Chelsea FC U18 team for eight weeks, scoring on his debut. Ben went on to sign for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth, making his first team debut in July 2021, and represented the Republic of Ireland at U19 level. Additional testing has seen thousands more hopefuls like Ben enter trials on the app, with 65 players trialled or signed by professional clubs and national squads so far.

Behind the scenes, AiSCOUT have been working with the Chelsea FC Academy for the past two years during the platform’s Research & Development stage, gaining valuable knowledge alongside insights into the traditional scouting and recruitment processes carried out at elite football clubs.

The Chelsea FC Academy is widely recognised as one of the most successful in the world, having delivered multiple titles at youth team level across several age groups, and producing talent including Mason Mount, Reece James and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, all of whom have become household names in the Chelsea men’s first team. With AiSCOUT now onboard, the next generation of talent looks set to be unearthed with the help of AI technology. 

Darren Peries, founder of AiSCOUT said: “For a club with Chelsea’s success and history to select our technology to help them identify the next generation of player talent, shows that we must have developed something special.

“To be recognised as an Official Academy Research partner and be talked about alongside the clubs’ other major partners, is a landmark moment for everyone involved with AiSCOUT and further strengthens our credibility as we launch our platform to the wider football world.”

He added: “AiSCOUT is solving a significant unmet need, revolutionising the talent scouting and development eco-system in world football. For players anywhere in the world, of all ages, we are providing an opportunity to generate real data and trial for a professional football club with a mobile phone. For scouts and clubs, we are making it easier for them to reach, analyse, recruit and develop new players worldwide. It is a truly game-changing development.”

Jim Fraser, Head of Youth Recruitment and Assistant Head of Youth Development at Chelsea FC, said: “Having worked with AiSCOUT for the last two years researching talent identification and recruitment, the way in which they are innovating the process through technological advances is truly game-changing. They have created a solution with the potential to revolutionise the scouting and development process across football, which will help us identify, recruit and develop the best talent more effectively and efficiently than ever before. We are delighted to be working with them for the next five years and are excited to unearth the next generation of talent.”

Eubank v Benn to be shown on Virgin TV as well as DAZN

Virgin TV customers will be able to purchase the fight as a pay-per-view add-on directly through their set-top-box.

Almost 30 years after their fathers captured the UK’s imagination with their bitter rivalry, the second-generation battle between born rivals Chris Eubank Jr. and Conor Benn will be available for Virgin TV customers to watch on 8 October 2022.

The long-awaited fight promises to be one of the most electrifying British boxing contests in decades as years of bad blood between the families come to a head. Thanks to a newly agreed distribution agreement between DAZN and Virgin Media, the unmissable DAZN PPV event will be made available for Virgin TV customers to watch as a pay-per-view (PPV) add-on through their TiVo, V6 or 360 set-top-box for £27.98. The purchase will include access to the fight as well as entitle a customer to redeem one month’s access to DAZN. 

This deal marks the beginning of the two entertainment companies exploring a closer content and app distribution collaboration. 

Shay Segev, DAZN Group CEO, said: “DAZN loves pragmatic partners who share our determination to deliver top class sports to fans around the world. With this in mind, we are delighted to have partnered with Virgin Media so that even more families can enjoy this historic event. I hope this marks the beginning of a fruitful partnership.”

David Bouchier, Chief Entertainment TV and Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “Virgin TV is built on integration, curation and unmissable entertainment that we know our customers love. The Eubank Jr. vs. Benn event is set to be a classic, so it’s fantastic that Virgin TV customers will be able to tune in and enjoy.” 

Reflecting its commitment to getting more great sport to fans, this agreement with Virgin Media is the latest in a spate of distribution deals reached by DAZN globally.

FIFAe Finals to return in Summer 2023

After the success of the first-ever FIFAe Finals 2022 this summer, FIFAe has announced the return of the pinnacle events in summer 2023. More nations, clubs and players than ever before are expected to enrol in the FIFAe competitions – which will start at the end of September 2022 – with the world’s top competitive gamers set to compete over the next months to qualify for the FIFAe Finals 2023.

Ultimate fame awaits at the pinnacle events as players can qualify for the FIFAe Club World Cup 2023™ presented by EA SPORTS™ as a team, represent their country at the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023™ presented by EA SPORTS™ or compete against the world’s best individuals at the FIFAe World Cup 2023™ presented by EA SPORTS™. More information on how to join each individual respective series is available here. 

With an updated season format, 24 of the best individual players, clubs and nations will each compete at their series’ pinnacle event, enabling more preparation time, more prize money for individuals and more chances to tell the stories of the competitors.

The FIFAe Finals 2023 will once again be the climax of the season featuring all things FIFAe ranging from esports, gaming, music, fashion and much more. A total of USD 1.2 million prize money will be distributed at the FIFAe Finals 2023 in addition to the prize pool available throughout the season via various qualification events.

“Following the positive feedback from the FIFAe Finals 2022, we’ll continue to double down on co-creating with fans, teams and stakeholders whilst offering more opportunities for partners with FIFA’s new commercial structure for football gaming and esports”, said Romy Gai, Chief Business Officer at FIFA. “This season will further cement the FIFAe competitions as the climax for the world’s best and a place for the entire community to share their passion.”

Last season, players from across the globe, over 780 clubs and over 80 nations participated in the different tournament series – making it the most engaging season on FIFAe social media channels ever. As of 2023, brands will be able to take up dedicated partnerships around esports with the new commercial structure for the first time in FIFA’s history. 

In addition to its competitions, FIFAe will maintain focus on creating a positive impact with ‘The Good Game Promise’, which was launched ahead of the FIFAe Finals 2022. FIFA.GG will continue to serve as the main hub of FIFAe for the upcoming season, where fans and players alike will be able to see results, rankings, fixtures and livestreams from the events. 

Fulham announce partnership with Titan Capital Markets

Fulham Football Club is pleased to announce a partnership with Titan Capital Markets, as the Club’s official CFD Trading Partner for the remainder of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign. 

Established in Australia, Titan Capital Markets is an integrated educational financial group providing comprehensive online and offline courses and systematic community trading training programmes to improve learners’ financial mindset and Forex Trading skills.

Regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Titan Capital Markets aims to empower students with financial literacy and provide knowledge and assistance in using the right trading tools to achieve their goals of financial freedom in order to have more confidence to trade on a trusted platform.

During the partnership, the Titan Capital Markets’ brand will benefit from exposure to the global Premier League audience through visibility on the Club’s perimeter LED boards at matches played at Craven Cottage. There will also be opportunities to access Fulham FC First Team players for content creation.

In addition, Titan Capital Markets’ official charity, Titan Foundation, will be cooperating with Fulham Football Club Foundation on their Corporate Social Responsibility. Titan Foundation recognizes the importance of building strong communities. The primary focus is to provide support for underserved children and families in the areas of education, health, and human services.

Howard Yan, CEO of Titan Capital Markets quote: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. I am grateful for the partnership with Fulham Football Club and the support of our clients that has helped bring Titan Capital Markets to greater heights. We will continue to provide the best possible service and products to our clients, and to expand our reach to new markets”

Jon Don-Carolis Commercial Director of Fulham FC, added: “We’re delighted to partner with Titan Capital Markets this season. The partnership is designed to drive significant awareness across Titan Capital Markets’ key territories whilst, in tandem, delivering a personalised and rewarding experience.”

OneFootball announce new VP of Women’s Football and purchase of Gloria

OneFootball, the world’s largest football media platform, announced the appointment of leading gender equality activist, campaigner, and tech entrepreneur Victoire Cogevina as VP of Women’s Football. 

This move represents OneFootball’s long-term commitment to women’s football as it continues to invest in new club, league, federation and player partnerships to bring the women’s game to its 100+ million monthly active users. Under Victoire’s stewardship, OneFootball is looking to significantly grow its women’s football offer and female audience. In her new role, she will work to make women’s football even more inclusive, accessible and enjoyable through the OneFootball platform to bring fans and a new host of brands promoting equality even closer to the game than ever before. She will report into Chief Business Officer, Patrick Fischer.

Victoire, 31, is an American-born Greek-Argentine entrepreneur whose career has been focused on democratising football and advocating for women on and off the pitch. She co-founded the first female sports agency representing male professional players in Major League Soccer, and is currently serving as a UN Women ambassador for Gender Equality in Football. 

In 2018, Victoire co-founded Gloria in Silicon Valley, a football community which will now be  rolled into OneFootball. As part of the transaction, existing Gloria investors including Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and founder of VC firm, Seven Seven Six; Garry Tan, founder and managing partner of Initialized Capital; and Assia Grazioli, co-founder of Muse Capital are transferring their investment to OneFootball.

Lucas von Cranach, founder & CEO, OneFootball: “Victoire has made an incredible contribution to women’s football, while also serving as an inspiration to aspiring women entrepreneurs around the world. With her insight and expertise, she will elevate OneFootball’s offer of the women’s game to a whole new level, making it more accessible for a new generation of fans that want to see more equality and diversity in women and men’s sports. This is a really important moment for us – together we can continue the momentum that the Women’s EURO sparked just a few months ago.”

Victoire Cogevina, founder of Gloria, said: “Women football fans have long been an underserved community, with most products and services designed with only men in mind. But in Europe alone there are 144 million women’s football fans who aren’t being engaged and catered for – that’s a lot of fans to onboard which present  a huge commercial opportunity. When we first founded Gloria, we set out to build the world’s most inclusive football community. Now as part of OneFootball’s leadership team, I can truly cement that vision – driving in forward off the back of a larger platform, OneFootball. We are perfectly placed at the heart of the football ecosystem to be the platform that delivers everything that matters to football fans, irrespective of gender. The fantastic team at OneFootball are already well on their way to achieving that, which is why I’m proud to now be part of that journey.”

Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and founder of VC firm, Seven Seven Six, said: “As a football fan, I was immediately drawn to Victoire’s passion for the sport and her drive to build an inclusive, global football community online. By joining OneFootball, she will have even more opportunity to expand that vision and bring the sport of football to a whole new generation of fans. As the lead founding investor in the NWSL’s Angel City FC, I’m especially thrilled Victoire will become VP of Women’s Football at OneFootball. The move signifies an understanding of the massive global appeal of women’s football — it’s obvious value proposition. It’s also not lost on me that Victoire is one of the few female tech founders in football to have made such an impact on the industry and help further the cause of women’s equality in sport. I am proud of her and the Gloria team for all they’ve accomplished and I can’t wait to see how they continue to progress the sport forward, especially for women.”

Member Insights: Taking back control

In this article Rupert Pratt – global sales and marketing director of EngageCraft, provider of digital fan engagement products for sports federations, clubs, media, broadcasters and betting clients – looks into why FIFA’s pricing of the video game license is a signpost to sports future.

Given the seismic events of September, this week’s drop of EA Sports FIFA 23 may have failed to make an impact on your cultural consciousness. But its significance to the sport industry is considerable: the last edition of the smash-hit FIFA game to be published (with co-naming rights) by EA Sports. It follows the video game publisher’s decision not to renew its longstanding licence with football’s global governing body – a move that generated much comment when it was announced back in May, but which should really be viewed in the context of FIFA’s far-sighted D2C strategy and as a lesson for all rightsholders in this new era.

Let’s first recap the story of one of sport’s most successful collaborations – a relationship that dates back almost 30 years to the launch of the first game in 1994. In the years since, EA Sports’ FIFA title has exploded in worldwide popularity, driving interest in football and all the major leagues featured, with FIFA’s name and proprietary assets helping boost global awareness and interest in the title, and FIFA profiting in return from more frequent brand engagement and the chance to break out of its four-yearly World Cup window with a 24/7/365 presence in fans’ lives. 

This was a relationship that was delivering for both parties, including delivering a healthy licensing fee to the FIFA coffers. So why have the two industry heavyweights decided to part ways? And why now? 

The easy answer is the price point for renewal, rumoured to have doubled to more than $1bn for the next World Cup cycle. But stop there and you fail to see what the episode tells us about the direction of travel for the sport industry as a whole. Indeed, EA Sports is on record as saying that the real sticking point in negotiation was FIFA’s reluctance to allow the publisher to introduce new features to the game, such as NFTs.

Beware the iceberg

Seen in the context of the industry’s shift towards fan-centric revenue generation, it’s understandable that FIFA perceived increasing demands as the threat of an iceberg. Because the value of such rights depends increasingly not on brand and visibility, but what lies below the water: first-party data, audience insight and direct monetization opportunities. There’s enormous value in the engaged digital fanbase held by EA Sports, which FIFA, as a smart and far-sighted rightsholder, wants back in its own control.

The price FIFA placed on its gaming community is a clear indication of the importance of digital fanbases to the future of sport business, set against the backdrop of declining broadcast rights and the rewiring of the sponsorship industry around digital inventory and first-party data.

It was a price that ultimately proved too high for EA Sports; and FIFA is now freed up to pursue a truly owned gaming strategy, having already committed to work with a third party to create a new simulation game by 2024. 

Will the new game be able to compete with EA Sports’ own-brand title? In a way, it doesn’t matter. Because every percentage point of the market gained represents a part of the audience that FIFA would not otherwise control.

It’s a long-term play that, when seen alongside FIFA+, the newly-launched direct-to-consumer OTT platform, shows FIFA as an organisation ahead of the curve in seeking to revolutionise its whole approach to digital content, fan engagement and revenue generation. The real question is how long it will take others to catch up.

Formula 1 and Sky Sports extend partnership until 2029

Sky has today announced a new multi-year extension of its broadcast partnership with Formula 1, cementing Sky as the official broadcaster of the sport in all Sky markets. Sky UK & Ireland will remain the exclusive home of F1 until 2029, having first entered partnership with the sport in 2012. Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia will retain rights until 2027 with greater exclusivity – with all race weekends exclusively live and home nation races simultaneously live on free-to-air.  

From 2023, Sky Sports F1 viewers will get even more innovative award-winning coverage and analysis from the likes of Martin Brundle, Jenson Button, Natalie Pinkham and Simon Lazenby. Fans can take control of how they follow all the action through an improved multi-screen and second-screen option, tracking their favourite driver’s position on the circuit or selecting a driver’s on-board camera.

Stephen van Rooyen, Executive Vice President & CEO, Sky UK & Europe, said: “Every race. Every moment. Every twist and turn. All exclusively live on Sky for years to come! Formula 1 continues to break records on Sky, with millions more watching than ever before across our markets, driven by new younger and female fans which is fantastic for the sport. More than 80 countries will continue to enjoy our world class analysis and content of one of the most exhilarating sports in the world.”

Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1, said: “We are incredibly proud of our long-term partnership with Sky, and we are delighted to announce that we will continue working together until 2029, a very important commitment from Sky. Since the beginning of our relationship in 2012 we have both strived to bring the excitement, emotion, and drama of Formula 1 to our traditional fans while engaging new and more diverse audiences. Formula 1 has seen huge growth in recent years, and I can’t think of a better partner to continue to reach our fans with dedicated, expert and in-depth coverage. Sky not only brings fans live coverage but a range of behind-the-scenes access and content that brings F1 to life. We are hugely excited about the future of the partnership and the journey of Formula 1.”

Ian Holmes, Director of Media Rights and Content Creation, Formula 1, said: “Since Sky joined Formula 1 in 2012 the scale and the quality of their F1 content has continually increased. This new agreement with Sky reflects our long-term partnership and shared ambition to grow Formula 1 to new audiences and markets. In recent years we have returned to historic venues such as Zandvoort, and brought in new and exciting races such as Miami and of course Las Vegas next year. I am delighted that Sky will continue to be with us through this exciting era of our sport.”  

Through the partnership, Sky’s platforms are helping Formula 1 reach new audiences with its coverage, with more women tuning in than ever before this season and with audiences skewing younger than previous seasons across the majority of Sky markets.  The 2022 season has already smashed viewing records, including:

Sky UK and Ireland

  • Average viewership for the 2022 season is 1.7m, up 60% since the UK exclusive deal began in 2019, including 4.3m new viewers to Sky Sports F1
  • Of all 4.3m new viewers since 2019, 1.7m were women
  • Of five of the most watched races ever in Sky Sports F1 history, four have taken place this year

Sky Italia

  • Average viewership so far this season is 1.5 million, up 20% compared to 2021
  • Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in March was the most watched GP in Italian pay-TV history, recording 1.937 million viewers

Sky Deutschland

  • 2022 is on track to be the most successful season ever with a 24% increase in viewing compared to 2021
  • Half of new viewers this season are under the age of 35 and 40% of new viewers overall are women
  • The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix achieved a new Sky record for any F1 race in Germany as 1.38 million tuned in

Since first broadcasting Formula 1 in 2012, Sky Sports has delivered extensive award-winning coverage of the sport for viewers, of the like never seen before in television history. Earlier this year, Sky Sports and F1 were awarded a BAFTA for their coverage of the dramatic 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Sky Sports F1 will continue to be the only dedicated channel to broadcast motorsport in each of Sky’s markets and the broadcaster’s best-in-class commentary will continue to be available in over 80 markets. As part of this deal, Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Super Cup will also continue to be shown on Sky Sports F1.