Milwaukee Bucks sign multi-year deal with EngageRM

EngageRM, the market-leading sports and entertainment business technology services provider, has struck a five-year partnership with the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Under the agreement, the Bucks will utilize EngageRM’s dynamic, data-driven platform to optimize day-to-day operations and enhance cutting-edge opportunities to interact and engage with a famously passionate fan base.

EngageRM’s platform will support the 2021 NBA Champions across a range of areas, including premium sales and ticketing, bookings, partnerships sales and management, event bookings, guest experience and customer services management.

This partnership significantly expands EngageRM’s presence in both the U.S. and NBA.

The platform will also support the Bucks’ community programs, asset and product management, and ticketing and fundraising capabilities, with EngageRM also set to host online portals on behalf of the franchise.

Through business automation, data analytics and CRM functionality, the native application of the EngageRM solution will enhance capability and connect datapoints across the organization within a centralized, single platform that is powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365.

“We’re excited to partner with EngageRM, a proven global leader in sports technology, to optimize our operations and further engage with our passionate fans,” said Bucks Chief Technology & Strategy Officer Robert Cordova.

“The capabilities and power of the platform are significant, and we’re looking forward to seeing how we can continually improve and push the boundaries of fan engagement and operations together with EngageRM,” Cordova said.

“The Bucks took the world by storm with their NBA Championship in 2021 and have become a dominant force in the NBA. The passion of their fans is well known across the world,” said Nick Zanotto, VP, North America Development at EngageRM. 

“We are truly excited to be working with Robert and the team to support the franchise’s efforts to enhance audience engagement, drive operational improvements and build on the success that has already been achieved. 

This will be a true partnership that utilizes our dynamic platform to enhance the franchise’s operations and fan engagement.,” Zanotto Said.

 “This partnership with the Bucks is a significant milestone for EngageRM, further expanding our reach in both the U.S. and NBA,” said EngageRM CEO Ned Coten. 

“We are thrilled to be working with the Bucks for the next five years and assist them in maximizing their relationships with their key stakeholders,” Coten said.

EngageRM’s partners include major U.S. sports franchises including the NBA’s L.A. Clippers and L.A. Lakers, in addition to teams and venues across the U.S., U.K. and Australia, including the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and Co-op Live in Manchester.

Play Bowls launches ahead of Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

Yellow Panther are thrilled to announce the launch of our collaboration with Bowls England to design and build their innovative, digital platform which is the ‘Airbnb’ of the sport Play Bowls.

Bowls England are the National Governing Body of lawn bowls in England, the form of the sport which is played at the Commonwealth Games. Over 100,000 people play bowls regularly within 2000 clubs nationwide, and Bowls England’s dream is for everybody to have access to the joy and benefits of playing bowls. In order to promote and develop the sport, Bowls England selected Yellow Panther to develop a new Pay & Play platform.

The Play Bowls platform helps clubs to find new players, and new players to find clubs, driving participation of the sport and reaching out to new bowlers across the country. It is compatible across mobile and desktop, with an integrated payment system to help drive revenue for the network of 2000 clubs.

With an integrated accessibility feature to help everyone explore the website, Play Bowls is enriching the lives of participants, connecting communities, and facilitating fun. Split into two key areas, one for clubs and one for users, each is built for a seamless, transparent user experience.

The user area, inspired by the world’s best booking system, allows users to search by location, date & time, and number of bowlers. They can then view local clubs, their facilities, the cost per hour, and book and pay for games. In the profile area, players can view and manage their bookings, access their wallet, and add payment details.

The club area includes space to create an eye-catching and informative profile, a customisable availability calendar to maximise spare green capacity, customer profiles, price setting and bookings management. Club listings also include personalised facilities and accessibility information, so players can find the right club for them.

The data warehouse accessible by club administrators tracks performance, sales pipelines, average order values and customer demographic. As well as the intelligent CMS systems built for clubs and users, we built a third and final CMS system for Bowls England’s oversight of Play Bowls. Here, they can manage the content, look and feel of the website, supervise club and user profiles, and view key analytics of the platform.

For a final, Yellow Panther flourish, we produced an animated logo to showcase Play Bowls in all its glory.

The launch of Play Bowls intentionally coincides with the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England in July/August 2022. This is a critical moment to demonstrate the sport’s relevance and to drive increased participation. We are thrilled to have been a part of this important work to bring bowls to a wider audience.

Rob Short (Head of Marketing at Bowls England) “Play Bowls is an important step for the sport in this country, as we need to ensure we are as accessible to new players as possible. Luckily Stu, Gunjan and the Yellow Panther team instantly understood our challenge and at every step of the way they listened and came up with innovative solutions. The platform they have delivered is truly epic and will help grow participation in this country in one of our oldest sports.”

Manchester City launch direct-to-consumer Recast channel

Manchester City has today announced the official launch of its Recast Channel, as part of its continued direct-to-fans content offering for followers around the globe.

As part of the new agreement, City’s pre-season US Tour fixture against Bayern Munich on Saturday was made available for fans on the channel. Manchester City’s new documentary series, ‘Together: Champions Again!’ – will also be co-premiered across the club’s Recast Channel and City+ platform when released at 6pm this evening. 

The next fixture available on the Recast channel for Cityzens to enjoy will be the club’s charity friendly fixture against Barcelona on Wednesday 24th August.

Through this affordable on-demand platform the club is able to offer fans an alternative option for watching content, with Recast complementing the existing City+ subscription service. 

The fixtures are among the upcoming content highlights on the Man City Recast Channel which has been fully launched following a successful trial of the streaming platform last season. 

The platform will also provide great access to Gareth’s Taylor’s Manchester City Women’s side – as well as the chance to keep tabs on the club’s emerging talent with U18 and U23 content shown on the channel each season.

Other highlights on the platform will also include behind-the-scenes action including training ground clips, player and legend interviews, in addition to the full back catalogue of City+ documentaries, match action from across the years, Best of Series and Man City Esports content.

Gavin Johnson, Media Director at City Football Group, said: “The launch of the Man City Recast Channel is another exciting development in the club’s ongoing digital and content offering for our millions of fans around the globe. Complementing our existing City+ offering, the new Recast Channelwill allow fans the flexibility and choice to watch and engage with content as and when they please. 

“We were delighted to be able to show one of our preseason tour fixtures against Bayern Munich in Green Bay live on the platform and look forward to showing our new documentary series ‘Together: Champions Again!’ and the club’s friendly against Barcelona next month. We hope fans around the world access and enjoy, with plenty more content available over the coming months.”

Andy Meikle, Founder and CEO of Recast, said: “Man City has grasped this opportunity to fully unlock their digital revenue potential, a forward-thinking decision that will deliver for the club and the fans. As one of the biggest clubs in football, this is a huge endorsement for the platform. The club’s Recast Channel will complement City’s existing subscription OTT platform giving fans greater choice and control as to how they watch content, either by monthly subscription on City+ or by paying-per-view on Recast.”    

Warner Bros. Discovery platforms to show FIM Speedway of Nations Title

National pride is on the line as the best riders in the world put their personal ambitions on hold for one week only as they battle it out for the annual FIM Speedway of Nations title.

Starting on Wednesday from the Vojens Speedway Centre in Denmark, 15 countries will go toe-to-toe as they look to claim the ultimate prize in Speedway team competition, the first FIM Speedway of Nations of the new era under global promoter Discovery Sports Events.

Great Britain will be looking to defend the title they memorably won at Belle Vue last October but a star-studded Polish team – led by superstar Bartosz Zmarzlik – will have designs on claiming their first Speedway of Nations championship after finishing second for the past three years.

Six-time Speedway World Champion Tony Rickardsson will be on-site to offer his expertise and analysis throughout the four days of red-hot competition in Denmark’s south. He will be joined by Abi Stephens and Scott Nicholls who will report live from the track and interview the riders making the headlines.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports platforms in Europe, discovery+* and Eurosport App, will show all 22 heats from Semi-Final 1 (19:00-21:45 CEST on Wednesday 27 July) and Semi-Final 2 (19:00-21:45 CEST on Thursday 28 July) with the top three countries from each – plus host country Denmark – qualifying for Saturday’s (19:00-21:45 CEST on 30 July) final. The final will again be live on discovery+* and Eurosport App across Europe as well as on Eurosport’s linear channel in the UK and Ireland and Warner Bros. Discovery’s free-to-air channel on Denmark 6’eren. 

discovery+* and Eurosport App will also broadcast the SON2 competition (under 21) competition on Friday 29 July (19:00-21:45 CEST).

Speedway fans will be able to re-live the best of the action from Vojens when a 45-minute highlights show is available to watch on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms across Europe (via discovery+, Eurosport App, Eurosport UK, 6’eren in Denmark), Asia-Pacific region (via Eurosport) and Middle-East and North Africa region (via Eurosport) on Tuesday 3 August.

Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, said: “Our live motorsport content offering is one of the largest and most diverse anywhere and we have a commitment to bringing the biggest stories from the sport to the widest possible audience. This approach is epitomised by our coverage of the eagerly anticipated Speedway of Nations and we can’t wait for the action to begin this week.

“Our unique blend of on-site expertise and on-screen innovations, broad coverage on Eurosport and discovery+ in addition to free-to-air access for Danish fans, and enhanced storytelling and reporting on Eurosport.com will come together to create the ultimate fan-first Speedway experience providing more ways for fans to engage with the competition than ever before.”

FIM Speedway of Nations Semi-Final 1 Line-Up, Wednesday 27 July: Germany, Poland, USA, Latvia, Finland, Australia, Ukraine
FIM Speedway of Nations Semi-Final 2 Line-Up, Thursday 28 July: Czech Republic, Great Britain, France, Sweden, Italy, Norway, Slovenia
FIM Speedway of Nations Final, Saturday 30 July: Top three countries from each semi-final plus host country Denmark

RLWC2021 and NuArca Labs launch digital collectible auction

Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) and NuArca Labs have today revealed the details of the first ever auction of a RLWC2021 digital collectable, which marks the first of four auctions in which fans can bid for a one-of-a-kind piece of world cup history.

The first digital collectable to go on auction is entitled ‘A Moment for Heroes!’ and depicts the winning try scored by Shaun Johnson to beat England, putting New Zealand into the finals after an epic match at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.

The bidding will start at £54 and open at 20:00 BST on 27 July, via RLWC2021. When the auction opens, fans will be able to track the progress and increase their bid to ensure they get hold of this exclusive digital collectable.

Mick Hogan, Revenue Director for RLWC2021 said: “Reaching new audiences through the digital collectables market is just one of the ways the Rugby League World Cup is bringing fans closer to the sport as we look to make sure this is the biggest, best and most inclusive tournament ever.

“For interested fans, the there is also a channel on Discord which allows people to join in with the conversation around our digital collectables and connect with other rugby league fans.”

The auction follows a trailblazing collaboration between RLWC2021 and NuArca labs which began in September 2021 and to date has seen three collections launched, including two releases of The Power of Together, which is a celebration of the RLWC2021, and The Vault, which is a tribute to the history of the tournament.

Fans can look forward to more auctions for exclusive digital collectables during the countdown to the tournament which begins on 15 October 2022 at St James’ Park in Newcastle.

The future of women’s sports will be measured on its own powerful merits

Thayer Lavielle, is the Executive Vice President of The Collective at Wasserman, she shares her view on the Women’s Euros and the future of Women’s sport in general.

As we celebrate some of the most exciting football taking place, anywhere in the world, right now – the Women’s Euro 2022 championships – it’s often the default to compare awareness of the women’s game with the men’s. The general conclusion that it’s kicked off with “a distinct lack of buzz” is an unfair comparison, and one that is masking more optimistic signs of progress.

The danger in continuously comparing women’s sports to men’s is that it hinders growth opportunities by painting a narrative that is dismissive and factually incorrect.

Let’s make one thing clear: there are huge challenges facing women’s football, and women’s sport in general. From pay parity and media representation, to equitable grassroots access to facilities and better governance of coaching. The list goes on.

There’s so much to fight for, to lobby for, and inequality to dismantle and bring into the spotlight. Much of these conversations will naturally be anchored around a comparison: pay parity (compared to men), access to facilities (compared to boys), media representation (versus male counterparts).

While comparison is a natural ingredient in the conversation around equality, because there must be some benchmark or reference point to be equal to, it is unhelpful and – in this case – setting women’s sports back.

Over the past several years, women’s football has seen increased metrics across the board – in attendance, viewership, sponsorships, fan engagements and even merchandise sales. We know from a study published by The Collective Think Tank and St. Gallen University that 88% of fans would watch more women’s football if it was on television.

We are seeing the positive effects of that in this year’s Women’s Euros. When looking at the success of women’s sports and women’s football, there are several key areas to benchmark and not against men’s football.

EXHIBIT A: REACH

It is clear that fans are interested in watching women’s football, both on broadcast and in person. With 250 million people expected to be reached via broadcast, as well as 96,000 international visitors from 95 territories set to visit the host cities, women’s football will help to generate £54 million in economic impact. England’s last match garnered 5 million viewers in the UK, and even the games featuring Spain on Friday and holders the Netherlands on Saturday both surpassed new records for group-stage fixtures not involving the host team.

With such an increase in viewership and engagement, brand leaders should feel confident in pushing broadcasters through their advertising commitments to show more women’s football.

EXHIBIT B: ATTENDANCE

Ticket sales are the indicator of how a community is built and women’s football is clearly creating a name for itself as fans pack into a stadium to celebrate their teams and favourite players. This Women’s Euros has already broken live attendance records, with 69,000 fans crammed into Old Trafford to see England beat Austria in the tournament opener. Added to this, all indicators suggest the event is on track to more than double the 240,000 attendees that tipped up to The Netherlands in 2017.

The question becomes, how are brands showing up for fans of women’s football the way the fans are showing up for the sport?

EXHIBIT C: COMMERCIAL IMPACT

Like in men’s sport, sponsorship helps to fund better programs – it pays for better facilities, services, coaching, operations etc. I would argue that women’s football is a white space for commercial partners to reach a diverse and affluent fan base. The opportunity for a brand to grow, have positive attribution and return in affiliation with women’s football is vast.

According to City AM, supporters are forecast to spend £175m, with more than £38m on hospitality. And with innovative and forward thinking partners like Lego, LinkedIn, Pandora, Starling Bank and Gillette Venus investing in the tournament, the impact of it will be seen and felt in more spaces, ad units and social feeds than ever before.

Albert Einstein said, “comparison is the thief of joy.” We need to be careful how we anchor our comparisons as it relates to women’s sport. With decades, if not centuries, of a head start, men’s sports of course will lead women’s in nearly every category. By consistently using men’s sport as a reference marker, we not only sell women short but miss the bigger picture of the excitement, fanaticism, consumer spend and engagement that is rampant in women’s football today.

Women’s sport deserves to be measured by its own yardstick.

Fulham announce record sponsorship with W88

Fulham Football Club can confirm a record sponsorship with global betting firm W88 as Front of Shirt and Main Team Partner for the 22/23 Premier League season. The shirt featuring the W88 logo will be worn by both the Fulham FC Women’s and Men’s First Teams.

The new season kit will be unveiled on Friday 29th July, before being worn on Sunday by the Men’s First Team for their final pre-season friendly against Villarreal at Craven Cottage. Fulham FC will launch their Premier League campaign against Liverpool six days later.

Presence on the shirt will allow the W88 brand to benefit from the global exposure of the Premier League, broadcast to a worldwide audience of over 3 billion people. W88 will also receive visibility across Craven Cottage on matchdays and via the Club’s digital channels. 

W88 is an established brand which has appeared on the front of shirts of Premier League sides and is continuing to grow in the gaming industry, with a particularly strong presence in Asia. The brand offers a selection of sports betting, live dealer casino, poker, slots and lottery games.

Throughout the partnership, W88 will leverage the global visibility of Fulham FC via the kit branding, LED and digital & social content generation opportunities to spread awareness of the W88 brand. 

Hilly Ehrlich, W88 Business Development Manager, commented: “We are both proud and excited to be partnering with London’s oldest professional football club Fulham FC, as they return to the top-flight of English football. We are also looking forward to engaging with their passionate global fanbase during the season ahead and delivering innovative content with the Club.”

With a global footprint, W88 is a brand which represents integrity, trust and excellence and we will be actively promoting responsible gaming”

Fulham FC Sales Director, Jon Don-Carolis, added: “We’re pleased to welcome W88 on board as Main Team Partner this season in a record sponsorship deal for the Club. The deal provides significant revenue to assist with our commercial objectives enabling us to compete in a challenging and exciting Premier League campaign.”

RMG partner with EngageCraft to launch new fan engagement products ahead of Qatar Goodwood Festival

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has partnered with EngageCraft to launch a new digital fan engagement campaign using the EngageCraft Touch platform.

The group, which owns Racing TV and handles the combined media rights of 62 British and Irish racecourses, commissioned EngageCraft following a competitive pitch to develop a new suite of digital engagement tools.

Under the year-long agreement, EngageCraft will work with RMG to deliver a broad portfolio of gamification widgets, which can be adapted and optimised cost-effectively via the self-serve EngageCraft Touch platform at race meetings and for multiple racing partners throughout the year.

The first product – a “Pick 5” game – will be launched this week on racingtv.com during the Qatar Goodwood Festival, in partnership with Paddy Power.

The full portfolio, which includes predictors, video votes, quizzes and polls, will integrate automated data feeds including race schedules, jockeys, trainers, form, silks, betting odds, and betslip ‘handoffs’ to bookmakers.

The products are designed to engage and grow racing audiences, while also delivering first-party data capture and insight into fans. RMG will seek to use Touch to drive prospects for Racing TV as well as providing additional commercial inventory for partner activation.

Touch was launched by EngageCraft in 2021 as a first-of-its-kind self-serve platform designed to create engaging content at scale and speed via automated data feeds and templates.

It builds on the company’s reputation as a provider of next-generation digital fan engagement products to numerous top-tier global rightsholder, media and betting clients.

Clive Cottrell, RMG Marketing Director, said: “We’re delighted to be working with EngageCraft to deliver a new, fun and innovative range of engagement products for racing fans. Using Touch, we’ve been able to move this project from commission to live in just a few weeks. We believe the tools will help us grow and know our racing audiences better, while also delivering the first-party data and new digital commercial inventory which is becoming ever more important to our business.”

EngageCraft Director, Damon Russell said: “It’s a huge honour to welcome such a significant and ambitious media owner as RMG to our EngageCraft Touch platform. We look forward to working with the group and its partners to drive audience growth, data, insight and revenues across the race calendar; and to demonstrating the efficiency, speed and flexibility of the EngageCraft Touch platform.”

AC Milan partner with Sorare to be part of a global NFT fantasy game

AC Milan and Sorare are delighted to announce today an exclusive multi-year partnership that sees the player-owned fantasy sports game leveraging non-fungible tokens become the Club’s Official NFT Fantasy Football Game Partner, joining the Rossoneri’s roster of Premium Partners. 

With this new deal, AC Milan officially enters Sorare’s NFT-based fantasy football game, in which users can collect, trade and play with officially licensed digital cards as part of an immersive worldwide gaming experience. Starting from the 2022-23 season, the over 2 million registered users will be able to collect, trade and play with digital cards from AC Milan, strengthening even further the connection between the international Rossoneri fans and the Club they love in the digital world. 

The partnership with Sorare, a leader in the fast-growing football NFT space, offers AC Milan an important new digital fan engagement tool, which gives fans and gamers globally the platform to celebrate, share and own their football passion. It also brings a new revenue stream created through the establishment of a new game licensing category: non-fungible token licensing.

The new partnership is a significant development for AC Milan in its wider Web 3.0 strategy. The Club is moving further into the NFT world by working with experts to create unique digital experiences for its fans, which aim to give them more access, more ownership and bring them even closer to their beloved Club.

Casper Stylsvig, Chief Revenue Officer of AC Milan, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Sorare into our exclusive family of Premium Partners. Today marks the beginning of a new journey with an exciting and young brand that is at the forefront of the NFT revolution and that has been able to merge digital collectibles and fantasy sports. As an innovative Club, this is a sector that we are exploring with a clear strategy in mind, with the goal to offer our over 500 million fans across the globe with exciting additional ways to engage with their Club. That is why we are pleased to partner with Sorare and introduce their digital collectibles to our fanbase.”

Michael Meltzer, Head of Business Development of Sorare added: “We’re building a gaming experience fueled by passion where fans can connect with football and a global community. On Sorare, they can truly own the game. We’re proud to partner with the legendary AC Milan to help them connect with fans globally through the future of football collectibles.” 

Sorare combines digital collectibles with fantasy sports to bring fans closer to the game they love. Since it was founded in 2018, the company has experienced incredible demand and hypergrowth, reaching more than 2 million users around the world with 260 partnering sports organisations. 

Ear to the Ground announces US office launch with two senior hires

Ear to the Ground, the sports, esports and gaming creative agency has opened in LA and kicked off with two senior hires.

The creative agency’s US offices will service current global and US-based clients such as PlayStation, New Balance and Coca-Cola. The team will also seek to grow the client base with new state-side clients using the agency’s unique Fan Intelligence® model that taps into the future of fandom and works with brands to lead culture. 

Olu Green has been appointed Sport, Culture and Talent Director North America, and Jessica Domain is Senior Influencer Marketing Manager North America. Both Jess and Olu will be working across the agency’s major US based clients and will be collaborating closely with Ear to the Ground’s UK offices. The move comes as part of a major global business strategy from the creative agency, which holds ambitious plans to grow its US business to become 25% of its European business by 2023.

Olu is a talented marketeer with a wealth of experience across US sports, entertainment, and gaming. Olu has both client and brand-side experience including Beats by Dre, and Call of Duty. Jessica is a prolific gamer who started her career promoting a League of Legends forum and has managed high profile clients such as Tencent. 

With eyes firmly on the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 and 2028 Olympics, Ear to the Ground is using its experience in brand strategy and activation for major brands across large-scale sport events (both sponsors and none), to pick up further substantial work in North America.

Richard Adelsberg, Chief Executive Officer at Ear to the Ground, commented: “Launching a US base has been a long-term plan of ours. With at least three major North American clients being serviced from the UK we believe the time is right to establish a permanent US footprint.

“Looking ahead, the FIFA Men’s World Cup 2026 and 2028 Olympics are big opportunities for us but I’m equally excited about the esports potential in such a vast mature market. Fan Intelligence® specialises in bringing fans to the heart of our clients’ challenges and this will only continue as we look find our next major LA based hire. We’re looking for a culturally aware strategic Creative Director who loves the idea of collaborating with our network of 11,000 fans around the world. We’re confident our experience, Fan Intelligence® and our talented new hires will ensure we will be seen as one of the North America’s leading sports, esports and gaming agencies.”