BWB will take place in Egypt for the first time

FIBA, the NBA and the Egyptian Basketball Federation today announced that the 2022 Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa camp will be held Sunday, Aug. 28 – Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Hassan Mostafa Indoor Sports Complex in Cairo, Egypt. 

The 18th BWB Africa camp will mark the first time the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in Egypt and the first time on the continent since 2019 in Senegal.

BWB Africa 2022 will bring together more than 60 of the top male and female players ages 18 and under from across Africa to learn directly from current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches and compete alongside the best young players on the continent. The campers and coaches will also take part in life skills, leadership development and community service programming.

“It is great to see Basketball Without Borders return to Africa for this 18th edition,” said FIBA National Federations & Sport Director, Zoran Radovic. “It is clear that the talent in this part of the world is strong, and we have seen some great players who have attended BWB camps rise up and become superstars. Together with the NBA, we are proud to help continue to build and strengthen basketball in Africa and provide these future players with skills they will use both on and off the court.”

“Basketball Without Borders is our flagship elite development camp in Africa, and we are delighted that the event is resuming on the continent for the first time in three years,” said NBA Africa CEO Victor Williams.  “Since its launch in 2003, BWB Africa has provided a platform for top young players from Africa to develop and showcase their skills while continuing to grow the continent’s basketball ecosystem. We look forward to once again working with FIBA on this signature program and are excited to collaborate with the Egyptian Basketball Federation to bring this special event to Egypt for the first time.”

“We are delighted to host BWB for the first time in North Africa and Egypt,” said Egyptian Basketball Federation President, Dr. Magdy Abo Frekha. “It’s a great honor to welcome the young talents of Africa to the land of the Pharaohs. In 2022, Cairo has hosted the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, Basketball Africa League, and now BWB, which gives us the feeling that basketball in Egypt is growing and flourishing. I want to thank NBA Africa and FIBA for their trust in Egypt’s capabilities to organize remarkable events.”

A record 41 former BWB campers were among the record 121 international players on opening-night rosters for the 2021-22 NBA season, including 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012) and five-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011).  The 2022 NBA Draft saw two former BWB Africa campers drafted into the NBA: Christian Koloko (No. 33 overall by the Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2017) and Khalifa Diop (No. 39 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers; Senegal; BWB Africa 2018). In total, 12 former BWB Africa campers have been drafted into the NBA since 2003.

FIBA and the NBA have hosted 65 BWB camps in 30 countries since the program’s launch in 2001. BWB has reached more than 3,800 participants from 133 countries and territories, with 105 former campers drafted into the NBA and WNBA or signed as free agents.

BWB Africa 2022 will be supported by Nike, which will outfit participants with Nike apparel and footwear, and Gatorade, which will keep players and coaches hydrated throughout the camp.

BWB Africa 2022 campers and coaches will be announced in the coming weeks.

OneFootball appoints former FIFA franchise and Electronic Arts executive as first CEO of OneFootball Labs

OneFootball, the world’s largest football media platform, has today announced the appointment of gaming industry veteran, Jean–Charles Gaudechon as Chief Executive Officer, OneFootball Labs. 

Launched in 2022, OneFootball Labs is a joint venture between OneFootball, Web3 champion Animoca Brands, and blockchain investment pioneer Liberty City Ventures – alongside strategic partner, Dapper Labs. It enables clubs, leagues, federations and players from across the world to release digital assets and fan-centric football experiences based on blockchain technology, built on the sports-industry-leading Flow blockchain via the easy-to-use and secure wallet, Dapper.

In his new role as CEO, OneFootball Labs, Jean-Charles will play a crucial role in growing the business and creating top quality Web3 products to deliver a new era of football fan consumption. Central to the OneFootball Labs offer is the ability for fans to access unique and affordable digital collectibles which allow them to own a real life moment of incredible football, in perpetuity.

Jean-Charles will be based out of Lisbon, one of Europe’s leading cities for tech and innovation, where he will help to establish OneFootball’s new Lisbon hub. The hub will become home to OneFootball Labs, accelerating the delivery of major new Web3 partnerships with Lega Serie A, the German Bundesliga and the Argentinian Football Federation. 

As OneFootball Labs first CEO, Jean-Charles will bring his vision, creativity and passion for media and online spaces, alongside product expertise and a proven track record of developing and launching blockbuster games across multiple platforms. He will lead and be responsible for the growth and success of OneFootball Labs as it launches the company’s Web3 offer. While also developing amazing new products and services on the blockchain, increasing OneFootball’s overall standing in the football ecosystem. 

Jean-Charles has over 20 years’ experience in the gaming industry. He joins OneFootball from gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA), where he most recently held the role of Vice President and Group GM, responsible for driving the development, growth and success of EA’s portfolio across Asia which included the globally successful EA SPORTS FIFA franchise.

His appointment follows several significant announcements in 2022 which have underscored OneFootball’s commitment to the world of Web3, following its $300m Series D funding round and the launch of OneFootball Labs. Since then, OneFootball has announced a global partnership with the Bundesliga to bring licensed digital collectibles from the Bundesliga’s top players and clubs to football fans around the world. More recently, OneFootball has announced an exclusive rights deal for premium digital collectibles in a landmark first-to-market deal with the Italian Lega Serie A.

Lucas von Cranach, Founder and Chief Executive Officer and Founder, OneFootball, said: “Today marks another huge step in our mission to make football accessible and enjoyable for fans all over the world. OneFootball Labs will catapult football into the world of Web3, and Jean-Charles is the perfect person to lead the revolution and help our team bring outstanding digital experiences to fans. His track record of creating amazing and acclaimed games makes him the perfect partner as we start to deliver beautiful digital products to benefit the ecosystem and which fans can enjoy.”

Jean-Charles Gaudechon, Chief Executive Officer, OneFootball Labs said: “OneFootball is the most exciting proposition in football media right now. It holds a unique place in the football ecosystem, sitting at the frontier of Web3.  I am passionate about creating products and experiences that have a genuine impact on people’s lives – either by entertaining them or by providing a useful service. At OneFootball Labs I will be able to do both, bringing fans closer to football and giving them a part of the game to own like never before.”

ITV to show one LaLiga match per month

Premier Sports, the home of LaLiga in the UK and Ireland, have confirmed that fans can enjoy more of Laliga than ever before this season, including Europe’s reigning champions and the world’s top footballers at elite Spanish clubs, all in a cutting-edge broadcast product.

In a first for a major European football competition, Premier Sports and its partners are offering unrivalled access to Spain’s top-flight LaLiga Santander and second-tier LaLiga SmartBank across a wide variety of linear, streaming and free-to-air platforms.

Starting this weekend, Premier Sports will offer access to over 300 live LaLiga Santander matches per season, including CA Osasuna vs. Sevilla FC, FC Barcelona vs. Rayo Vallecano, and UD Almería vs. current champions Real Madrid, via its Premier Sports 1 and Premier Sports 2 linear channels (from just £9.99 per month) available via Sky and Virgin TV, as well as the Premier Player and Amazon Prime Video Channels.

All coverage on Premier Sports will feature LaLigaTV talent, including renowned Spanish football experts such as Albert Ferrer, Guillem Balagué, Semra Hunter, Andrea Orlandi, Gary Lineker, Simon Hanley, Terry Gibson, Phil Kitromilides, Graham Hunter, Sid Lowe, Pete Jenson, and many more.

For diehard Spanish fútbol fans, LaLigaTV, the 24/7 channel showcasing All of LaLiga, All in one place, is available via streaming for all Premier Sports paid subscribers in the UK, and can also be accessed in standalone format via Premier Player and Amazon Prime Video Channels, for just £7.99 per month.

But that’s not all. This season, Premier Sports and LaLiga are offering unprecedented access to Spanish football via new free-to-air distribution:

In a three-year sublicensing arrangement, ITV will showcase one top LaLiga fixture per month, starting with the Matchday 2 fixture between Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona on Sunday 21st August at 8:00pm BST. Further details of ITV’s LaLiga coverage will be revealed by the broadcaster in due course.

Meanwhile, fans of Spain’s second division can enjoy all 11 LaLiga SmartBank matches per round via LaLiga’s own OTT streaming service, LaLigaSportsTV, FREE for all registered users and available on Android and iOS devices, as well as Samsung, LG and Android SmartTVs.

Premier Sports will also show two LaLiga SmartBank matches per round on a non-exclusive basis, starting with UD Levante vs. SD Huesca on Friday 12th August and Real Oviedo vs newly promoted FC Andorra on Monday 15th August.

New Golf tournament launched in Dakar

Energy Capital & Power (ECP) (www.EnergyCapitalPower.com), in partnership with the African Energy Chamber, is proud to announce a nine-hole golf tournament challenge to follow two days of packed programming on September 1-2 in the world-renowned CICAD venue in Dakar for MSGBC 2022.

Celebrating the formation of the Dakar Energy Club – an NGO collective for civic and corporate leaders in the energy sector promoting informal, intersectional dialogues around energy futures – the scramble format contest on September 3 will bring together 16 three-player teams at the King Fahd Hotel’s Golf Club Pointe des Almadies on Dakar’s picturesque coastline.

In addition to participating in the sport itself, delegates will have a unique opportunity to network with a suite of energy professionals, public and private sector executives and investors from the global energy landscape. As the MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power conference moves to redefine a future of energy that develops Africa, the golf tournament will help forge partnerships, get new deals on the table, and usher in a new era of collaboration and cooperation in Africa.

With numerous large-scale hydrocarbon projects currently underway across the MSGBC region – the most notable include the 15 trillion cubic feet Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas development and the 100,000 barrel per day Sangomar field project – as well over $40 billion worth of green hydrogen developments being pursued in Mauritania, opportunities for investors across the oil, gas and renewables sectors are endless. As such, following insight into project updates, licensing rounds, and multi-sector business opportunities during the two-day program at MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2022, the MSGBC Golf Day will build on conference dialogue, serving as an ideal networking opportunity for stakeholders to sign deals following insight gained at the conference.

Places are strictly limited to 50 participants, so registered delegates interested in participating in this unique networking opportunity following the bustle of the MSBGC Oil, Gas & Power Conference and Exhibition are invited to email ECP International Conference Director Sandra Jeque at sandra@energycapitalpower.com to RSVP.

Member Insights: Blockchain 101

Sandy Case is the Chief Strategy Officer of iSportConnect, he opened the Web3 Summit at the Emirates stadium last month and in this article he explains some of the basic fundamentals of Web3.

What is Blockchain?

Firstly – many people believe that blockchain is somehow the same as cryptocurrency but it is merely the technology which underpins cryptocurrency. This advanced yet young technology is already transforming a multitude of sectors including finance, insurance, health care, shipping, logistics, and energy sectors. Blockchain technology is being integrated into business processes to bring another level of trust and transparency across industries globally but only recently have blockchain companies started to bring this disruptive technology to the sports industry

In simple terms, blockchain is a digital, decentralised public ledger that records transactions. It is like a giant digital textbook, where an invisible person infinitely records every single transaction that ever takes place. When fresh transactional data is added to the network, a new “block” is created and attached to the existing “chain” of blocks, hence the name.

Use Cases

Security: This is one of the original principles on which blockchain is based as all transactions are immutable and irreversible. Attempts to hack the information can be easily spotted and, all records are encrypted and the identity of participants is anonymous to the network, meaning that anonymity of transactions is also a feature.

Speed and efficiency: Transactions can be validated and information added almost instantly, from anywhere in the world, 24/7. This of course depends on which kind of blockchain you use, but for some it’s a particularly exciting feature with the potential to disrupt a lot of industry.

Control: blockchain has the potential to empower people, whether athletes or other individuals, with greater control and privacy over their personal information and the ability to create and trade digital assets.

Sectors that blockchain technology is already disrupting

Aside from cryptocurrencies, blockchain is set to disrupt several industries as it becomes more accepted by the global economic system – remember the basic user cases of security, speed and control we discussed previously

Finance: An early adopter as there is huge potential to unlock efficiencies and eliminate intermediaries and middlemen. For example, blockchain can be used for instant, cross-border payment settlement and remittance, whilst also improving verification and security of transactions.

Governments and organisations: Are looking at blockchain to help them secure identity information and other personal credentials for citizens (allowing citizens far greater control and privacy over their personal information).

Logistics and supply chain-tracking: Blockchain allows transactions to be recorded and monitored on a digital ledger. This concept can be used to track the provenance of goods in a supply chain. In 2019, UPS invested in and launched a blockchain platform aimed at improving merchant supply chains.

Cybersecurity: A huge problem for the global economy and expected to cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025. Blockchain could alleviate this issue, by decentralising assets, data and security infrastructure, thereby putting it all out of reach of hackers. IBM has already incorporated blockchain into its business and created its own blockchain-based system described as the “leading open-source blockchain for business platform.” In other words, it allows businesses to digitise transactions through a secured ledger system.

How big is Blockchain?

In the grand scheme of thing blockchain isn’t that big compared to other areas of the technology world, however, what really matters is the direction in which it is heading.

In terms of the hard numbers, Statista estimates the market size was $6.92 billion in 2021. By 2027, the industry is estimated to be worth $162.8 billion, a near 24- fold increase.

If we compare blockchain to the Internet whose development started in the 1960s. But it wasn’t really until the late 1990s and the turn of the century that it really exploded. Today, the internet is a foundational technology. That means it’s a core part of the fabric of society providing a portal into the digital world. We have digital lives, and organisations now are all online. This is a radical shift from, say, 25 years ago. This transformation has led to the market for internet service providers being worth around $1.1 trillion in 2021.

So, for blockchain to get close to the internet there’s a long way to go and blockchain is not yet a staple part of society. It is still not widely accepted or understood by everyone. However, the potential is there to be bigger than the internet but it is a few decades behind meaning blockchain is currently now where the internet was in the early 1990’s and we can see how much has changed since then.

Some use cases in sport

Sport will be no different than other organisations in how they can adapt blockchain technology into their business model. Let’s go back to the basic user cases of security, speed, control.

Rewarding fans: Blockchain-based reward programs can create higher levels of engagement and provide real-time rewards and redemptions. Blockchain enhances loyalty rewards by creating a user identity across all digital touchpoints. Additionally it allows for the trading of digital assets that allow loyalty rewards to be used with partnered brands. 

Memorabilia: The 5bn dollar sports memorabilia industry is built on a system of trust to verify the authenticity of each item. This dependency will end as human specialists will be no match for blockchain technology and immutable information. Blockchain technology can create individual authenticity for every piece of memorabilia to ensure perfect identification.

NFT: The word NFT is confusing, and many organisations are sensibly renaming them ‘digital assets’ or ‘digital collectibles” They will come into their own when combining rewards in both the digital world and the physical world. 

A confusion for many is that 1) there are many bad examples of NFT’s that are little more than a digital jpeg and 2) there are so many different platforms where people are launching their NFTs meaning that it’s hard to trust which platform is best. 

LightCycle, Glorious, RealFevr, Sorare, OpenSea, Fayre, Rarible, Enjin, Nifty, Dibbs etc etc. Again, when we look back to the development of the internet many big names fell by the wayside as we learned and understood what works and what doesn’t – anyone remember Beenz, AltaVista, Lycos, Geocities, Boo.com, Netscape, Go

Betting: Blockchain can be used in sports betting by using smart contracts on a decentralised platform for payment of automated odds. Blockchain will create more trust and ensure fair betting. It offers increased security and reduces human error.

Athletes: Athletes can tokenise themselves and raise funds through the sale of tokens allowing fans to crowdfund players in return for pre specified financial benefits

Ticketing: Blockchain will make control and distribution of tickets easier and faster enabling immediate refunds and insurance claims. Organisers can control the re-sale in any secondary market ensuring authenticity and reducing fraud and ticket touts. Precise knowledge of each ticket holder can help with problem fans.

Broadcast: Added security will ensure illegal streaming can be virtually eradicated and only those with agreed permissions can gain access. Bandwidth requirements and costs should be reduced.

Conclusion

It’s an interesting time in blockchain and we are still trying to figure out what business models could work in this new space, and what companies will look like. It is likely we will see the continued growth of new markets for NFTs and digital collectibles, and new business and funding models that we may not have thought up yet. Remember the internet analogy and the fact that so many early business models fell by the wayside. We need to be patient although it is likely that the pace of adoption will be considerably faster than the internet adoption as society understands how technology can improve our lives. Blockchain will be another cornerstone of our daily lives specifically with security, increased speed and control are obvious advantages.

OneFootball announce streaming rights deal with Serie A

OneFootball, the world’s largest football media platform, has announced a multi-year streaming deal that will bring select live matches and highlights from the Italian Serie A to fans in the UK and Ireland. The agreement was finalised by Infront, the league’s exclusive media rights partner (except for USA and MENA).

The top football league in Italy and one of the most famous football leagues in the world, Serie A is home to some of football’s most iconic clubs and players. This will be the first time that fans in the UK and Ireland will have the opportunity to witness the best of Italian football via the OneFootball platform.

Kicking off with the upcoming 2022-23 season, fans in the UK and Ireland will now be able to enjoy one game each matchday via the OneFootball App and Website. These matches will be shown live and for free primarily on Saturdays at 19:45 UK time, with a small number of games aired during midweek rounds. Fans can also access highlights and near-live clips from all 10 matches each game week. 

The two-year deal will run until the end of the 2023-24 season and includes 38 live matches in total, as well as 380 highlight clips a season. Fans can access the live matches and highlights for free via the OneFootball App on smartphone and tablet (iOS/Android, incl. Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast) and the OneFootball Website.

The OneFootball community in the UK & Ireland can be there as the Serie A season kicks off on 13 August, as 2021 Scudetto winners and 2022 runners-up Inter Milan travel to Serie B champions Lecce for the opening matchday. The fixture will be streamed live at 19:45 BST.

The deal builds on OneFootball’s growing list of free-to-air streaming rights in the UK and Ireland, with coverage available of leagues from across Europe, Asia and South America.

OneFootball has also announced a global partnership with Serie A to bring officially-licensed digital collectables to football fans around the globe. The world-first deal will give the football community a multi-dimensional experience that takes them from real life into a new digital age. Fans can now own, collect and trade never-before-available match moments from Serie A, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana, starting for the 2022-23 season.

Nikolaus von Doetinchem, Vice President OTT Streaming & Media Rights OneFootball, said: “At OneFootball, we love Italian football, and are equally passionate about bringing fans around the world closer to the clubs and leagues they love. This deal with Serie A is the latest in our growing portfolio of distribution deals and indicative of our mission to bring our young, mobile-first user base closer to the action. We know that Italy’s Serie A is renowned and much loved by fans across the globe. We can’t wait to bring fans in the UK and Ireland the highs and lows of this iconic league week in, week out.”

Luigi De Siervo, CEO at Serie A said: “We’re proud, together with OneFootball, to be broadening the reach and accessibility of Serie A around the world. We have no doubt that our upcoming seasons will offer many thrilling games and exciting highlights, now available for British and Irish fans to enjoy.”

Amikam Kranz, Vice President Media Sales and Operations at Infront said: “We are excited to give UK fans of Italian football the possibility to watch selected matches on a free to view basis through OneFootball.  This complements our existing deal in the UK and Ireland and further extends the reach of Italian football to its global fanbase”

Member Insights: How much does a mobile app cost?

Tommy Eklund, is the Chief Technical Officer at Choicely, a world-leading app developer that has designed apps for the Helsinki Cup, Love Island Italy and many others.

Mobile apps are a crucial part of today’s business environment. Most users’ time is spent on mobile apps vs the roughly 10% used on websites. And as with any business decision, making a mobile app comes down to pros and cons, and quite often, these boil down to costs and benefits. The benefits are almost impossible to quantify and vastly vary between cases. So it makes more sense to focus on the price. If we can reduce mobile app development costs, it makes even more sense for businesses to have apps. 

Traditional app development

For this article, let’s assume a development cost of $50 per hour. This article’s actual costs for normal app development are lowballed, with upkeep and improvements not considered much.

For standard apps with features like push messages and different types of content, you would expect a minimum development time of one month (150 working hours). In many cases, this would only cover Android or iOS apps. Let’s say $15k for Android and iOS apps. At this point, you are still missing server and control panels that probably each cost you the same as a single app plus traffic costs and other running costs from servers. Server costs can be complicated to estimate and vary vastly between different implementations. But it’s safe to say that million-user app servers would cost thousands each month. We are also leaving out design work that you should invest in, as modern users expect great user experiences in every app they use as a standard.

There are many multi-platform methods to help develop suitable mobile applications, so it is possible only to create a single codebase for both iOS and Android apps with React Native, Flutter or one of the other existing multi-platform solutions. Each of these solutions has its pros and cons.

In many cases, the promises and what is delivered do not necessarily align. We have heard many horror stories of app development gone wrong and massively over budget. You won’t see the result of traditional app development until you have paid for it.

Let’s factor in maintenance and change costs, probably 30% of initial costs per year. Your app will need monitoring and updates during its lifetime. You will also want to change how the app looks and feels based on feedback. None of that is free, easy, or cheap. 

If you start adding in-app purchases & subscriptions, advertisements, videos and other excellent features, you quickly increase costs.

In summary:

Minimal app: $15k

Includes iOS and Android

Standard app: $60k

Android $15k

iOS $15k

Server $15k

Control panel $15k

Premium app: $300k+

It is a lot of money, there is no doubt about that, but they are essential for the majority of businesses in the world today. As people increasingly move their work lives to not just their laptops but on to their mobile devices as well.

Because of the cost it is important that a company chooses the best app designer to suit their needs and preferences.

Although, as with everything, cost will play a role in the decision making process.

iSportConnect release agenda for Lausanne Masterclass

The Lausanne masterclass, in partnership with ThinkSport, will take place at the Maison du Sport International (MSI) on September 20th.

It is an invitation-only event for our community of senior executives, our events provide a media/agency free opportunity to network and learn with like-minds, building the relationships that will change our industry for the better. 

David Fowler, MD Advisory at iSportConnect, said: “iSportConnect has been bringing together the community of international federations and rights owners in and around Switzerland on an annual basis since our first event back in 2017.

“We’re excited to be back in Lausanne, in partnership with ThinkSport, for our first in person event since before the pandemic. At the Lausanne Masterclass we will be exploring how sport can build new and sustainable revenue streams in the face of existential threats to traditional business models and sources of funding.”

LaLiga reinvent global digital strategy using WSC Sports

WSC Sports, today announced an agreement with LaLiga, the legendary Spanish football league, to innovate the league’s global digital strategy with automatically created and distributed real-time video highlights of all first and second division matches during the 2022/23 football season.

Utilizing advanced AI and Machine Learning technologies, the WSC Sports platform analyzes live sports broadcasts, identifies each and every event that occurs in a game, and in real-time creates and publishes customized videos. Each video comes complete with graphical and contextual elements added for branding and sponsorship opportunities. This enables LaLiga to maximize the use of their content, creating new revenue streams and a personalized fan experience on every platform for every type of fan.

This game-changing way to create real-time highlights at speed and scale will be used by LaLiga across all their digital properties (website, app, social media) for all first and second division matches during the 2022/23 season, around 800 games. Content created via the WSC Sports platform will also be distributed to LaLiga teams, so all fans across the league can enjoy the same viewing experience regardless of the team they support.

LaLiga will also be using the WSC Sports platform to unlock content from the LaLiga archive. Around 5,000 matches from the past six LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank seasons will be automatically indexed and tagged making them ready for any number of highlight combinations to be created in minutes.

Not only will LaLiga be able to fill their digital properties with AI generated video content, but they will also utilize a newly-launched WSC Sports product, Broadcast Pro, to easily create and edit matchday highlights at speed, in high resolution, for their broadcast TV channel

“We are pushing the boundaries of innovation to use LaLiga content in new and exciting ways, all with the goal of bringing LaLiga fans around the world closer to the games, plays and players they love. Using AI to speed up creation and distribution of our content, as well as our archive footage in broadcast quality, brings a level of technology expertise not seen anywhere else in sports,” said Melcior Soler, Audiovisual Director of LaLiga. 

“We’re delighted that LaLiga will be using the WSC Sports platform for the upcoming season to revolutionize their global digital strategy. It’s a privilege to work with such a global name and such a forward-thinking league that is always looking to deliver the best content experiences possible for its fans.” Itai Epstien, Director of Business Development, Head of EMEA & China at WSC Sports

LaLiga joins WSC Sports’ roster of leading football clients, including UEFA, Lega Serie A, Bundesliga, Real Madrid, the English FA and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). 

SWPL announces new three-year broadcast deal with BBC

The Scottish Women’s Premier League (“SWPL”) has today announced a new and improved three-year deal with BBC ALBA and BBC Scotland for live matches and highlights of the League.

The new agreement with both stations, which runs until the end of the 2024/25 season, is the biggest with the channels since they began covering the women’s game in Scotland,

BBC ALBA will show a minimum of 26 live SWPL games on the Scottish Gaelic language TV channel each season, which is a rise of six matches from the 2021/22 season.

The BBC Scotland deal will see the return of the increasingly popular highlights programme, but for an extended 45 minutes each week, and a guaranteed minimum of 23 shows over the season covering top-flight games. 

BBC Scotland will also have the option of streaming one game live each weekend, which will help to showcase and enhance the visibility of the top women’s league in Scotland.

BBC ALBA broadcast the first live match of the new deal on Sunday afternoon, when Celtic defeated Hibernian 9-0 at the Excelsior Stadium. BBC Scotland also broadcast highlights from all six SWPL matches on Monday evening.

Fiona McIntyre, managing director of the SWPL, said: “We’re really pleased to have agreed this new, record deal, which is great news for the League and supporters across the country.

“The ongoing partnership with both BBC ALBA and BBC Scotland will be vital in growing the game in this country in the coming years, and their long-term support of the women’s game is truly appreciated.

“This significant new agreement represents the growth and ambition we have for the League. 

“It was a really exciting opening weekend of the SWPL season, and we know that viewers will be in for a treat for the rest of the season.”

Iseabail Mactaggart, Director of Multiplatform Content at BBC ALBA partner, MG ALBA said: “We’re thrilled to be able to bring our audiences more live coverage of Scottish women’s football than ever before.

“Everyone at BBC ALBA is proud to be expanding our investment and continuing to increase the visibility of the sport in Scotland and beyond.

“We look forward to another successful season for all those involved in Scottish women’s football.”

Louise Thornton, Senior Head of Multi-Platform Commissioning, BBC Scotland, said: “We’re delighted that we’re increasing coverage of Scottish women’s football over the next three years. Adding more highlights and live streams will significantly enhance our offering to audiences at an exciting time for the game in Scotland. We’re looking forward to working in partnership with BBC ALBA to deliver more free-to-air coverage of the SWPL.”