British Basketball League confirms removal of the Team Payments Cap

The lifting of the restrictions reflect the monumental growth and momentum the league has built in the previous 12 months, following on from the landmark £7m deal with Miami based alternate investment firm 777 partners. This has led to increased attendances across all teams competing in the BBL Championship, as well as the showpiece events across all competitions. 

This exciting decision, which was overwhelmingly backed by the league’s clubs, is the next step to the British Basketball League achieving its goal of becoming a top level European league, with its clubs regularly competing in top level competition. 

The league are delighted to see both the Leicester Riders and London Lions competing in European competition this season. Ensuring the league’s clubs are competing in Europe on a regular basis provides significant benefits to all of our clubs, as well as playing an instrumental part in the continued accelerated growth of the league off the court. By raising the profile of the league, it allows the BBL to look to attract the very best talent from across the continent, including top GB players to the league. This in turn improves the reputation of the sport from an on court perspective, as well as a commercial perspective which is key to taking the league to the next level on its exciting journey. 

Homegrown and British talent is fundamental to the league’s growth and removing the Teams Payment Cap will increase opportunities for homegrown talent to make their mark in the BBL as opposed to moving further afield. This decision also highlights the league’s commitment to providing the most entertaining product for its most important stakeholders, the fans. 

British Basketball League, Chairman, Sir Rodney Walker, said: “The league is pleased to be able to make this important change and we believe it highlights the continued growth of the BBL both domestically and on the European stage. We want to be able to continue to attract some of the most skilled and entertaining players to our league and we feel this is a significant step for the continued momentum we have built in the last twelve months.

“It is essential the league continues to grow and put on the best possible spectacle for the fans who come out each week. Finally we believe that if the BBL can nurture the very best British talent we can continue to achieve great success on and off the court in the years ahead.”

 Fans can keep up to date with the latest news from across the BBL via bbl.org.uk and the league’s various social media channels. 

Member Insights: Sports Tech is getting personal

In this Digital Cafe, David Granger takes a look at where tech and sport are heading over the next few months as fans get more and more say in how they spectate which is good for them and for business.

Not so very long ago personalisation meant you could choose your season ticket seat for home games. Times and technology have moved on and much of the innovation in sport gives fans an ability to make the experience, be it live or on screen, their own. 

Proof? Many of the entries – and winners – of the 2022 Sports Technology Awards focused on personalisation of the fan experience – either using.

From the entries to those awards are some of the tech and strategies we’ll be seeing used more and more of in the coming months. 

Using an app to boost interaction

The proliferation of sport online has meant a proliferation of potential losses for clubs and federations. Illegal streaming, illegal clipping of content, re-posting of images… is a loss of both revenue and quality control for rights-holders. 

One way to combat this is to create your own social channel, which is what the Bleachr app does. By owning the means of publishing, you are able to stop some of the loss of data, engagement, dollars, and fans to social media. 

The app builds engagement for spectators and clubs allowing the latter to build fandom, monetize that audience, integrate sponsors, and capture data through gamification.

The app becomes a federation or team’s own social media channel to engage their fanbase remotely, generate revenues, and capture data volunteered by fans. The beauty is it can be used by any content creator with a mobile device, to generate revenue as they build fan interaction.

Bleachr integrates the appeal of live sport with interaction. Its latest iteration introduces elements such as betting, NFTs and gamification so the appeal gets deeper as well as broader for both fans and federations.

Apparently, your average Bundesliga fan has three or four favourite teams (four times the possible heartache, four times the potential elation). This stat is one of the drivers behind their interactive feed. You can choose which matches being played simultaneously you follow on their new app. 

You can see highlights whenever they want, get notifications, check live stats and line-ups – all without leaving the main screen. The interaction also gets personalised with localised graphics in various languages, multi-audio support, voting tools, editorial such as pre-match studios and commercial ads/banners. 

The app is device agnostic, so available to anyone and it takes personalisation in both spectating and interaction to another level. For all of the four games and teams you might be supporting at one time.

Makes apps work harder

As cricket formats evolve, The Hundred has worked with sports marketing and fan experience specialists InCrowd, utilising technology to put a new spin on things for existing fans and attract new ones. What sets it apart is it provides game information and assists spectators with the live experience by purchasing tickets via their app.

The aim was to engage new fans as well as retain existing cricket fans and does it through, once again, personalisation, gamification and activation. What this means is there are polls to vote in, there’s some neat AR interaction, full results as well as purchasing and sharing tickets via the app. 

And what this also does will provide the ECB (English Cricket Board) with some valuable data on the app users and their audiences.

The combination of information, entertainment, ticketing and Covid declarations mean The Hundred app is a superior offering. Add in the promotion of the women’s and girls’ game and the thought which has gone into the target audience needs and the requirement to launch a new tournament make this a valuable tool to fans, federation and the finance department.

Using artificial intelligence to create instant replays

WSC Sports’ AI tech is clever stuff. In real-time during live games or matches it can identify moments and events and publish them as short-format video.

It means rights-holders and federations can extract maximum content from an event, create potential new revenue streams and give a personalised experience for fans on every platform. In collaboration with Google, WSC has automated content creation to cut, crop and add graphics to highlights, for rights-holders to use across their various digital platforms.

It’s already used by ESPN, DAZN, YouTube as well as the NBA, NASCAR and MLS to capture and publish live clips in real time.

Which of these were winners? Check out The Sports Technology Awards website for details on the 2022 contenders and winners and how you can get involved next year

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports sees record audience growth in Europe

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBDS) has announced a record first half of the year. They have had double-digit audience and engagement growth on all its channels and platforms so far in 2022.

In marked contrast to recent industry trends and expectations, WBDS is witnessing increases on both its linear television channels and digital platforms. 

Alongside an enhanced discovery+ user experience and refreshed look for its Eurosport channels, the growth in audience and engagement has been driven by a blockbuster line-up of live sport across the first half of the year. This includes Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the year’s first two tennis Grand Slams, the road cycling season featuring the first Grand Tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia, and a range of new rights for 2022. 

In Europe and international markets*, linear television audiences have increased 10% year-on-year (vs H1 2021) across Eurosport and Warner Bros. Discovery’s free-to-air networks in Europe that present live sport. This growth is particularly notable when set against a 11% decline in total television consumption across the industry so far this year. Television audiences on Eurosport channels and sport on free-to-air are up in all major markets including France (+23%), Italy (+19%), Poland (+18%), Spain (+46%) and the U.K. (+12%). Sports coverage on the channels, including Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, are also attracting more of the available viewers with an average 12% rise in audience share.

discovery+ has led the way in more people streaming live sport and on-demand shoulder content. Unique streaming viewers have increased almost a quarter (+24% vs 2021) across all services, including the Eurosport App, during the first half of the year, while almost half as many more video views (+49%) were added versus the same period in 2021. Sport on discovery+ alone has seen a significant uplift (+50%) compared to the first half of last year, as video views more than doubled (+149%) and streaming minutes more than tripled (+213%). 

Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “The significant growth in audience and engagement we’ve seen this year is a testament to our strategy of making content available in whatever way viewers choose to watch. Throughout Europe we are unique in how we are able to engage audiences across our free-to-air, pay TV and streaming platforms – serving all audience segments, from diehard to more casual fans and ‘big eventers’. In this way, we’ve continued to grow our television audiences whilst also seeing a rapid rise in people streaming live sport on discovery+ and our digital services.”

Eurosport’s websites featuring the latest news, results and video content have also seen significant increases in audience numbers so far this year. Eurosport.com and its local websites across Europe have seen a 30% rise in unique monthly visitors, reaching more than 67 million earlier this year**. More people are consuming more content with free video views nearly doubling (+96%) and substantially more minutes being watched (+82%). This was supported across discovery+ Sport and Eurosport social accounts which have seen a significant increase in reach (+100%) and more than doubled the number of user interactions (+151%) and video views (+142%). 

The impressive gains over the first half of 2022 have been delivered across a range of events and milestones, including strong Australian Open audiences to start the year, record Roland-Garros tournament and Giro d’Italia finale seeing Eurosport’s biggest week for seven years, and a record Olympic Winter Games with discovery+ growth leading the way.

In addition, new rights launching in 2022 have seen new viewers attracted to discovery+ and Eurosport. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has been particularly popular with UFC and Cage Warriors both engaging new fans for the company’s channels and platforms in Netherlands and Spain. Building on Discovery Sports Events’ role as the global promoter for the sport, the addition of Speedway GP to discovery+ and Eurosport throughout Eurosport has seen a significant jump in viewers streaming the sport. 

FIFAe Finals groups are confirmed

With the pinnacle event of the FIFAe season edges just one week away, the groups for the FIFAe Finals 2022 have been confirmed. Taking place at the Bella Arena in Copenhagen from 14 to 30 July 2022, the world’s best EA SPORTS™ FIFA 22 players, nations and clubs will compete for ultimate glory and one of three coveted trophies.

32 individual players will compete in the FIFAe World Cup 2022, 24 clubs in the FIFAe Club World Cup 2022, and 24 nations in the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022. All participants will compete for a total prize pool of USD 1.2 million in addition to the prize money earned during the qualification.

The group assets for the respective competitions are available here.

To be crowned the individual world champion, players must challenge the world’s elite in a round-robin group stage with only the best four per group advancing. This is then followed by a knockout stage with only one player earning ultimate fame by becoming the FIFAe World Champion 2022. More information about the event is available here.

Amongst the qualified players is former finalist Stefano ‘PINNA97′ Pinna, Dutch wonderkid Levi de Weerd, local heroes ONEWAYCRAZYY, KLENKE, TEAMHAJJ01and FIFAe royalty such as TEKKZ and NICOLAS99FC. View all the qualified players on FIFA.GG here.

The FIFAe Finals will come to a spectacular end with the pinnacle event for national teams. 23 nations will join the hosting nation Denmark to compete in a 2v2 format for the pride of their country. The top four of each group will advance to the knockout stage and move one step closer to wave their flag on the biggest stage on 30 July. The final day provides fans the possibility to join the event for the first time. Tickets are available here.

Alongside hosting nation Denmark, countries from across the globe will participate such as top-ranked Singapore, reigning FIFAe Nations Champions France, Brazil, first-time participants India and many more. All qualified nations are outlined here.

All tournament updates and livestreams will be available on FIFA.GG. The event can be watched on twitch.tv/FIFAe. Media assets are available here.

Remote and on-site opportunities will be offered to media. To apply for a media accreditation or to join the virtual mixed zone remotely, please contact media@FIFAeFinals.com.

Member Insight: Is the Covid subscription boom over?

Roy Barak is the CEO of Vindicia, a digital subscription retention company. Here he offers his insight into one of the biggest issues facing the market at the moment.

Apple, Tesla, and Alaska Airlines walk into a bar, and try to launch a subscription model…

No, that’s not the start of a joke. It’s actually happening.

Over the past decade, the subscription industry has exploded. Revenue from subscription-based businesses grew by an astonishing 437%. During the COVID pandemic, this trend accelerated as companies searched for ways to connect customers to their products and services. From cars to baby clothing and travel, the subscription model seeped into almost every vertical as consumers turned to the frictionless, comfortable, and convenient experience that subscriptions offer.

Now the pandemic looks to be waning (fingers crossed!), stores have reopened, flights have resumed, and people are adapting once again. But the consumer is not the same person that they were in 2019. Sure, we’ve just been through a subscription boom, but is it over?

Subscription shockwaves

When Netflix released its Q1 earnings for 2022, the world was shocked. The streaming giant lost 200,000 subscribers, its first loss in a decade. Yes, we are now entering an era of “subscription fatigue.” Consumers are overwhelmed and oversubscribed, and many are watching their wallets and dropping subscriptions that they bought during the pandemic boom. 

On the other hand, more companies than ever are getting into subscriptions or expanding them, even big brands, like Tesla, Alaska Airlines and Apple Business Essentials. Although subscription fatigue is real, these brands and many more understand that the subscription model is here to stay.

The consumer has changed forever

For consumers, the experience of the pandemic opened up a world of possibilities they had never considered before. Out of sheer necessity, people were buying just about everything online, delivered digitally or to their front doors. No doubt, consumers have changed. They now expect satisfying experiences that don’t just offer value for money, but help them feel safe, appreciated, and heard. They want the products and services they love, at their fingertips whenever they need them. And they don’t want to whip out their credit cards every week or month. They want the transaction to be seamless, smooth, and trustworthy. In short, they don’t want to think about their subscriptions; they just want to enjoy them. 

Consumers have discovered the magic of subscriptions, and there is no turning back. Rather, it’s about becoming smarter with your subscription offerings.

Smarter comes from data

The subscription model is here to stay. But it’s becoming more competitive, and that means businesses have to get smarter. How? By being data driven.

At Vindicia, we know the power of subscription data because we’ve been collecting and analyzing it for nearly two decades. Together with our end-to-end subscription tech platform, our subscription intelligence can help you build customized user journeys and personalized bundles that delight your users. And our Retain solutionworks to prevent churn and recover lost revenue, making sure you realize every potential subscription dollar from your customer base. 

The boom’s not over

With the recent news from Netflix and the demise of CNN+, it’s clear that the pandemic is over and the sands are shifting for the subscription industry again. But the subscription boom is certainly not over because consumers are different now. To keep up with the increased competition, you’ve got to be better, smarter, and more sophisticated than ever before. Don’t settle for less than Vindicia’s best-of-breed subscription tech stack to see you through.

IMG Arena and MLS announce new long-term partnership to power next generation of fan experiences

Major League Soccer (MLS) has partnered with IMG ARENA as its Official Data Distribution Partner after an extensive RFP process. 

The long-term, global partnership will utilize the latest technology to create a new standard for soccer data and drive the next generation of fan engagement in MLS and MLS NEXT Pro.

IMG ARENA will deliver official data, innovative content solutions, next-generation fan analytics, and marketing tools to MLS’ betting and media partners. The  agreement will see the launch of three new MLS live data feeds, designed to enhance the fan experience via a series of brand new digital, media and betting products.

IMG ARENA’s award-winning modularized Event Centers – already successfully implemented in golf and MMA – will offer an unrivalled soccer betting experience for fans by combining MLS data feeds and live streaming, and presenting live and historical event statistics, data visualizations and ultra-responsive markets via 2D and 3D interfaces.

In addition, MLS and IMG ARENA will launch a suite of new digital products enabling the league, its teams and partners to use data, graphics and insights to enhance the game and further engage the digital MLS audience on MLSsoccer.com, the MLS App and all MLS Club Sites.

Freddie Longe, President of IMG ARENA said: “We are incredibly proud and excited to have secured this agreement with MLS for an all-encompassing partnership that allows both parties to plan and work on a long-term strategy that will take us to the 2026 World Cup and beyond. 

“It is a partnership truly fit for the data age of sport and shows off the full capabilities of the IMG ARENA product and service offering. Together, we will empower the future MLS universe.”

Chris Schlosser, Major League Soccer’s SVP of Emerging Ventures said: “The extensive collaboration between MLS and IMG ARENA will utilize the latest in digital marketing technology to drive fan growth for MLS and MLS Next Pro ahead of World Cup 2026 in North America. 

“IMG ARENA is a proven global leader in an ever-evolving sports betting landscape. We look forward to working with  them to deliver the highest quality data for fans to power their MLS sports betting experiences.”

Major League Soccer is the fastest-growing soccer league in the world, more than doubling in size to 29 clubs over the last 15 years. Momentum around the League will continue to grow throughout North America on the road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted by the US, Canada, and Mexico. With players representing 82 countries, MLS has the most global player pool in all sports, and its fan base is the youngest, most diverse audience in North American sports.

Headquartered in London, IMG ARENA is a sports data and technology hub serving the Sports, Sports Betting and Sports Media eco-systems. IMG ARENA delivers live streaming and data feeds for more than 45,000 sports events annually, as well as for on-demand virtual sports products and front-end solutions including the UFC Event Centre. IMG ARENA’s clients include the ATP, UFC, European Tour, PGA Tour, EuroLeague, MLS and the FA.

Euros 2022: Will this be the tournament that catapults Women’s football

Bethany Hushon, our Head of Community, grew up playing football with boys, until her Dad set up a girls team for her to play in.

Even though it turned out she wasn’t the best player, her love of the sport never waivered and felt grateful at the limited occasions Women’s football was on the TV where she could watch her favourite player-turned pundit Karen Carney.

Now with this Euros the opportunity is higher than it has ever been for women’s sport, will it make its mark?

The Euros start today, one of the most anticipated sporting events – more for can be achieved in the name of women’s sport off the field – then what will be achieved on it.

 It still gets regularly compared to the male counterparts across all sports, and still has a long way to be seen as its own product. 

With the sheer presence of football globally and the men’s games’ popularity, Women’s football has always been fighting an uphill battle

Yet with positive growth and attendance across Europe and the changes in equal pay for national teams, the sport is gaining traction in its own right and creating a even bigger value to the sporting ecosystem

Originally meant to be taken place in 2021, it was moved due to Covid-19 and changes to the Men’s competition and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which allowed many of the women’s players to compete for their countries in the Games, without it clashing with their Euro’s.

Bethany, celebrates winning a tournament.

It has already been reported that over 500,00 tickets have been sold for the tournament, across a wide range of demographics, with UEFA reporting tickets have been purchased from 99 countries with 43 per cent of all purchases have come from female fans.

Tonight’s opener is a sell-out at Old Trafford, which will break the record of the highest attendance of a Women’s Euros match – currently standing at 41,301 during the 2013 Final agamist Germany and Norway at the Friends Arena in Stockholm. Germany ran out winners on that night, securing their eighth title i the process.

So, of course, with this growth and exposure in the sport continuously building, its commercial value is more desirable for brands to partner with, with benefits to them and rights holders to elevate the awareness of the game. 

Maggie Murphy, CEO at Lewes Football Club put together a great post via LinkedIn yesterday that its is great brands are jumping on board this trend with the Women’s Euros, but there are things to bear in mind:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6950023788411420672/

“Nice content, cool visuals, good people, a focus on the player rather than the brand. Thank you for investing into an amazing summer!”

And there have been some incredible activations leading up to the tournament. Here are some we have enjoyed:

Heineken – 12th Women

Promoting reducing gender bias in football.

Heineken has taken a well-used term in football and used it to break the gender stereotype and highlight the underlying bias in the game with the “12th Man”. Harry Redknapp definitely brings his style to this content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7bLgddDz5E

Nike x Martine Rose – Unsung Heroes of Women’s Football

Highlighting changemarkers to mainstream attention

Strong pictures with an emphasis on the individual’s achievements in women’s football. This is a great illustration and with a powerful message to look back at the history of the game and how far it still needs to go.

https://www.10magazine.com/news/martine-rose-nike-shox-womens-euros/

Sports Direct x Copa90 – Girls Don’t Like Football, We Love It!

Championing equality with football

Nike – You have never England like this. Never Settle, Never Done


These photos made the rounds on social media on Monday night, simple and impactful from England’s kit supplier.

https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=/p/Cfmgso9KpOR/

TikTok x COPA 90

Local Guides to watch the Euro’s in your hometown. A great use of the social media platform to engage with audiences in local areas to find where they can get involved in the excitement around the tournament. Excited to see the tiktoks that go viral during the Euro’s.

https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-gb/celebrating-the-biggest-ever-uefa-womens-euros-on-tiktok

ATPI Sports and Events and British Wheelchair Basketball – Delivering what really matters

British Wheelchair Basketball – being a parasport team – have a number of logistical challenges to consider when on their travels. Challenges range from accessibility requirements to ensuring the safe transportation of the specialist sports equipment that the athletes use.

The national governing body needed to guarantee that the athletes and support teams have excellent travel experiences and arrive at their destinations ready for training and competition.

Throughout this case study we discuss how ATPI Sports and Events ensured instant access to a specialised travel team, 24/7.

Who are British Wheelchair Basketball?

British Wheelchair Basketball is the National Governing Body for wheelchair basketball in the UK. Their work is far reaching, from the delivery of the Performance Programme and running the National Leagues, to engaging new participants with the sport at grassroots level across the UK.

The Challenge

The team ultimately needed to alleviate the demand on staff resource involved in travel management for their Performance Programme. With travel and competitions often taking place outside of regular business hours, British Wheelchair Basketball needed the reassurance that they had travel experts on hand 24/7 to help should it be required.

As a parasport team, the national governing body had a number of logistical challenges when travelling across the UK and abroad. These challenges ranged from accessibility, to ensuring the sound transportation of the elite sports equipment that the athletes travel with.

Athletes and support teams needed to have guaranteed excellent travel experiences and arrive at their destinations ready for training and competition.

The Solution

Since October 2019, ATPI have supported British Wheelchair Basketball’s performance teams with the logistical planning and detail required for the teams international travel, alleviating the resource requirement in-house.

Through access to a fully resourced travel team, ATPI provide a quick and exceptionally efficient service on-demand.

When the Great Britain teams travel together, this will include 24 athletes plus support staff. Alongside this, each of the team travel with elite sports chairs, wheel bags and physio equipment. This makes it logistically challenging to transport the full GB team to international competitions, however, according to Lesley Pilling, BWB Operation Director, ATPI have executed a seamless travel plan, transporting the team all over the world with both confidence and efficiency.

What does the client say?

ATPI’s service is always quick and exceptionally efficient. Over the last twelve months this has never been more important as we have required responsive support for most of our travel arrangements. Our operations and performance teams regularly work with the dedicated ATPI team, giving us complete confidence that the travel for our squads has been diligently planned.

Image credit: SA Image/British Wheelchair Basketball

Manchester United announce new shirt sleeve sponsor DXC Technology

Manchester United has today confirmed a multi-year global partnership with leading IT services company, DXC Technology, which will see the two organisations work together to enhance its digital offering to fans.

DXC will use its expertise in digital transformation to improve the way United engages with fans through its digital platforms, including manutd.com and the Manchester United App by harnessing the power of data and analytics technologies.

From the 2022/23 season, DXC will be visible on the club’s home, away and third kits, creating worldwide brand exposure for the global tech company. 

DXC will also become the Presenting Partner of Manchester United Foundation. The partnership will focus on how technology can have a positive impact on people, the environment, and society, working together to educate and inspire a new generation of STEM students, through digital workshops, programmes and in-person seminars.

Manchester United’s CEO of Alliances and Partnerships, Victoria Timpson, comments:

“We are proud to welcome DXC as our principal shirt sleeve and digital transformation partner. We are two organisations with a shared belief in the power of technology and its role in improving the way in which we operate.

“DXC’s technological expertise will help put Manchester United at the forefront of digital transformation, providing efficient ways of working and new and exciting opportunities to interact with fans. The possibilities are endless, and we are looking forward to working with DXC on our future digital offering.”

DXC Technology’s Chief Operating Officer, Chris Drumgoole, comments:

“Manchester United is a club with huge history and we are proud to be part of its exciting new era for the club.

“Whether it’s running one of the most popular and successful sports teams in the world, or transforming business for Fortune 500 organisations, Manchester United and DXC are experts in managing world-class operations. We stand shoulder to shoulder in our belief in the power of technology to win.”

Volleyball World lands partnership with Stake.com

Volleyball World have agreed a strategic partnership with one of the fastest growing online platforms – Stake.com

The deal will see Stake.com become the official betting partner of the Men’s Volleyball Nations League event in Osaka, Japan which runs from 5 to 10 July.

Finn Taylor, Volleyball World CEO, said: “This partnership is a further demonstration of the growing commercial interest in the Volleyball Nations League. We’re excited to introduce Stake.com to the hundreds of millions of fans watching around the world and provide our fans in Japan with unique ways to get involved and enjoy the action, giving them the opportunity to make a connection with volleyball.”

Dominic Rae, Sponsorships Manager, Stake.com, said: “At Stake we are always looking to connect with new audiences and this sponsorship of the Volleyball Nations League in Osaka gives us a chance to do just that. We are excited to see some thrilling action on court and be a part of a fantastic event this week.”