Southampton Football Club extend partnership with KBE drinks

Southampton Football Club is pleased to announce an extension to its multi-year partnership with KBE Drinks. The extension will see KBE Drinks continue to supply its flagship brand, Kingfisher, as the main pouring brand at the stadium, as well as other brands in their portfolio for Saints fans to enjoy on matchdays ahead of the game. Kingfisher has proven a big hit amongst fans since its introduction at the start of the 2019 season, having increased draught sales (by 18% YOY) across St Mary’s hospitality offerings and concourses.

The agreement enables Southampton FC to benefit from KBE Drink’s extensive range of global beer brands. Sagres from Portugal, Dos Equis from Mexico and New Zealand’s craft beer brand, Yeastie Boys, are all available.  This means there should be something that appeals to every Saints fan.

Since partnering in 2019, the club and KBE Drinks have worked together to enhance the matchday experience for supporters, introducing a popular fan zone and providing their iconic beers across the concourses, Gasworks Bar, and the club’s hospitality suites and boxes.

The partnership will allow both parties to continue this work with all products and brands under KBE Drinks being made available to supporters across a multi-event calendar. Following the extension, KBE Drinks will also have visibility across the club’s growing digital channels.

Announcing the partnership extension, Sarah Batters, Director of Partnerships and Marketing for Southampton Football Club, said: “KBE Drinks has proven themselves to be an excellent partner since joining us in 2019. We are excited to be continuing with them to enhance the matchday experience for our fans and visitors to St Mary’s Stadium. We look forward to what the next three seasons hold as we help bring their popular beers to Southampton.”

John Price, Head of Marketing at KBE Drinks, added, “We have recently relaunched Kingfisher in the UK with new packaging, consumer campaign and ambitions to stretch the brand beyond its home in the Indian Restaurant Channel.  Our presence at St Mary’s was one of our first steps on this journey, strategically seeding the brand in a very different environment from our traditional consumption occasion.  We are extremely proud of our partnership with Southampton FC and its fans have made us feel very welcome.  We look forward to three more exciting seasons!”.

Warner Bros. Discovery announce plans for Tour de France Femmes coverage

Women’s cycling will be covered like never before when the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, in its current guise, begins with the Grand Départ from Paris on Sunday 24 July.

WOMEN’S CYCLING GIVEN A STAGE LIKE NEVER BEFORE

World-class production will be complemented by unparalleled storytelling as Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBDS) supercharges coverage of one of the highlights on the sporting calendar with every minute made available by The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) broadcast live across its platforms – discovery+ *, Eurosport and GCN+ – in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region (except Australia), Latin America and Middle-East and North Africa regions**.

After being introduced for the first time during its cycling coverage for the Tour de France, the mixed-reality Cube studio will be the cornerstone of WBDS’ broadcast of the Tour de France Femmes – the ultimate storytelling tool giving fans access to best-in-class analysis. Orla Chennaoui will front WBDS’ coverage of the Tour de France Femmes while former professional cyclist Iris Slappendel will take over from Sir Bradley Wiggins to bring one of the great innovations in sports broadcasting to millions of fans by reporting live from the inside the peloton throughout the eight-stage race.

Respected cycling identities Laura Meseguer and Manon Lloyd will be on-site speaking to the athletes who will be making the headlines throughout while the likes of Dani Rowe (UK) and Dani Christmas (UK), Jacky Durand (France), Ilenia Lazzaro (Italy), Jip van den Bos (Netherlands) and Dori Ruano (Spain) will provide commentary analysis in their local languages.

Yesterday, Orla Chennaoui, Iris Slappendel, Laura Meseguer and Jose Been were part of a media event to preview the Tour de France Femmes to explore the attitudes towards women in professional sport.

Orla Chennaoui, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling presenter, said: “We are at a place where we will all see a genuinely exciting race. I think the stories in women’s cycling are so much more colourful and textured. There is more depth to them because a lot of women have had to live separate lives as well as on the bike, which makes you identify with the riders even as you worship their greatness.

“We’re also aware of the importance of this place in sporting history, not just cycling history, and that brings a responsibility on all of our shoulders to get this right. I am genuinely so excited to be working on this for Warner Bros. Discovery Sports – it’s going to be such a massive week of racing.”

Iris Slappendel, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling expert, said: “We all know that it’s a massive thing that the Tour de France Femmes is here. I’m looking forward to seeing very exciting racing every day, being on the back of the motorbike, being around the peloton, but also being able to really capture the atmosphere, the fans on the roadside, the weather, the road conditions, to see the riders from up close. I think it’s great that I can do that now for eight days in a row.

“As a rider, it’s nice to know your achievements are visible. It’s really important that we can watch this live and that there are experts in every country to report on the race. The riders can really show themselves and that will have an impact on their careers.”

Laura Meseguer, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports cycling reporter, said: “After covering six editions of the Tour de France and almost 20 Grand Tours, I have this feeling of being part of something huge. 

“To have the privilege of being on site and part of this historic moment in the sport, and to say that I’m proud of our sport being diverse and inclusive, to have the best athletes in these eight days of competition, I think it will be so exciting.”

Live blogs, exclusive interviews and unrivalled analysis will keep fans ahead of the pack with every key moment from the Tour de France Femmes covered on Eurosport.com meaning every angle will be covered and every story told in the lead-up to, and during, the race. 

Alongside providing live and on demand race coverage plus in-depth race analysis from a host of cycling experts via The Breakaway and exclusive weekly World of Cycling Show, GCN+ will offer fans of the Tour de France Femmes unparalleled supporting content. Throughout each race, the GCN+ App will be home to interactive trivia, quizzes, and preview content including rider analysis, stage breakdowns, predictions and reviews. GCN+ is also home to exclusive original documentaries created to bring even more colour to every cycling fan’s experience of the racing season. Key original titles include Life, Cycling, and the Circle of Death, which sees Ruth Winder and Tayler Wiles of Trek-Segafredo take on the iconic climbs of the Tour; and Trailblazers, where Jenny Graham and Emily Chappell celebrate some of the world’s cycling greats and unsung historical heroines, from Tillie Anderson to Marianne Vos.

Viaplay Group acquire Premier Sports and accelerate entry into the UK

Viaplay Group has acquired UK sports streamer and TV channel operator Premier Sports. This marks a significant acceleration of Viaplay Group’s ambitions in the UK, ahead of the launch of the Viaplay streaming service in the country this autumn.

Premier Sports’ portfolio of attractive sports rights complements the rights that Viaplay has previously secured for the UK, and its platforms are available across the UK through long-term distribution agreements with Sky, Virgin, Amazon and Netgem TV. In addition to content and distribution, the acquisition will also deliver synergies with Viaplay in sports production, while boosting Viaplay’s local brand awareness amongst viewers.

Premier Sports’ UK sports rights include La Liga, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup and Coppa Italia football; United Rugby Championship, Rugby Football League and Top 14 rugby; NASCAR motorsport; and the Elite Ice Hockey League.

The company recently secured 60 exclusive matches to be played by the Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland men’s national football teams in the UEFA European Qualifiers and UEFA Nations League from 2022, as part of a package of more than 400 international matches from across Europe. The agreement runs until 2024, when Viaplay’s recently announced partnership with UEFA in the UK comes into effect.

Premier Sports currently has a total of 222,000 paying subscribers to its pay-TV channels Premier Sports 1 and Premier Sports 2 and streaming service Premier Player. The company also operates the advertising-funded TV channel FreeSports. All Premier Sports platforms will receive Viaplay branding and will continue to be available through existing distribution partners. The content line-up available on the TV channels will, in due course, be expanded to include Viaplay’s broader series and film offering.

Anders Jensen, Viaplay Group President and CEO: “This acquisition will put Viaplay firmly on the UK map and accelerate our development in this key market. Premier Sports has a loyal and expanding subscriber base, well-established distribution agreements and production capabilities, and a great sports portfolio that complements our own. There is also a big opportunity to make Viaplay’s wider offering, including our award-winning Viaplay Originals, available to Premier Sports’ subscribers. We have secured this growing and profitable business at an attractive valuation. This is a fast and effective route to building an even stronger position for Viaplay in the UK.”

Richard Sweeney, Premier Sports CEO: “At Premier Sports, we’re proud to have created a dynamic, innovative sports streamer and broadcaster over the past 13 years. From modest beginnings, and through the hard work and dedication of our people, we have continually grown the company, and today we have an extensive portfolio of must-see live sports that entertain loyal customers across the UK. Our sale to Viaplay Group will dramatically increase the content available to new and existing subscribers. This is the start of an exciting new chapter in the development of the business, and is great news for our colleagues, customers and partners.”

Founded in 2009 and majority-owned by Setanta Sports, Premier Sports’ revenues grew by approximately 33% in 2021 to GBP 26.4 million. The company is based in Dublin and has 23 full-time employees, all of whom are expected to join Viaplay Group after the closing of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval. The transaction values Premier Sports at GBP 30 million on a cash and debt-free basis.

As a result of the acquisition, Viaplay will expand its UK offering at launch to two streaming packages: the Films & Series package focused on the ‘best of Nordic storytelling’ with Viaplay Originals and premium third-party content, and the Total package including Viaplay and Premier Sports’ combined sports line-up, alongside Viaplay’s Films & Series offering. Further details of Viaplay’s UK content, pricing and launch date will be announced in due course.

In addition to rights currently held by Premier Sports, Viaplay’s UK sports rights include:

  • UEFA national team football: 2024 to 2028
  • NHL ice hockey: 2022 to 2027
  • KSW mixed martial arts: 2022 to 2025
  • IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship: 2024 to 2028
  • Champions Hockey League: 2023/2024 to 2027/2028
  • ISU figure skating and speed skating: 2023 to 2028 (ISU World Figure Skating Championships from 2024)
  • EHF European Handball Championship, EHF Champions League and EHF European League (men and women): 2022 to 2030
  • CEV EuroVolley, CEV Champions League, CEV EuroBeachVolley and additional CEV volleyball competitions: 2022 to 2026
  • World Athletics Continental Tour Gold: 2023 to 2029
  • World Athletics Indoor Tour: 2023
  • FIS snowboard and freestyle: 2022 to 2026 (non-exclusive).

Member Insights: Wheelchair Basketball’s journey to the commonwealth games

President of the IWBF Ulf Mehrens, looks forward to the sport’s debut at the Commonwealth and it’s global growth.

Wheelchair basketball continues to be one of the most engaging and popular sports within the Paralympic Games, with over 100,000 playing the game globally, and we have seen a fantastic growth over recent years where more and more people are able to be introduced to the sport at a recreational level. The upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham will see wheelchair basketball making its Commonwealth debut – and will be the first time ever that the 3×3 wheelchair basketball format has been played on a world stage.

This will only help engage more players to play at every level. Thanks to the continued efforts in delivering events and developing new formats of the game to increase opportunities, there are ever- expanding domestic playing bases putting the sport on the map like never before and creating more access points for people to start their wheelchair basketball journey.

It is a sport that I and so many others around the world love, never failing to capture the hearts and attention of viewers and fans at the Paralympics, World Championships and now the Commonwealth Games where you see the speed, skill, and tactical battles in full force. The previous three years have seen their challenges and complexities – the pandemic meant there were no major international competitions for over a year.

Challenging times have only reiterated to us how important it is that we seize the opportunity to progress and work on making our sport even more accessible, engaging and forward-thinking. Wheelchair basketball’s Commonwealth debut is the perfect time to do exactly this, the momentum of a major competition will no doubt inspire more engagement and more innovation in the sport.

As we continue to work hard to develop and improve our sport, not only for our current players at all levels of the game, but for the many others around the world who would like opportunities to engage with wheelchair basketball, it is essential that we put the voices of our players and participants at the forefront of the game’s development.

We are putting this into action by launching a consultation process to assist in shaping a 10-year Global Strategy for the sport of wheelchair basketball – where we can get a full picture as to the views and needs of wheelchair basketball members and the sport’s wider community.

Our goal is to produce a shared vision of the sport, engaging with those who know the sport best and are passionate about introducing the game to newer audiences. Through this strategy development plan, we want to ensure that not only are we able to grow and see wheelchair basketball continue as one of the powerhouses of the Paralympic movement, but that the progress we make is always serving our community.

To achieve this, we will be taking a truly collaborative approach, working closely with 104 National Organisations of Wheelchair Basketball worldwide and the 100,000 plus who play the game globally for an intimate understanding as to the specific needs and challenges that we can seek to address to make wheelchair basketball as far-reaching, accessible, and engaging as possible.


The voices of clubs and players across the world will then directly feed into IWBF’s strategic outcomes for the global strategy directives and guidelines, and help to build a sustainable platform to grow the sport over the next 10 years.

This as an incredible opportunity to take the passion and lived experience of those involved in wheelchair basketball at every level and integrate this thinking into our every action to improve the sport.

The consultation is in the form of two short surveys – one for members of the National Organisations governing Wheelchair Basketball, and the other a short multiple-choice survey for the wheelchair basketball community.

This will ensure that everyone, at every level of the game, can input and assist in shaping the future of the game worldwide.

In partnership with British Wheelchair Basketball through funding from the UK Sport International Relations Fund, IWBF has been fortunate to be able to appoint world-renowned global management consultancy firm, Portas, to lead on the creation of this new long-term strategy for the sport.

Following the pandemic which has stagnated progress across sport more broadly, I believe now is the time to instead look forward. This approach will see us utilise the invaluable expertise of those involved in the sport, to implement proactive measures for improving the experience of wheelchair basketball for all.

I invite anyone who is passionate about the sport to join us at the start of this journey, and help us make meaningful and exciting changes that will help take wheelchair basketball to the next level.

https://bit.ly/IWBFWBCommunitySurvey.

Henrik Stenson removed as Team Europe Ryder Cup captain as he is expected of joining LIV Golf

Ryder Cup Europe today confirms that Henrik Stenson’s tenure as Captain of Team Europe for the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy from September 25 – October 1, 2023, has been brought to an end with immediate effect.

In light of decisions made by Henrik in relation to his personal circumstances, it has become clear that he will not be able to fulfil certain contractual obligations to Ryder Cup Europe that he had committed to prior to his announcement as Captain on Tuesday March 15, 2022, and it is therefore not possible for him to continue in the role of Captain.

Confirmation of the new 2023 European Ryder Cup Captain will be made in due course. Ryder Cup Europe will be making no further comment on any aspect of the process until that time. 

Member Insights: What’s going on in the streaming subscription space?

Roy Barak, CEO of Vindicia a digital subscription retention company, takes a deep dive into the streaming subscription space after the Netflix crash.

The past few months have been tough for streaming companies; notably, Netflix whose subscription number dropped by 200K, the company’s first ever recorded subscriber loss. This was followed by a sharp drop in share value and even a lawsuit from shareholders. Around the same time came the spectacular rise and fall of CNN+. You might be forgiven for thinking that we are entering a post-streaming era but hold on! Here’s my take on these recent events in the streaming subscription industry, and some of the surrounding issues:

Growth doesn’t last forever

One of the takeaways of the Netflix crash is that no matter how successful a business may be, growth is never continuous. At some point, growth will begin to slow down, and that goes for subscription services too. In fact, subscription companies tend to follow a similar trajectory – a lengthy period of hyper-growth before entering a slower growth period. This is natural and to be expected.

The subscription model still shines

Bad news makes good headlines, but the truth is often more complex. Sure, Netflix might have missed on the top line, but the company is still ahead on the bottom line, and that is a critical piece of the puzzle. The subscription model is flexible, far more so than other business models, and slowing growth does not necessarily translate to lower margins.

What’s up with Wall Street?

What happened with Netflix is the perfect example of how Wall Street needs to revisit their model valuations for subscription businesses. At the end of the day, Wall Street doesn’t yet fully understand the hybrid ecosystem, or the fluidity that is built into it. Moreover, the COVID pandemic pushed the industry five years into the future, way ahead of its time. Wall Street folks are either overreacting now, or their models were overly optimistic. Whichever it is, the whole system needs to rebalance its true footing in order to continue to grow, and that might just be what we are seeing now.

Don’t overreact

One thing Netflix should not do is overreact and deviate too much from the business strategy and brand essence. If their strategy is anti-ads, for example, they should stick to it. After all, Netflix is still the biggest streaming service, and the market-maker. Time will tell of course, as latest reports emerge that Netflix is indeed considering offering a low-cost, ad supported streaming option. Even so, as a general rule, drastic reactive moves are almost never a good idea, and it pays to remember that.

Bye-bye CNN+?

Despite the mini tsunami in the industry when news of the CNN+ debacle broke, this actually looks more like a casualty of Warner Bros-Discovery merger politics, rather than an indicator of the streaming wars. No company is immune from internal politics and the tremors that come with it. In any event, the content on CNN+ is here to stay – we’ll still see it on HBO Max and Discovery+, both of which include content from a multitude of channels. While CNN+ is dead, the content and customer demand is very much alive; it will simply exist elsewhere in the streaming space.

Is it the end of streaming subscriptions?

IMO, no, but it is the start of something new: customers who are more aware, and businesses that are more agile.

Aware customers balk at friction and demand better subscription experiences. Agile businesses leverage tools to help solve subscription pain points in a creative and revenue-generating way. 

Instead of cutting back on streaming content, look at how to cut back on passive churn. (With Vindicia, subscription companies are reducing churn dramatically and seeing revenue increase immediately.) Instead of resorting to advertising, consider how to offer personalized bundles so you can improve customer LTV and increase revenue that way. 

Before changing the product – and clipping the wings of your business – check your subscription intelligence data and analyze your subscription ecosystem. Is the payment process optimized? Is the user journey personalized? Does your product or service give value?  

It’s not the end of streaming subscriptions. It’s the beginning of a new way of doing business. That’s the big message from the recent Netflix and CNN+ stories.

PA betting services expands partnership with Bet365

PA Betting Services (PABS), a leading data and content business, has extended its partnership with bet365. The additional international football data and content will help bring more betting opportunities to its ever-growing customer base.

For over 20 years, PA Betting Services has powered bet365’s platform with horseracing, football, and sports content. It has now extended its coverage, providing additional international football data from Scandinavia, South America, and Eastern Europe through the PA Betting Services Football Data API.

Eugene Delaney Director of PA Betting Services said: “We are delighted to play such an integral role for bet365. Our teams work relentlessly to make sure all PA Betting Services data is delivered quickly and accurately. We have showcased our agility and reliability to deliver multiple leagues from around the world in a very short space of time.”

OneFootball and Serie A announce premium digital collectible rights partnership

OneFootball, the world’s largest football media platform, and Lega Serie A, one of the world’s top five football leagues, with over 530 million fans worldwide, have today announced a global partnership to bring officially-licensed digital collectibles 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. This will include the best action, from attempts, saves, defending, assists, skills and special moments of gameplay, on top of plenty of goals and incredible fan moments. OneFootball has created a simple and accessible way for real fans to make it theirs – giving them the chance to own real life moments of incredible football, in perpetuity. The digital video moments will launch on OneFootball’s marketplace, Aera by OneFootball, and is built on the sports-industry-leading Flow blockchain so fans can get their favourite moments through the easy-to-use and secure wallet, Dapper.

The deal means that in the upcoming Lega Serie A season, over 1300 new and unique moments of premier action will be generated. The agreement also includes matches of the Coppa Italia, as well as the Italian Supercup, the Supercoppa Italiana. Fans will be able to purchase packs, which upon opening will show them which incredible match moments they have won. 

OneFootball has also acquired the rights to iconic historical moments from Serie A’s archive. Coming soon will also be hundreds of archive moments from Lega Serie A clubs, all available on Aera by OneFootball.

In the 2021/22 season, there was over 570 hours of match play, the Serie A showcased 1089 goals, 142 penalties taken and literally hundreds of breathtaking high-octane moments of some of the best football from the most talented players on the planet. In the coming season these will be available for fans to own, as part of OneFootball’s promise, No One Gets You Closer. Fans can register their interest now at Aera by OneFootballwith the first product reveal of the digital collectible collection on 1st August 2022.

Lucas von Cranach, CEO & Founder at OneFootball, said: 

“Today’s news is unprecedented. Italian football fans, like so many of the billions of football fans on the planet, are obsessed with the game – and rightly so. The Italian league provides adrenaline-filled excitement, passion, highs and lows – and fans are with their teams for the ride through better or for worse. Through recent history they’ve spent hard earned money on tickets, travel, kit, programmes – and now for the first time they can actually own part of the experience: match highlights from each week’s action as well as iconic moments from the archive.

“We’re creating an accessible experience for fans of Serie A – by being a true platform – they can own digital video moments through us and take them wherever they want – or nowhere – they are theirs to keep, in perpetuity. As part of the community, fans will get even more benefits as we expand our Web3 offering and launch even more products. 

“We are perfectly positioned to honour our promise to the 100 million fans on our platform each month – No One Gets You Closer. Over 14 years we’ve connected the football ecosystem and now we’re poised at the new frontier of a new digital era, to bring new experiences to fans, giving something to the game and the fan experience that everyone can benefit from, and really enjoy. Football belongs to the fans, it’s all theirs, and we’ll make sure of it.”

Luigi De Siervo, Lega Serie A CEO:

“Today marks the start of a new way for Italian clubs to connect with all our younger fans around the globe. Together with OneFootball, we put the fans first by bringing them incredible new experiences, this time digitally. We have the most prestigious league, the greatest clubs and the best supporters in the world. Now we are bringing our global fan base the most cutting edge experience – something no-one has ever seen before in football. The upcoming season will again be filled with plenty of dramatic and exciting moments of match play and we can’t wait to offer those to our fans as digital video moments along with the most iconic archive footage from Serie A.”

Round table round up – The dilemma of delivering digital sponsorship

Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium was probably as fitting a place as any to host an iSportConnect community round table on the untapped digital sponsorship opportunities in sport.

While InCrowd, a company that specialises in driving ROI through data powered digital experiences, set the agenda and the pace of the conversation, it was senior figures from the commercial teams of a group of leading Premier League and Premiership Rugby clubs that offered their insight into some of the issues facing the industry.

The discussion in the room was fast-paced with clubs being honest about the issues they are facing in terms of packaging and delivering digital sponsorship rights. One club believed that the “commercial, marketing and digital teams need to be better aligned,” during the sales process. One sales executive highlighted that this can present a dilemma because “it’s not always possible to involve those delivering as a very low proportion of deals are converted. It’s often just an extra hassle.”

The bundling of digital rights was another hot topic of discussion. Digital rights are becoming increasingly important for clubs, and working out their true value was proving difficult. A tool that could reliably work out the value of digital rights is something that the room was very keen to see because “current valuation tools are far from perfect.”

The clubs generally agreed that digital rights are perceived by sales teams to have a low delivery cost and perceived value compared to the more traditional sponsorship assets such as front of shirt branding or LED boards.This can lead to a temptation from a sales perspective to add these rights to a proposal with less consideration given to the cost or time to deliver.

Despite owning their own social media channels, the ability of rights owners to reach their audience through them was limited. “Organic social reach isn’t good because you struggle to reach more than 10 per cent of your audience unless you put some of your budget into paying the social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook.” As discussed in the room, TikTok is a bit different. Social media’s newest giant’s specific algorithms mean you do reach a lot more of your audience. One club in the room also raised the point of needing to “deliver partner content that goes beyond your fan base to be truly successful.”

The overwhelming consensus was that any partnership with a brand should start with understanding exactly what the brand is looking to achieve. One participant went further suggesting that “the biggest opportunity for clubs today is to embrace joint KPIs for their sponsorships as it shows that you are up for the challenge”.

The fact that a club’s IP will be valued differently by different categories of brand was also an important topic of conversation. The example given in the room was how differently a major consumer brand like Apple would value a club’s IP compared to a new betting brand that would be looking to build credibility and trust.

Archie Woodhead, co-founder and director of InCrowd, said: “This round table surfaced the challenges sales teams face when they need support from the delivery teams during a sponsorship sales process across multiple sectors – it causes frustration for both sales and delivery. 

“For InCrowd, insights like this are essential to inform our product development so that we can support improving processes like this without organisations having to grow their teams.” 

If you would like to find out more about iSportConnect community round tables or what was discussed at this round table and the insights shared in this article, then please contact the iSportConnect Advisory team on info@isportconnect.com. 

ELEVEN Italy acquires Lega Basket A rights until 2025

ELEVEN Italy becomes the home of basketball in Italy: LBA adds to a package of content including Euroleague, Eurocup, FIBA ​​Eurobasket 2022 and FIBA ​​World Cup 2023.

ELEVEN Italy has been awarded the LBA Pay Package of Domestic Audiovisual Rights for the 2022/2023, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons. The agreement will be ratified during the Extraordinary Assembly on Thursday 21 July, when ELEVEN Italy will present its plan for the three-year period to member clubs.

From September 2022, the LBA Serie A championship can be watched exclusively on ELEVEN’s global OTT elevensports.com. All Serie A championship matches including the regular season and Playoff, the Final Eight of the Italian Cup, and the Italian Super Cup are included, meaning more than 250 matches are available to ELEVEN Italy subscribers. 

Giovanni Zurleni, ELEVEN Group Italy Managing Director said: “We thank the clubs and President Gandini for choosing ELEVEN as a partner for the next three years. With the superb addition of the LBA Serie A, ELEVEN is now the main point of reference for basketball lovers in the country”.

This acquisition completes ELEVEN’s already very rich offering for basketball fans, which includes the most important continental club competitions, with all Euroleague matches, Eurocup, and great international basketball via FIBA ​​national team competitions including FIBA ​​Eurobasket 2022 and FIBA ​​World Cup 2023.