Re-Thinking Rights – New Models of IP Ownership & Distribution

LaSource, a sports B2B agency based in Paris, focused on sport, digital and technology have shared their thoughts on how rights are changing within the world of web3.

It’s no surprise that in our fast changing world, many industries, including the sports one, are eagerly examining blockchain technology.

Indeed, the rise of Web3 and its digital stack of new technologies could open up a wide range of opportunities for sports rightsholders and their media partners. Not only could blockchain enable them to better control their IP, it could also lead to new efficient and transparent ways of monetizing it.

“That way of registering new IP could benefit sports organizations in various aspects, from basic assets to specific activations involving clubs, sponsors and athletes.”

This exciting topic will be discussed during our upcoming Web3 Summit in London, and here are some elements which will be discussed. 

Using Blockchain as IP Registery

Nowadays, getting a patent or registering trademark can be a long and tumultuous process. Blockchain could drastically simplify it. As suggested by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the creation of smart contracts in the blockchain could “provide evidence of a time stamp of first or subsequent use of a trademark, which could then be presented to the court/registry as evidence.”

“One of the main perks of this would be a more controlled environment for media rights and transactions between owners and buyers.”

That way of registering new IP could benefit sports organizations in various aspects, from basic assets to specific activations involving clubs, sponsors and athletes.  

Better Controlling IP: Proof Of Ownership

One of the main blockchain characteristics is the creation of a secured environment with a record of every transaction made on it. If you think about it, this could offer an ideal place for any sport organisation to catalog and store all their assets and creations in a very simple way. Any future issues around the ownership chain would be easily identified through the blockchain’s timestamp. One of the main perks of this would be a more controlled environment for media rights and transactions between owners and buyers. 

As we all know, the sports rights market has become increasingly carved up. Linear TV viewing is slowly but surely decreasing as fans are digesting clip-form content on their smartphones and live streams over social media. To counteract this market fragmentation, many resort to illegal streaming and other piracy and copyright infringements using peer-to-peer networks that are almost impossible to control. Blockchain could have the potential to resolve any number of these complex and costly legal issues. It could help rights owners to protect the rights they have bought. 

Better monetising IP with blockchain

Coming back to our previous example on sports broadcasting rights, rightsholders could even use the blockchain network not only to facilitate but also develop new monetization model with micropayments. Becoming more and more accustomed to “digital” business models, sports fans are switching from monthly subscription model to a “per-use” payment model.

Thanks to blockchain, the distribution and monetization of bitesized content could become much more fluid and prevalent. Blockchain-enabled micropayments could help sports right holders to better monetise all their catalog, from entire events to highlights and other small snackable content.

Web3’s legal issues

Businesses will increasingly adopt Web3 technologies. For companies or other entities entering into this space, it is essential to understand the many legal issues that may arise. 

For sports organisations, blockchain technology and the metaverse offers many products to engage with fans, such as avatars, NFT Marketplaces, advertising, etc. It will be crucial for leagues to understand which laws apply to what products, but above all to give a legal statement of what they are and under which asset inventory they can fall into. 

Let’s take the example of avatars. Some topics could be discussed, such as the right of publicity. The intellectual property issues related to the rights of players and their avatars, but also the legal protection of the avatars in a metaverse. Consequently, if a league seeks to transfer its sports ecosystem into the Metaverse, it must consider and prepare well these rights to avoid legal disputes. 

“From a practical perspective, depending on the design of the network, blockchain technology could be expensive to implement and run.”

As outlined above, blockchain could offer the sports industry innovative ways to manage and leverage their IP. However, it is not an easy way forward. From a practical perspective, depending on the design of the network (including whether the network is set up to be public or private), blockchain technology could be expensive to implement and run. The power required to run the network should also be considered and  be balanced with the value it can generate. Finally, moving from a centralized model to a decentralized one can be too idealistic and it might need some intermediate and regulatory steps, evolving into a hub-based metaverse.

All of this is definitely to come as it is very much in the early stages and everything still needs to be built. We can’t wait our event to happen in order to tackle these topics more in depth with leading experts. 

Find out more from LaSource at our iSportConnect Web3 Summit presented by Tezos at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium later this month, follow this link for more information and to get your tickets now – https://www.web3summit.sport/

Enilio becomes World Table Tennis Global Supplier

World Table Tennis (WTT) announced Hebei Enlio Sports Group (Enlio) as its Official Flooring Supplier.

Enlio has supported WTT events since 2021 and has decided to deepen and extend its partnership with a three-year Global Supplier agreement from 2022 – 2024. 

As a Global Supplier, Enlio will provide flooring for selected WTT Grand Smashes, WTT Cup Finals, and WTT Champions. The 2022 – 2024 ITTF World Table Tennis Championships Finals and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 are also part of the deal.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership with the WTT,” said Enlio Chairman Li Yu. “We are very proud to see our flooring used in the top table tennis events of the ITTF and WTT, as well as to be the sole supplier of table tennis flooring for the Paris 2024 Games. We will be committed to providing environmentally safe, first-class performance Sports flooring and high-quality event services, continuing to strengthen the close cooperation with ITTF and WTT, and look forward to contributing to the promotion and development of table tennis around the world.”

Enlio is an internationally renowned sports flooring brand, and its products have become the designated floorings for many international events. Since its initial cooperation with the International Table Tennis Federation in 2013, Enlio has successfully provided flooring to world-class events such as the World Table Tennis Championships and the Youth Olympic Games table tennis events.

WTT Managing Director Matt Pound commented on the new appointment, “I am delighted Enlio decided to deepen their business relationships with us. It is a highly respected and recognised brand with the highest quality standards. World Table Tennis offers its partners a wealth of opportunities and we look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with Enlio.” 

WTT heralds a new era for table tennis events. Following the resounding success of Singapore Smash in March, WTT has been gathering momentum and support from the business community. As the sixth global partner, Enlio is becoming part of the new chapter of professional table tennis.
 

Blast Premier partners with Omen, Magnum ice cream,  Moche and Teleperformance for Lisbon Spring Final

BLAST Premier has partnered with OMEN, Magnum ice cream, MOCHE and Teleperformance ahead of this month’s Spring Final that is set to take place in Lisbon’s Altice Arena.

As part of the deals, OMEN, Magnum ice cream, MOCHE and Teleperformance branding will feature in the Altice Arena during the event and across BLAST Premier’s digital and broadcast channels that reach over 154 territories around the world. 

This week’s Spring Final will be the second BLAST event to take place in Lisbon – following the BLAST Pro Series, which sold out at the same venue back in December 2018.

OMEN, Unilever-owned Magnum and lifestyle brand MOCHE will be returning as BLAST Premier partners, while the Spring Final will be business service provider Teleperformance’s first event with the tournament organiser. Fans in Altice Arena will be able to win product giveaways and enjoy a number of in-person activations. 

Oliver Clarke, Commercial Director for BLAST, said: “We’re delighted to welcome on board four leading and diverse brands in OMEN, Magnum ice cream, MOCHE and Teleperformance, as we make our long-awaited return to Lisbon this week. Four years ago the Portuguese esports community showcased why they’re one of the most enthusiastic and passionate fan bases in the world. We look forward to building on that experience with the help of our partners, to engage and excite the thousands of fans in the Altice Arena and the millions watching from home.” 

Eight of the world’s leading teams will head to Lisbon for the Spring Final this week to compete for a prize pool of $425,000 and a place in the highly-anticipated World Final in December.  

BLAST Premier is the global Counter-Strike tournament series, hosting the best players and teams, offering opportunities to regions across the globe and crowning the world champions of CS:GO. Up to 32 of the world’s best teams take part in the seven BLAST Premier events across the year with a combined prize pool of $2,475,000 on the line. 

IMG ARENA sign multi-year streaming and data partnership with the German Football Association (DFB)

IMG ARENA, a leading sports data supplier for media, betting and professional sectors, has signed a multi-year agreement with DFB GmbH & Co. KG, the marketing and commercial arm of the German Football Association DFB.

The partnership covers streaming and fastpath data rights for all 63 matches in the DFB-Pokal, Germany’s storied national knockout cup competition, commencing with the 2022/23 season of the tournament, allowing distribution of the content to IMG ARENA’s global network of sportsbook operators.

The DFB-Pokal competition features 64 teams from the top two domestic leagues, Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, including record 20-time winners FC Bayern Munich.

This deal expands IMG ARENA’s data-driven partnership with DFB, which already includes collaboration around the 3. Liga and FLYERALARM Frauen-Bundesliga for fastpath betting data rights through a European Leagues agreement.

Mark Wrigley, Senior Director of Rights at IMG ARENA, said: “We are proud to announce this expanded partnership with one of the most prestigious federations in sport. The DFB-Pokal is a hugely exciting competition that will sit alongside the most in-demand properties in our portfolio.”    

Dr. Holger Blask, Managing Director of the DFB GmbH & Co. KG, said: “IMG ARENA is a leader in sports data distribution across multiple sports and sectors. We are pleased to grow the scope of our work together to include data and streaming for DFB-Pokal, one of our most important assets. The combination of IMG ARENA’s technology leadership and worldwide reach will bring new engagement with the competition and broaden its audience.”

Goodwood secure timing partner deal with Roger Dubuis

Goodwood today announced Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis as the Official Timing Partner of the annual flagship event, the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, which runs from 23-26 June, 2022.

Roger Dubuis – part of the prestigious Richemont Group – has agreed a multi-year deal which will also see them become presenting partner of the event’s Drivers’ Club. The Roger Dubuis Drivers’ Club provides an exclusive space for the drivers and participants to relax and prepare for the races ahead. Roger Dubuis will also have a presence in the Paddock area with examples of its extreme horological craftmanship in the form of the hyper-performing timepieces from the wider Excalibur and Excalibur Spider Collections.

The Duke of Richmond said: “Roger Dubuis shares our passion for excellence and innovation and are the perfect fit as the Official Timing Partner of Festival of Speed.  The brand brings its unconventional and bold spirit to the Festival and it will elevate our customer experiences to even greater heights. We look forward to a dynamic and exciting relationship at the world’s greatest celebration of motorsport, car culture and technology.”

Nicola Andreatta, CEO of Roger Dubuis said: “We are thrilled to join the Festival of Speed. Just as the event is determined to offer the greatest celebration of car culture, we intend to offer the most exciting way to experience Hyper Horology. Together we will create unique performances charged with adrenaline and infused with pleasure, madness and freedom. This is going to be an annual epic rendezvous.”

In addition, Goodwood will provide Roger Dubuis with a number of digital assets and the opportunity to produce their own content for distribution across the Estate’s various social media channels, along with the right to stream the live event on Roger Dubuis’ own platforms globally. The hyper watchmaker’s logo will appear on the digital ‘count down’ clock at the start line of the Festival of Speed hillcimb as well as on the Goodwood website and live on ITV when the timing element is featured.

Roger Dubuis already boasts two partnerships within the motorsport world, creating masterpieces with racing legend Lamborghini Squadra Corse and premium tyre expert Pirelli.

Apple and Major League Soccer to present all MLS matches around the world for 10 years, starting in 2023

Apple and Major League Soccer today announced that the Apple TV app will be the exclusive destination to watch every single live MLS match beginning in 2023.

This partnership is a historic first for a major professional sports league and will allow fans around the world to watch all MLS, Leagues Cup,1 and select MLS NEXT Pro and MLS NEXT matches in one place — without any local broadcast blackouts or the need for a traditional pay TV bundle.

From early 2023 through 2032, fans can get every live MLS match by subscribing to a new MLS streaming service, available exclusively through the Apple TV app. In addition to all of the match content, the service will provide fans a new weekly live match whip-around show so they never miss an exciting goal or save, and also game replays, highlights, analysis, and other original programming.

This live and on-demand MLS content will provide in-depth, behind-the-scenes views of the players and clubs that fans love. A broad selection of MLS and Leagues Cup matches, including some of the biggest matchups, will also be available at no additional cost to Apple TV+ subscribers, with a limited number of matches available for free. As an added benefit to fans, access to the new MLS streaming service will be included as part of MLS full-season ticket packages.

The MLS live and on-demand content on the Apple TV app will be available to anyone with internet access across all devices where the app can be found, including iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K, and Apple TV HD; Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sony, TCL, VIZIO, and other smart TVs; Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices; PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles; Chromecast with Google TV; and Comcast Xfinity. Fans can also watch on tv.apple.com.

“Apple is the perfect partner to further accelerate the growth of MLS and deepen the connection between our clubs and their fans,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber. “Given Apple’s ability to create a best-in-class user experience and to reach fans everywhere, it’ll be incredibly easy to enjoy MLS matches anywhere, whether you’re a super fan or casual viewer.”

“For the first time in the history of sports, fans will be able to access everything from a major professional sports league in one place,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. “It’s a dream come true for MLS fans, soccer fans, and anyone who loves sports. No fragmentation, no frustration — just the flexibility to sign up for one convenient service that gives you everything MLS, anywhere and anytime you want to watch. We can’t wait to make it easy for even more people to fall in love with MLS and root for their favorite club.”

At launch, all MLS and Leagues Cup matches will include announcers calling the action in English and Spanish, and all matches involving Canadian teams will be available in French. Apple and MLS will also provide enhanced league and club coverage for fans to easily follow the league or their favorite clubs in Apple News, with the ability to watch highlights right in the News app.

Complete details for the new service, including when fans can sign up, subscription pricing, specific details about the new MLS programming, an improved match schedule, broadcast teams, production enhancements, and pre- and postgame coverage — as well as all the ways fans will be able to enjoy MLS content across the Apple ecosystem — will be announced in the coming months.   

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. The momentum will continue as soccer will 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 one of the youngest, most diverse audiences in North American sports.

Big 3 announces global partnership with DAZN, full broadcast schedule, playoffs and championship

Today, BIG3 announced the full broadcast schedule for the league’s fifth season, including the dates and times for the Playoff and Championship games, highlighted by 54 hours of live games on DAZN worldwide (with select territory exclusions*). Specifically in the U.S., 29 hours of those games will stream live on DAZN, alongside availability on VYRE Network and BIG3 YouTube channel.  This global announcement comes ahead of the tip-off of Season Five on June 18th at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

“We couldn’t be happier to have DAZN join our stellar line up of broadcast partners for our fifth season,” said BIG3 CEO Chris Hannan. “With names like Leandro Barbosa and Dusan Bulut returning with a vengeance after last season, it’s clear that the league is growing both internationally and here at home.  Now our fans around the globe – particularly in Canada and across Europe – can have access to the whole summer of FIREBALL3 action.”

As part of this new partnership, DAZN will also have courtside signage, run ads during CBS-broadcast games, and collaborate with the league on original content and behind-the-scenes programming.

“We’re thrilled to offer the fifth season of BIG3 on DAZN as another exciting addition to an ever-growing portfolio of sports available globally on our platform,” said Tom Burrows, DAZN EVP of Rights. “This is set to be a multi-faceted partnership with an innovation-first league, and we look forward to collaborating and bringing all the FIREBALL3 action to DAZN subscribers around the world.”

Known as a ground-breaking league that focuses on innovation, the BIG3 recently minted the first-of-its-kind Forever Experience Action Token (FEAT) to offer ownership-like benefits in place of the previously announced Gold-Tier NFT’s. The league has sold multiple $25,000 Fire-Tier NFTs to renowned Crypto leaders and communities, including DeGods, Bill Lee and MyDoge/DogeCoin, Snoop Dogg and Ken Howery, Gary Vaynerchuk of VeeFriends, Krause House DAO, Sunny Madra, Kevin Rose and MOONBIRDS, King of Midtown, along with a team led by Wave Financial and their Bored Ape.

To learn more about the BIG3, go to BIG3.com and follow @thebig3 on twitter and instagram.

Reimagining the way people enjoy sports, DAZN is available in over 200 countries and territories. DAZN is the global home of boxing as well as market leading sports broadcaster in Italy, Spain, Germany and Japan where – alongside other world-class live sports content – it holds top tier football rights including Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga, J League and non-domestic English Premier League. With further expansion planned, DAZN’s ambition is to become an indispensable part of sports fans’ lives – a true destination – shortly offering recreational betting, news, e-commerce, and gaming and introducing richer and more interactive entertainment for customers to enjoy alongside live sports. To learn more about DAZN, go to www.dazngroup.com.

Snapchat and ITV announce partnership that will see FIFA World Cup highlights feature on the app

Today, Snap announced a new content partnership with ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster to host made-for-mobile, short-form content from ITV’s biggest shows on Snapchat.

Snapchatters will be able to watch clips from the FIFA World Cup 2022, Love Island and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! through Snapchat Discover.

As the countdown begins to the FIFA World Cup 2022, fans will be able to watch the build up and official highlights from the tournament.

Snapchat’s premium content platform, Discover is a one-stop shop to watch, share and discuss the latest shows from the Love Island villa – including First Look, Daily Episodes, Weekly Round Up and Love Island Aftersun.

Snapchat reaches more than 90% of 13-24 years-olds in the UK and partners with most major UK broadcasters.


Lucy Luke, Head of UK Partnerships at Snap said: “Our mission is to make Snapchat the fastest way for our community to be informed and entertained by a trusted group of diverse publishers and storytellers.

We are thrilled to partner with ITV and continue to grow our slate of UK broadcasters on Discover.

This partnership aligns with our strategy to provide Snapchatters with the best shows that are tailor-made for mobile.”

Commenting on the partnership, Bhavit Chandrani, Director, Director, Digital & Creative Partnerships at ITV said: “We’re really excited to be partnering with Snapchat – the Gen Z community on Snapchat is highly engaged and we’re keen to offer them the opportunity to view ITV content in different ways. This partnership is a great opportunity for us to continue to engage with this community and our audiences in a new environment.”

Snapchat will also partner with ITV to create custom Augmented Reality Lenses for selected shows. This will create a new, immersive viewing experience for Snapchatters.

Advertisers can align with this content via Snap’s non-skippable, commercials format via ad.snapchat.com. Snapchat has created a new ‘Snap Select’ bundle called ‘Best of British’ that will offer advertisers access to shows from British publishers and broadcasters. 

The UK is a fast growing market for Discover and we continue to invest in our offering. In Q2 2021, we launched a record 188 new international Discover channels, including 36 in the UK and 24 in India. In 2022, over 15 million people in the UK have watched shows on Discover each month. 

HBA Media facilitate Royal Ascot coverage in over 170 territories increasing worldwide exposure for a third year running  

Royal Ascot, the showpiece of international horseracing in the United Kingdom, will be broadcast in over 170 territories throughout this week with more than 20 broadcasters worldwide showcasing the live action to reach every major continent. 

The increased worldwide exposure has been managed by media rights experts, HBA Media.

Host broadcaster ITV Racing will present all the action in a daily five-hour programme while Sky Sports Racing and Virgin Media will also service UK and Irish audiences.

NBC on Saturday, preceded by their digital arm, Peacock, will be on site and broadcasting to the United States whilst Racing.com will be transmitting from the course for Australia alongside Green Channel for Japan. 

This will be complemented by returning broadcasters that include Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) (Scandinavia), RAI (Italy), Setanta(Baltics countries and Eurasia); Sport TV (Portugal), Silknet (Georgia), Polsat (Poland), CYTA (Cyprus) and WedoTV (Germany, Switzerland and Austria).

Other broadcasters taking coverage outside of Europe include Eclat (Southeast Asia) and Star+/ESPN (Latin America), with both offering access on their digital platforms. 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa will have access to the racing through DMI (Dubai), while Wasu.TV will cater for the Chinese audience.

The Royal Meeting continues to have a strong presence in Oceania with Racing.com (Australia) being joined by Spark Sport servicing New Zealand.

Charlton TV will cover the action in Israel, while 48 countries in Africa are served by Super Sport. SportsMax continue to champion the racing and all its surrounding attractions in the Caribbean, whist Sport24 will ensure the event is seen on airlines and ships across the world.

Once again Reuters and Transworld Sports will distribute the full event to their wide networks of news outlets.

All international broadcasters will have access to the full 35-race schedule through the ITV world feed and a suite of promotional content and Royal Ascot related features.

For the first time, Ascot Racecourse in partnership with HBA Media, have commissioned a special one-hour live production – The Golden Hour – that takes in the best of the action on and off the course on Gold Cup Day (Thursday, 16th June).

Presented by Tom Stanley and Michelle Yu, the programme will celebrate the history and tradition of the occasion with a distinctly international focus to be showcased live across the globe.

Henry Birtles, Chief Executive of HBA Media, said:

“We are delighted with the international coverage secured for this most prestigious of race meetings. All eyes of the horseracing, lifestyle and news worlds are upon Royal Ascot and we look forward to delivering top quality coverage for our global audiences.”

Alastair Warwick, Managing Director of Ascot Racecourse, added:

“We are indebted to the work that HBA Media does to deliver truly global distribution for Royal Ascot and this year we are thrilled with the additional top-class production of the international broadcast package titled The Golden Hour.

“It is pleasing to see such widespread global interest in the Royal Meeting, which in turn also gives valuable exposure into new territories for our partners, suppliers and participants.”

MotoGP™ teams up with Fanatics to serve fans worldwide 

Dorna Sports is proud to announce a long-term strategic partnership with Fanatics, a leading provider of licensed sports merchandise and global digital sports platform, to significantly enhance the shopping experience for MotoGP™ fans.

The deal will see MotoGP™ enjoy Fanatics’ innovative vertical commerce model, with Fanatics acquiring exclusive global e-commerce rights and obtaining the licence to create MotoGP™ apparel, increasing the range of merchandise available to fans, wherever they may be in the world.

MotoGP™ is the world’s first motorsport World Championship, having begun in 1949. Now racing in five continents over 20 races a season, the sport welcomes millions of fans through the gates each year at the track and reaches nearly half a billion homes across more than 200 countries – enjoying a truly global fanbase. 

The newly revamped online MotoGP™ store, store.motogp.com, which launches today, ensures those fans have access to a new, technology-laced e-commerce platform powered by Fanatics’ industry-leading Cloud Commerce Platform.

The global nature of the MotoGP™ fanbase will see Fanatics launch the site in six different languages, English, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Japanese.

The transformed site will provide MotoGP™ fans with a best-in-class shopping experience, whether shopping online or via mobile, featuring hi-resolution product displays, frictionless checkout, and the quickest access to new product offerings. 

Fanatics, which has offices and distribution centers in thirteen countries, partners with more than 900 of the most recognised and successful sporting organisations in the world, including the NFL, NBA, Manchester United, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, England Rugby and Formula One.

Matthew Primack, Senior Vice-President of International Business Development at Fanatics: “We are proud to partner with MotoGP to help serve its passionate global fanbase. We’ll work closely with the great MotoGP team to create a comprehensive offering that will provide fans with the widest assortment of on-trend, quality merchandise. With our experience, global capabilities and passion to serve fans with the merchandise they want, when they want it, MotoGP fans will enjoy an assortment of quality products, wherever they are shopping in the world.”  

Marc Saurina, Senior Director of Global Commercial Partnerships at Dorna Sports: “We’re delighted to partner with Fanatics to revolutionise the shopping experience for our fans around the world. The new store looks incredible and we look forward to working together on creating an even wider range of MotoGP merchandise, with something for every fan. With our sport enjoying such a global audience, Fanatics is the perfect partner for MotoGP thanks to their global presence and vast experience.”