The Professional Footballers’ Association (The PFA) has announced the appointment of James King as the union’s General Counsel.
King joins the PFA from Arsenal, where he was the Senior Legal Counsel for Football Operations.
The recruitment of King represents another key senior hire for the PFA, with Patrick Coyle having recently joined the PFA as Chief Operating Officer after almost a decade at Manchester United.
King joined the Arsenal legal team in 2016, working on the Commercial side before moving to Football Operations in 2018. In his last role, he had responsibility over all areas of football across both the men’s and women’s games, from first team to academy.
He was also a member of the FA’s Legal & Governance Group for Women’s Football.
Prior to joining Arsenal, King was part of the Employment Department and Sports Group at Mischon de Reya where, as a Managing Associate, he represented domestic and international players across the men’s and women’s games.
King was appointed after an independent and competitive recruitment process led on behalf of the PFA, which has recently undergone significant reforms to its governance and leadership structures as part of an organisation-wide modernisation process.
The PFA is the world’s oldest professional sport trade union and represents over 55,000 current and former players across the Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and Women’s Super League (WSL).
PFA Chief Executive, Maheta Molango, said:
“James’ appointment provides the PFA with even more senior industry experience, gained in both private practice and high-profile roles at one of the English game’s biggest clubs.
“His CV speaks for itself and I’m delighted that James is joining the union at such a crucial time. His knowledge and experience across both the men’s and women’s games will be of enormous benefit to the PFA and its members.”
“James’ decision to join the PFA at this time reflects the importance of work we are doing on behalf of both current and former players. He is an excellent addition to the union.”
James King said:
“I’m excited to be joining the team. The scope of the PFA’s work has never been wider, with current and former players looking to the union to act as their voice on a diverse range of important issues.
“At a time of significant change, I’m looking forward to applying the experience I have gained within the industry on behalf of PFA members.”
In a landmark expansion of its tournaments, EPCR is delighted to confirm that the five leading clubs from South Africa will compete in the Heineken Champions Cup and the EPCR Challenge Cup from the 2022/23 season and beyond.
The Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions, who have qualified from the United Rugby Championship (URC), will add a new layer of high-quality competition to the established order of Europe’s elite clubs.
In a further development, and in addition to the four qualifiers from the URC, the Bloemfontein-based Cheetahs have been invited to participate in the 2022/23 EPCR Challenge Cup.
As well as Leinster Rugby, Ulster Rugby, Munster Rugby, Edinburgh Rugby and the Ospreys, the Cape Town-based Stormers, the Bulls from Pretoria and the Durban-based Sharks will compete in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup following impressive campaigns in the URC, while the Lions from Johannesburg and the Cheetahs will fly the flag for South Africa in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
Commenting on the major development, EPCR Chairman, Dominic McKay, said: “We are delighted to confirm that the South African clubs from will be part of our expanded tournaments from the beginning of next season.
“The Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions will all bring hugely exciting southern hemisphere rugby, well-known world-class players and broad new audiences into our tournaments, and we are pleased to welcome the Cheetahs into the EPCR Challenge Cup. The steps we have taken with our stakeholder leagues and with SARU ensure that we can further develop the tournaments as the pinnacle of global club rugby.
“This is a crucial step forward in bringing to life our vision of growing the game and our own tournaments, continuing to deliver strong returns for our leagues and creating an ever-higher standard of mouthwatering matches for our fans.”
The South African clubs in the Heineken Champions Cup will be in the mix against newly-crowned winners, Stade Rochelais, who lifted the trophy for the first time in dramatic style in Marseille last weekend, as well as Lyon who also claimed a historic first European title when they won the EPCR Challenge Cup final.
EPCR welcomed over 110,000 fans to the Stade Vélodrome over the course of the two finals with a record EPCR Challenge Cup attendance of 51,431 witnessing Lyon’s victory over RC Toulon, while 59,682 went through the turnstiles for last Saturday’s showpiece match between Stade Rochelais and Leinster.
The formats for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will be announced shortly, in conjunction with details of the Pool Draws for both tournaments which will be staged towards the end of the month.
EPCR Chief Executive, Anthony Lepage, said: “This is a hugely significant step forward in realising our ambitions to grow our tournaments and bring our outstanding competitions to new audiences across the globe.
“Welcoming such well-known and well-supported South African clubs to the Heineken Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup will take the competitions to a new level of elite rugby, with the best of South Africa now also able to test themselves against the best of England and France.
“The calibre of our competitions is consistently high and, as last weekend in Marseille demonstrated so clearly, we deliver incredible experiences for fans who love the tournaments, whether following the fortunes of their team or simply enjoying our finals, on one of rugby’s biggest weekends. It will be superb to raise the bar even higher with matches next season featuring South African Rugby World Cup winners, in addition to the stars of Europe we already see lighting up the pitch.
“We look forward to the Pool Draws later this month and then we will announce our fixture schedules for both tournaments so that clubs, fans and all our stakeholders can begin preparations for next season.”
SARU Chief Executive, Jurie Roux, added: “Our five franchise teams will now play in two new territories against opponents we’ve never played before. We’ve already experienced the intensity of the URC, and now we’ll also face the top clubs from England and France. We would like to thank all stakeholders who have been involved in the negotiation process – the Board and staff of EPCR, the URC, Premiership Rugby and the Ligue Nationale de Rugby.
“A big word of thanks also to the Cheetahs for their patience. I’m sure they can’t wait to face international opposition again, and we’re very grateful to have them included in the EPCR Challenge Cup.
“Ever since we’ve made the decision to align with the northern hemisphere, our aim was to play in the EPCR competitions. As we’ve seen during the inaugural season of the URC, the rugby is of the highest standard and our top players definitely benefited from this move.
“We now have an opportunity to also start rubbing shoulders with the top clubs from England and France in two other competitions that have caught the imagination of rugby supporters around the globe for more than two decades.”
During the 2022/23 season, EPCR will continue to be supported by Heineken as the title partner of the Heineken Champions Cup, as well as by EPCR’s Official Logistics Partner DHL and Official Hotels Partner IHG Hotels & Resorts amongst others, with future exciting partner announcements expected in the near future.
The 2023 Finals weekend is scheduled for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 May.
Sky Sports, the home of live golf in the UK and Ireland, has today announced an extension to its broadcast deal to show live PGA TOUR events, giving golf fans more of the best live action.
As part of the deal with Warner Bros. Discovery, the strategic partner of the PGA TOUR, Sky Sports will continue to show a minimum of 36 golf events per year. The deal covers all PGA TOUR FedExCup events including the FedExCup Playoffs, the TOUR Championship and Presidents Cup.
Sky Sports will provide extensive coverage of PGA TOUR competitions, including Early Coverage, Marquee Group, Featured Holes and Featured Groups. In addition, Sky Sports will continue to bring the best TV coverage bringing fans as close to the action as possible, including on-site with the Sky Cart, Sky Zone and on-course commentary.
Sky Sports Managing Director, Jonathan Licht, said:
“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with the PGA TOUR. The extended deal cements Sky Sports’ place as the home of golf in the UK and Ireland and means our customers will be able to follow the key live action on the TOUR for years to come.”
PGA TOUR Chief Media Officer, Rick Anderson, said:
“We are extremely pleased to continue our long partnership with Sky Sports in a key market, one that values golf at the highest level. Sky Sports’ localized production connects the best in professional golf, the PGA TOUR, to our UK audience.’
Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe President and Managing Director, Andrew Georgiou, said:
“Sky has been a long-term partner to Discovery and now Warner Bros. Discovery for more than 30 years, helping to bring our channels and content to millions of people. Building on this relationship and extending PGA TOUR coverage on Sky Sports is a clear winner for viewers in the UK & Ireland, particularly given the channel’s proven commitment to innovative golf broadcasting and excellent live coverage.”
Sky Sports Golf is the home of golf in the UK and in 2022 will show all four men’s Majors, all five women’s Majors and both men’s and women’s tours – well over 100 tournaments in total. In addition, golf fans can tune in for round-the-clock coverage on Sky Sports News and Sky Sports’ social and digital platforms.
RedBird Capital Partners and Elliott Advisors UK Limited today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for RedBird to acquire Associazione Calcio Milan, newly crowned Champions of Serie A. The transition to new ownership will take place over the summer, with an expected closing no later than September 2022.
The deal, which values the Club at €1.2B, will see Elliott retain a minority financial interest in the Club and seats on the Board of Directors, solidifying a partnership between RedBird and Elliott that continues the progress made under Elliott’s stewardship over the last four years.
RedBird’s priority is to work with the Club’s title-winning sporting and Club management team to continue Milan’s journey back to the summit of world football. A combination of a successful team on the pitch, Milan’s player development and acquisition expertise, a world-class commercial operation, and RedBird’s experience in operating and building global sports businesses, will ensure that the next chapter in Milan’s storied history will take the Rossoneri to even greater heights.
Gerry Cardinale, RedBird Founder and Managing Partner
RedBird Founder and Managing Partner Gerry Cardinale said: “We are honoured to be a part of AC Milan’s illustrious history and are excited to play a role in the Club’s next chapter as it returns to its rightful place at the very top of Italian, European and world football. I want to thank Gordon Singer and the entire Elliott team for the tremendous work they have done over the last four years in rebuilding Milan and returning it to its rightful place at the top of Serie A. RedBird’s investment philosophy and track record in team ownership has shown that football clubs can be successful on the pitch and sustainable off it – we are looking forward to a long term partnership with the Club, its management team and Milanisti around the world to keep propelling Milan in the years to come.”
Elliott Managing Partner Gordon Singer commented: “When Elliott acquired AC Milan in 2018, we inherited a club with a tremendous history, but with serious financial problems and a mediocre sporting performance. Our plan was simple: to create financial stability, and to return AC Milan to where it belongs in European football. Today, I believe we have accomplished both. As we make this remarkable transition to AC Milan’s next chapter, I want to express our deepest sense of humility, pride and above all gratitude for the experiences we have shared with each member of the AC Milan family: We could not have done any of this without you, Il Popolo Milanista”.
The Goodwood Estate today announced a multi-event partnership with heycar, the online car marketplace. The agreement will see heycar become an Official Partner of the annual flagship event, the Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, which runs from 23-26 June 2022.
Heycar is to be the Presenting Partner for the First Glance Paddock, one of the most popular features at Festival of Speed. The First Glance Paddock presented by heycar serves as a showcase of the latest cars and prototypes from the automotive world, many revealed to the public for the first-time.
Heycar will have a stand next to the First Glance Paddock and further branding on the paddock shelters and across the site, as well as receiving increased online reach through First Glance digital content and the festival’s daily live stream. The live stream allows viewers from around the world to tune in over the weekend, which will include coverage of First Glance content on the famous 1.16-mile Festival of Speed Hill – the focal point of the event.
The 2021 Festival of Speed live stream was viewed 6.1 million times and the event was broadcast to 2.5m people in the UK through ITV and Sky programming. The hillclimb and its partnersalso feature heavily on Goodwood’s 365 social media channels – with millions of views generated from fans around the world in the last year.
In addition, heycar will be the Presenting Partner for Goodwood’s Three Friday Nights where top-class horse racing on the Sussex Downs is followed by music hosted by well-known and popular DJs. heycar will also sponsor a number of races on each of the evenings – June 3, 10 and 17. This year’s DJ line-up features Ibiza legend Carl Cox and BBC Radio 1’s Greg James and Annie Mac.
heycar’s partnership activation will include a phenomenal spin the wheel prize giveaway with prizes including sunglasses, ponchos, glow sticks and tickets to the Luna Cinema Summer Series. The sell-out event will be called Three Friday Nights presented by heycar.
Jonathan Gregory, Commercial Director, Goodwood, said: “heycar is an exciting new brand and business that, like Goodwood, prides itself on quality and excellent customer service so we are delighted to have them as a partner across both Festival of Speed and Three Friday Nights. The First Glance Paddock presented by heycar is one of the most eagerly viewed elements of Festival of Speed for car lovers with manufacturers providing a glimpse of the very latest in design and technology of what lies ahead in the motor industry.”
Karen Hilton, Chief Commercial Officer at heycar, said: “Goodwood and their many exciting events have become a staple of British automotive culture, and we feel privileged to have the chance to work with them on their upcoming events and festivals for years to come. When it comes to our passion for quality cars and feel-good attitude to championing the beauty of motorsport, it certainly feels like a match made in heaven. We look forward to joining them at this beautiful estate to celebrate the latest and greatest that the automotive industry has to offer.”
Inthegame, a global viewer interaction and monetisation technology leader, has become the latest company to collaborate with iSportConnect’s Advisory service.
Inthegame partners with leading broadcasters, brands, streamers and rights-owners to instantly deliver interactive viewing experiences on any screen. The company’s AI Powered video engagement products support both live and recorded content across all connected devices.
“ITG provides the largest set of out of the box tools, as well as the infrastructure which enables continuous growth and addition of capabilities.”
They combine advanced gamification capabilities, sophisticated monetization, and unique social features to deliver an innovative viewing experience. It enables content owners and brands to foster ongoing relationships with viewers throughout the entire viewing journey through clickable, intuitive modules.
Inthegame was created with a vision of connecting viewers with the content they love, creating fun and exciting experiences with memorable moments of engagement. Their offices are located in New York, London and Tel Aviv.
“We’re excited to work together with the iSportConnect team, who bring years of experience across a variety of sports verticals,” says Aviram Sharon, Co-Founder and CEO of Inthegame. “We believe our collaboration will enable leading sports and media organisations to gain access to Inthegame’s advanced video interaction technology, and meet their revenue growth, and audience engagement goals.”
“Inthegame’s technology is the perfect way to combat this challenge and transform the viewer’s experience.”
“Inthegame empowers OTT’s, content owners, and digital broadcasters to deliver the next generation of essential viewing features, as a first screen experience, on all CTV’s and mobile devices. In a time where on one side viewers consume content on a variety of TV’s and devices, and on the other, ease of deployment and customisation of product offers and engagements is crucial – ITG provides the largest set of out of the box tools, as well as the infrastructure which enables continuous growth and addition of capabilities.”
David Fowler, iSportConnect’s MD of Advisory, commented: “In the current day it’s incredibly crucial that the broadcast experience becomes more interactive and, from a sporting standpoint in particular, finds a way to create greater monetisation.
“Inthegame’s technology is the perfect way to combat this challenge and transform the viewer’s experience. We’re excited to help them take their business to the next level and create many more high-level viewing experiences across the sports industry.”
iSportConnect Advisory
iSportConnect’s advisory service works to help our clients with commercial development, marketing and communications, and global sports market entry and business strategy. Our consultancy clients include the likes of Vindicia, Tata Communications and InCrowd, among others.
About iSportConnect
iSportConnect was launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing together sports business professionals around the world in a networking community enabling them to meet one another, find information and obtain access to a wide range of relevant services. The platform is now the largest global private network of sport business executives, where membership is exclusive and follows a strict door policy.
For the first time in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), over 300 million cricket spectators across the globe were treated to an extraordinary Augmented Reality event on Sunday that left them both stunned and delighted. During the innings break of the final match between Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans, the sky above the Narendra Modi stadium suddenly transformed. The incredible spectacle was created by Star Sports and Quidich Innovation Labs that teamed up for the show.
The tool used was the Unreal Engine – a powerful real-time 3D game engine, coupled with Quidich’s proprietary real-time drone tracking system, Spatio. The AR production gave the viewers a magical experience that highlighted the might of the IPL and its mission ‘Yatra Pratibha Avsara Prapnotihi’ (‘where talent meets opportunity’).
The AR show was consumed widely on televisions and mobile phones across the country and has drawn much appreciation from the fans on social media who had never seen anything quite like it before.
“Hours of passion, creativity and teamwork went into creating this unforgettable spectacle for the fans. We wanted the viewer to experience the freedom of opportunity through the eagle and truly feel the power of the IPL and the celebration of great talent.”
Rahat Kulshreshtha, Founder and CEO of Quidich
Sunday’s use of Augmented Reality on the IPL finals marks a new beginning for the use of AR in cricket for creating new and immersive fan experiences.
The Star Sports Labs along with Quidich will be using this technology extensively to create more magical and memorable moments and take sports to a whole new level in the future.
QUIDICH INNOVATION LABS
The company behind the AR experience – Quidich Innovation Labs, is a leading broadcast technology company based out of Mumbai, India. Quidich offers special camera solutions on remotely operated systems such as buggies and drones globally. Quidich was the first company in the world to offer broadcast-grade Augmented Reality graphics on a live drone feed. Quidich specializes in computer vision, machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies, which form the bedrock of their latest proprietary player tracking solution, Quidich Tracker (QT). The company has been working alongside Star Sports for 5 years to enhance the visual and storytelling experience for cricket viewers globally.
iSportConnect speaks to Christoph Winterling, Commercial & Marketing Director at Bologna FC, to find out how one of Italy’s most historic clubs are trying to reinvent themselves from a commercial point of view, taking the club to a new level digitally.
Tell us about your early days in sport and your experience up to this point?
I started working in the sports industry in the late 90s for what is now called SPORTFIVE on the sponsorship team of Siemens Mobile in Europe, particularly Italy where they were the main partner for several clubs. For around ten years I was then working for other agencies and brands.
In 2009, I moved to Italy and started to work for Adidas as the Head of Sport Marketing. In my current role the knowledge of having worked for brands is crucial to understanding things, so I’m very thankful for the experience. AS Roma was bought by an American owner in 2012, who wanted to set up a more international structure and organisation and I was the Marketing and Commercial Director. After this experience I got in contact with Mr. Saputo, current owner of FC Bologna, where we immediately had a very good relationship and I joined in the same role here.
“We’ve made a lot of investment into infrastructure through our training centre and are looking to revamp our stadium very soon.”
Bologna’s a very historic club, we’ve got seven Serie A titles, albeit a long time ago, and had some difficulties prior to Mr Saputo coming in, but we are constantly growing from a commercial point of view. We’ve made a lot of investment into infrastructure through our training centre and are looking to revamp our stadium very soon, so it’s an exciting project with a lot of potential.
When you are heading up the commercial and marketing at a club like Bologna, what are the central areas that your role is focused around, because there are so many layers within that so what are your biggest priorities?
As the Commercial & Marketing Director I’m managing all of the different revenue streams. The biggest for us outside of TV rights are sponsorship, corporate sales, and ticketing, but there are lots of other activities we’re doing where we generate revenue. From the marketing department: marketing research, partner activation, brand development.
But then I also head up the stadium management. We’re not the owner of our stadium, but we manage it during the week, organising around 50 events a year, which has helped to drive a lot of tourists in recent years, which were of course affected by COVID.
“When I joined the club seven years ago, our main goal for our marketing strategy was to strengthen the relationship within our territory.”
The advantage of Bologna is that it’s in the centre of Italy. So for companies which are our sponsor and want to do an event in a football stadium, Bologna is good because every partner or company the client is working together with is here, that’s where the city has a big advantage.
As you say, it’s definitely not a small club and you have a 30,000 seater stadium, but since you’ve been with Bologna, how much has changed within the marketing department? What is your main focus – is it enhancing the experience for current fans or trying to create a bigger fanbase?
When I joined the club seven years ago, our main goal for our marketing strategy was to strengthen the relationship within our territory because, as you mentioned, we’re not a global club. We have appeal outside of Italy, thanks to the fact that we are playing in Serie A, but our core is local.
We started to develop a strategy with our partners to make them feel closer to the club. When you now see our stadium, the look and feel is completely in our club colours of red and blue. Partners love this because it shows the link they have with the club. For example, in the second row we have partner boards which are all red in blue, and we have our main partners featured there.
Bologna put their sponsor boards in the same colour as their logo to get the organisations closer to the club and the fans.
At Bologna we wanted to have our partners communicate more with our club, at this time we didn’t have a data system in place so it wasn’t easy to know our fans, but we started to create membership clubs across different age groups and use different initiatives also in the steam again for kids for our hardcore fans, so we wanted to work individually on on our fans, to bring them to bring them back and to enjoy the club in the best way possible.
In the meantime, we invested into data management via a CRM system to better understand our fans to communicate in a better way with them, and use this in a positive way with our partners. The focus was and is to be closer to our local territory and really understanding the needs of every single fan.
Are you trying to bring that via personalisation in your fan communications now that you are able to understand more about them?
This is really necessary because they all have different backgrounds, so it’s always good to understand what the fan needs to do then propose him or her the right thing. I think the fact also that we, besides our CRM investment, decided also to create different activities for different target groups.
That’s very interesting about the pitch side boards being in team colours because obviously every brand has their own logo and colours. Has there been any difficulty at all in selling to people that their logo might be on a different colour scheme to their brand guidelines?
Luckily we’ve had no issues because the partners understood the message we wanted to get across to our fans by being more credible. But also from our perspective many of the partners are from the local area so are supporters of the club. Therefore it’s probably easier to do this than perhaps for an international brand, but with our international partners it is yet to be a problem.
“We have a lot of services they can use on the app, such as live images from the game they can use as well as lots of information about the club that only the club gets.”
You mentioned Covid earlier as well, one challenge was the fact that we have a lot of partners who are also fans, so trying to keep them engaged when they couldn’t come to the stadium and bring employees or clients, because at the end of the day we also sell emotions. Fortunately, we created a lot of activities and a B2B platform on mobile where partners can communicate with each other. We have a lot of services they can use on the app, such as live images from the game they can use as well as lots of information about the club that only the club gets.
Has the way you approach commercial deals changed at all since Covid? Have you been experiencing many changes from your side when it comes to digital partnerships?
COVID was accelerating a process which was already in place before and we were able to increase the digital opportunities for our partners. The clients have now become more and more digital so we have to keep pace with them and offer them the right opportunity in the future via digital work, but I think what the match they can offer is still very important for our partners.
Leading on from that, In terms of a digital transformation what are the biggest changes you’ve been undergoing in the past couple of years to keep driving the club forward?
As a club we are only at the beginning. It will take some time to do a real digital transformation within the club, because it’s not only sponsorship, but communication, the finance department, administrative department and the sports department.
“We signed a deal with Socios a year ago for fan tokens and are now close to signing an NFT deal with a global company.”
We work together also with accelerated programmes where we would like to understand how the world is evolving to find the best opportunity for us to do this digital transformation. One of the most recent opportunities are NFTs, we signed a deal with Socios a year ago for fan tokens and are now close to signing an NFT deal with a global company. We’re also looking into the metaverse, which is a big, big discussion at the moment. Those are our most important digital projects.
What are the next steps for the club’s modernisation process then as you continue to develop the physical facilities and the internal processes?
Moving forwards we want to keep this capacity within the stadium but make sure it is modernised by bringing our main stand closer to the pitch, with more commercial activities inside the stadium like bars, restaurants, a museum and so on. We want this to be a smart venue and we’re working together with potential partners to create the best service possible for our fans.
We’ve got so much potential through our history and luckily an owner who supports us in planning a great vision. I hope that not only us but also Italian football can come back quickly to where it was 20 years ago. Some infrastructure can be improved but overall everyone wants Serie A to be managed well and competing at the highest level within Europe too.
Animoca Brands, the company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the metaverse, has become the latest sponsor of the iSportConnect Web3 Summit presented by Tezos.
iSportConnect’s Web3 Summit presented by Tezos will be taking place on the 28th and 29th of June 2022 at Emirates Stadium in London. Head to https://www.web3summit.sport/ for more information, the full agenda and to purchase tickets.
Animoca Brands is a leader in digital entertainment, blockchain, and gamification, and works to advance digital property rights. It develops and publishes a broad portfolio of products including the REVV token and SAND token; original games including The Sandbox and Crazy Defense Heroes; and products utilizing popular intellectual properties including Disney, WWE, Snoop Dogg, MotoGP, and more.
“The transition to Web3, the advent of true digital ownership, and the formation of the open metaverse are already under way and will impact all industries.”
The company has multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, Lympo, Forj, Darewise, Eden Games, Grease Monkey Games, nWay, and GAMEE, among others. It also has a growing portfolio of more than 200 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralized projects that are contributing to building the open metaverse, including Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), and many others.
Yat Siu, the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “The transition to Web3, the advent of true digital ownership, and the formation of the open metaverse are already under way and will impact all industries. The iSportConnect Web3 Summit is an ideal forum to learn about the exciting new trends that will reshape the future of sports.”
“For anyone familiar with the space, Animoca Brands needs no introduction. It isplaying an integral part in funding, building and guiding next-generation organisations that have Web3 technologies and the metaverse at their core,” said Joe Condon, Commercial and Marketing Lead for the iSportConnect Web3 Summit.
“We’re extremely well aligned in our goal of helping sports organisations through this transition, and we’re absolutely delighted we can have Animoca Brands involved on 28/29 June.”
The 2022 IIHF Annual Congress has allocated tournaments for the upcoming season including the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship that will be co-hosted by Tampere, Finland and Riga, Latvia. The 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship will take place in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland.
Worlds return to Tampere & Riga
The Congress approved a joint bid of Finland and Latvia to host the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship replacing St. Petersburg after the hosting rights had been withdrawn from Russia.
The next Worlds will take place at the biggest venues of two of the world’s most passionate hockey countries in Tampere and Riga from 12 to 28 May 2023.
Finland and Latvia are ready to fill in at short notice and will use the organizational experiences and staff from the 2021 and 2022 editions. “It is a privilege and we are grateful to jointly host the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship,” Finnish Ice Hockey Association President Harri Nummela said about the bid of the two Baltic Sea nations.
“We are happy for your trust and are ready to host the World Championship with the best conditions for the teams and the best atmosphere for the fans,” said Latvian Ice Hockey Federation President Aigars Kalvitis.Nokia Arena in Tampere is planned as main venue of the Finnish-Latvian bid to host the 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
The newly opened Nokia Arena in Tampere will serve as the main venue as per the ongoing 2022 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship and will host one preliminary-round group, two quarter-finals, all semi-final and medal games. Up to 11,695 fans have filled the arena during the current tournament and in total 219,124 have come to the 30 games in Tampere.
For co-host Latvia it will be the chance to host the World Championship with fans since last year’s event had to be played in mostly empty arenas due to Covid-19 restrictions. Arena Riga with a capacity of up to 9,550 spectators will serve as the Latvian venue same as in 2006 and 2021 and will host one preliminary-round group and two quarter-final games. Fan zones are planned next to both arenas. Latvia is well-known for its passionate fans travelling to the World Championship and thanks to them also had the second-highest average attendance at the current World Championship only behind host Finland.Arena Riga hosted the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in 2006 when it was opened and in 2021.
Riga and Tampere are 501 kilometres apart and connected with a 70-minute direct scheduled flight between the two cities. Teams who have to move to the cross-over quarter-finals or to the semi-finals will be transported with charter flights.
Originally there was a second co-hosting bid of Budapest, Hungary and Ljubljana, Slovenia with a site visit by the IIHF already conducted this month. However, Hungary withdrew the bid on 23 May due to lack of government guarantees, which was acknowledged by the IIHF. Therefore no vote was needed but two countries still used the opportunity to present the bid for future considerations mentioning 2028 as a potential year and receiving encouraging ratings for their bid and passion.
Switzerland to host in 2026
The Congress approved Switzerland as host country of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, which will take place in Zurich and Fribourg from 15 to 31 May 2026. The Swiss were originally slated to host in 2020 but the tournament got cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions. No vote was needed as the only other applicant, Kazakhstan, had earlier withdrawn its bid.
The Swiss Life Arena in Zurich, which will open later this year in the Altstetten district of the city, will serve as main venue for the event. The arena will offer a seating capacity for 11,200 fans for ice hockey and have the largest video cube of an ice arena in Europe. Zurich is the country’s most populous city with 400,000 inhabitants in the city and 1.5 million in the canton.
About a 90-minute car or train ride away, Fribourg will serve as secondary venue for the event. The city of 40,000 (320,000 in the canton) is at the German-Swiss language border and well known as a hockey town in Switzerland. The BCF Arena that was renovated and extended in recent years offers a capacity for 7,100 fans and was sold out for all games in the past season.
The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships of the upcoming years:
2023: Tampere (Finland) & Riga (Latvia), 12-28 May 2023
2024: Prague & Ostrava (Czechia), 10-26 May 2024
2025: Stockholm (Sweden) & Herning (Denmark), 9-25 May 2025
2026: Zurich & Fribourg (Switzerland), 15-31 May 2026
