BLAST Premier Expands Global Reach With DAZN Media Rights Partnership

Counter-Strike tournament series to be broadcast across DAZN’s global streaming service in biggest esports partnership

Esports entertainment company BLAST has expanded its global broadcast reach after agreeing a media rights partnership with DAZN Group, the leading global sports entertainment company, for 2022.

The partnership will amplify BLAST Premier, meaning the global Counter-Strike tournament. The series will be available across over 100 of DAZN’s territories, live and on-demand, including United Kingdom, Japan and USA. 

Last year DAZN broadcast over 27,000 sporting events across 956 million hours of streamed content to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide and it is the first fully integrated global sports entertainment platform. 

As part of the deal, DAZN will broadcast BLAST Premier’s remaining five events of the year including the Spring, Fall and World Finals that are all set to be hosted in major arenas in key locations around the world.

DAZN will broadcast next week’s Spring Final (15-19 June), which will be hosted in Lisbon’s Altice Arena – the biggest indoor arena in Portugal and one of the biggest in Europe. 

Alexander Lewin, VP of Distribution and Programming at BLAST, said: “We’re thrilled to team up with one of the world’s biggest and most respected sports streaming services in DAZN. Our overarching aim is always to ensure BLAST Premier is available and accessible in as many regions around the world as possible, this partnership is helping us to achieve that goal with BLAST now broadcast in 154 territories and in 25 languages. Our partnership with DAZN in over 100 markets is testament to the current global demand for BLAST Premier and the high production quality.”

Tom Burrows, DAZN EVP Rights, DAZN Group said, “DAZN is committed to making a broad range of sport more accessible to an ever-increasing number of fans and this is a great opportunity to partner with BLAST Premier and broadcast the Counter-Strike tournament series on our platform. There is a fast-growing market for esports and the series is a great fit for DAZN while we continue to expand our offering and become the ultimate sports destination platform for fans. 

BLAST Premier is the world’s leading 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.

UFC And VeChain Announce Historic Global Marketing Partnership

UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization, and VeChain, the leading global sustainability-focused blockchain Foundation, today announced a first-of-its-kind long-term partnership that breaks marketing ground for both brands.

VeChain will become UFC’s first-ever Official Layer 1 Blockchain Partner, providing the blockchain Foundation with an unprecedented level of integration into key UFC assets, ranging from live events, including broadcast features and in-arena promotion, to original content distributed through UFC’s popular digital and social channels. Through UFC’s far-reaching global footprint, VeChain will have meaningful brand visibility within an estimated 900 million TV households in 175 countries that receive UFC’s broadcasts.

“It is a historical moment when VeChain, the Layer 1 public Blockchain with the most enterprise adoption, joins forces with the fastest growing sport to raise awareness that blockchain technology is critical in helping deliver major global objectives, such as sustainability,” said Sunny Lu, co-Founder and CEO of VeChain.  “This is just the beginning of a multi-year relationship with UFC, and we really look forward to changing the world together.”

“VeChain is a globally recognized leader in blockchain technology, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome them as an Official Marketing Partner of UFC,” said Paul Asencio, UFC Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships. “VeChain’s expertise in using real-world blockchain applications to help the public and private sector achieve their carbon-neutral goals is an effort we are proud to support.  We’re looking forward to working with VeChain to leverage UFC’s worldwide popularity to promote a positive message that blockchain technology can be used to protect our environment for future generations.”

VeChain is a pioneer of real-world blockchain applications, with international offices in Luxembourg, Japan, China, Singapore, France, Italy, Ireland, San Marino, and the United States. Strong independent developmental capabilities combined with the professional compliance guidance of strategic partners PwC and DNV has seen VeChain establish partnerships with many leading enterprises, including Walmart, Bayer, BMW Group, BYD Auto, LVMH and more.

The VeChainThor public blockchain is unique in that its technologies have been adopted commercially at enterprise and government levels across various industries. Their technology has the power to radically transform the global economy by greatly enhancing data transparency and security while facilitating unprecedented collaboration using ‘trustless’ data enabled by blockchain. In addition, VeChainThor is mainstreaming applications across industries ranging from sustainability, carbon management, supply chain & logistics, medicine, energy and others.

BRANDED INTEGRATIONS AND ENTITLEMENTS

As UFC’s first-ever Official Layer 1 Blockchain Partner, VeChain will receive one of the deepest integrations within premier UFC assets of any sponsor in UFC history.  First, VeChain will own UFC’s official fighter rankings titleship, UFC Rankings Powered by VeChain. This unique and new integration offers VeChain incredible visibility across live broadcasts of UFC’s biggest events– its Pay-Per-Views– as well as UFC digital and social channels.  The integration also provides VeChain with a strong association with one of the most important components of UFC matchmaking—the fighter rankings.

VeChain’s prominence at UFC’s live events will be reinforced with two additional high- visibility activations.  VeChain will have a branded presence inside UFC’s world-famous Octagon® at all 42 UFC events annually and the 10-event Dana White’s Contender Series.  VeChain will also be promoted in-venue at all UFC events, highlighted by frequent, dynamic branding on UFC Fight Deck, the new pioneering LED decking displays that are positioned around the Octagon and enhance the spectacle of UFC events by incorporating thrilling lighting effects, graphics, animation, video, and more.

In addition, UFC and VeChain will collaborate on a variety of custom and original content featuring UFC talent and athletes that will be distributed across UFC’s popular social media channels and digital platforms, reaching nearly 200 million followers worldwide.

Among other branded activations, UFC will also provide VeChain with unique access to UFC’s state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Performance Institute and APEX, to develop once-in-a-lifetime corporate activities and events, and UFC and VeChain will partner to create VIP sweepstakes promotions for fans to attend UFC’s biggest events.

UFC athletes will also benefit, as the agreement provides for an annual Brand Ambassador fund that will offer significant paid marketing opportunities to participating UFC athletes.

VeChain-branded assets will debut this Saturday, June 11, during UFC® 275: TEIXEIRA vs PROCHAZKA at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.  The event marks the first numbered UFC Pay-Per-View to be held in Southeast Asia and also features the region’s first UFC championship bouts, as UFC world light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira takes on No. 2 Jiri Prochazka, and UFC world women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko faces No. 5 Taila Santos.

Fanatics Collectibles And Topps Announce Comprehensive College Trading Cards Program With More Than 100 New University Partnerships 

Fanatics Collectibles, the trading cards and collectibles division of Fanatics, and Topps, its cornerstone sports trading card brand, announced new broad-scale college physical and digital trading cards deals with more than 100 of the top universities nationwide. These agreements will include both exclusive and non-exclusive co-branded trading card products, incorporating official university trademarks and featuring current student-athletes and former athletes playing in the NFL, NBA, and MLB.

Topps has secured multi-year, exclusive rights with more than 35 institutions and a majority of the Power 5 Conference schools – including Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Penn State, Texas A&M, and others – to create official trading cards products combining official university trademarks with name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights from both current student-athletes and former players. These agreements will take effect between 2023 and 2025. Additionally, later this year, Topps will kick off a scaled, non-exclusive program to design, manufacture and distribute trading cards showcasing current college football and basketball student-athletes for the above schools and more than 100 additional institutions, including Oklahoma, Duke, North Carolina, Iowa and Syracuse.

“Fanatics has been closely monitoring the ever-evolving NIL landscape, and we felt this was the perfect time to launch multiple, strategic college trading card programs that will allow schools and current student-athletes to create new levels of direct engagement with fans across hundreds of the top programs nationwide,” said Derek Eiler, Executive Vice President, Fanatics College. “There are tremendous opportunities for this untapped area of the hobby and to expand further across the collegiate sports landscape.”  

As part of the expanded offering, Topps has separately secured NIL trading cards rights with nearly 200 student athletes across college football and basketball, including 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young (Alabama), CFP National Champion winning QB Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Bo Nix (Oregon), Caleb Williams (USC) and highly touted incoming men’s basketball players Dereck Lively II (Duke) and Nick Smith Jr. (Arkansas). Topps has also signed several premier women’s college basketball stars, including the 2022 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Champion and Tournament Most Outstanding Player Aliyah Boston (South Carolina). These trading cards will be released under Topps’ BowmanU brand beginning this fall.

“This collection is the first offering of officially licensed collegiate cards featuring current athlete NIL rights. We’re thrilled at the opportunity to launch these comprehensive programs that combine premier student-athletes and elite institutions to create a best-in-class collegiate trading card product for fans and collectors,” said Dave Leiner, Topps Global Vice President and General Manager.

Fanatics Collectibles was launched in 2021, after securing exclusive, long-term trading cards rights from several leading players associations and professional sports leagues. In January, Fanatics acquired Topps, the iconic trading cards brand that has serviced fans, collectors, and retailers for over 70 years.

“I’m so excited to team up with Fanatics and Topps on this new trading card partnership, which will allow me to create an even deeper level of engagement with fans and collectors everywhere,” said USC Quarterback Caleb Williams.

Leading college licensing agency CLC arranged the trading card licensing elements on behalf of most of the participating universities.

Extended UCI And Warner Bros. Discovery Partnership Signals Exciting New Era For The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has selected Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) to deliver a new vision for mountain biking which will see the leading global media and entertainment company combine all its assets and expertise to elevate the sport and reach a new global audience. 

To deliver a completely new vision for the future of mountain biking, the UCI will harness WBD’s global scale and vast media platforms, as well as collaborate with two of the company’s specialist organisations. This will see Discovery Sport Events join forces with the Enduro Sports Organisation (ESO Sports) to deliver the organisation, media production and broadcast, promotion and commercialisation of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Discovery Sports Events, the global promoter and event management leader, will extend its relationship with the UCI to help promote the sport in support of further growing its global audience. ESO Sports, the owner and operator of the Enduro World Series and in whom WBD recently invested, will drive the project to globally unify mountain biking and elevate it to new levels, in collaboration with the UCI. 

Building on mountain biking’s popularity, this new approach will also bring innovations to the on-site and on-screen fan experience in order to continue growing the fanbase and improve the global footprint of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

David Lappartient, UCI President, said:

“I am elated by our partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, which will take our UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to the next level. Discovery Sports Events has already worked wonders with track cycling – thanks to the innovative UCI Track Champions League – and I know that the exciting discipline of mountain bike will also benefit from their expertise, their in-depth understanding of the expectations of athletes and fans, and the increased exposure that this partnership will bring. Mountain bike will get the impetus it deserves as we work together for the future of this vast and varied discipline.” 

Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said:

“Extending our relationship with the UCI to support the next phase of development and growth for mountain biking fits Warner Bros. Discovery’s expertise and ambitions perfectly. We will bring the scale of our global broadcast, streaming and online platforms to engage millions of people with the sport, as well as the capabilities of Discovery Sports Events and ESO Sports. Together they have the expertise and tools to develop the sport, alongside the understanding of the intricacies and existing strengths of mountain biking that are essential to best support the mountain bike community and grow the sport.”

Alongside the Olympic Games, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup forms the pinnacle of the sport and sees the world’s best riders compete in multiple cross-country and downhill events throughout the season. Taken together, WBD’s cycling portfolio of content – across Eurosport, GCN+, GCN, EMBN, GMBN, discovery+ and more – already features more than 200 professional events across road, track, BMX, cyclo-cross, mountain bike, as well as all Olympic cycling disciplines.

Discovery Sports Events also partnered with the UCI as the founding global promoter who devised and delivered the game-changing UCI Track Champions League which launched in 2021. 

The agreement concludes a period of exclusive negotiations and follows an extensive competitive tender. Further details around the 2023 season and calendar will be announced soon.

Extreme E Returns To Sardinia For Double Summer Showdown; Extends Partnership With MEDSEA Foundation

After the first X Prix of Extreme E Season 2, the Championship now moves from the deserts of NEOM to the historic Capo Teulada area of Sardinia, with just one month to go until the on track action gets underway on the Italian island.

Extreme E returns to Sardinian soil for the Island X Prix, again co-organised by the Automobile Club Italia and, for the first time, there will be a double-header event, with two rounds in one week (6-7 and 9-10 July 2022). The series was created to raise awareness about the effects of climate change and sustainable solutions in the most remote corners of the planet, but Sardinia has shown that the problem does not only concern places located at the most extreme latitudes.

Alejandro Agag, Founder and CEO of Extreme E, said:

“After an extended break, it is exciting to return to racing once again especially with our first ever double-header event. On track action at our first X Prix of Season 2 in NEOM was spectacular and we hope our two rounds in Sardinia will prove to be just as captivating as the drivers face a totally different kind of challenge.

“We are delighted to be returning to Sardinia, which held our maiden European event last year. It was a dramatic Island X Prix which only added to Sardinia’s rich rallying history and pedigree, while off course the region will highlight some of the issues facing Europe and the wider world. We will be revisiting our legacy programmes focused on restoration of some of the areas hit by wildfires as well as showcasing electric vehicles and clean energy solutions.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Automobile Club d’Italia, the Region of Sardinia, the Ministry of Defence and the Italian Army which has been supporting us every step of the way.”

XP2104 094133 04A1176

The event will be returning to the Season 1 location of the Army Training area at Capo Teulada in Sulcis-Iglesiente, an historic area situated in the south-west of the island.

The Teulada route is ideal, providing a challenging backdrop for the course which will measure around seven kilometres. Due to the hot summer conditions in July, the terrain will be much dryer than last year’s Island X Prix with the drivers having to navigate a harder, more compact surface riddled with rocks, bushes, and dry riverbeds cracked from the heat.

Extreme E has been working closely with Automobile Club d’Italia – the national sports federation co-organising and coordinating the event – the Region of Sardinia, and its Tourism Department plus the Ministry of Defense and the Italian Army to deliver what promises to be a week of double the racing and double the excitement.

Automobile Club d’Italia president Angelo Sticchi Damiani said:

“Motor racing and competition are the combination that fuels new solutions for sustainable mobility towards zero emissions. Italy, thanks to Sardinia and the perfect scenery of its uncontaminated territory, is also a world protagonist for this great technological challenge, hosting no less than two stages of Extreme E, the toughest race for so-called zero-emission vehicles.

“ACI expresses satisfaction and pride for the confirmation of Italian motorsport’s ability to constantly face and guide the evolution of competitions and this complex race reserved for off-road vehicles.”

AstroPay Become Wolves’ New Principal Partner

Wolves have entered into a landmark agreement with AstroPay, who become the club’s new principal partner and front of shirt sponsor.

The global payment solutions provider began working with Wolves in August 2021, and following a successful first season of partnership, AstroPay have committed to becoming the club’s principal partner for the 2022/23 campaign.

This exciting new partnership will see AstroPay branding feature on the front of all Wolves shirts next season, including the men’s and women’s first-teams, and under-23s, as well as the full range of replica kits across all ages.

Furthermore, the innovative new deal will also see AstroPay support and feature on the playing shirts of the club’s European esports teams. Esports is a key area of growth for both AstroPay and the club, and this alignment was an important factor for both parties when agreeing this unique deal.

Founded in 2009, AstroPay is a pioneer in global payment solutions. With a strong presence and extensive experience in delivering payment solutions in emerging markets, AstroPay is now available worldwide and serves customers in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The company has offices in the UK and Latin America, and boasts more than six million users, 1000 merchants and in excess of 200 payment methods available globally.

Mikael Lijtenstein, AstroPay CEO, said: “We have built a great relationship with the club over the year and are pleased to be very much part of the Wolves family, one of the most successful clubs in domestic English history with 13 major trophy wins.

“They are a perfect fit for AstroPay and the partnership further solidifies our growth strategy, particularly in terms of increasing our visibility in wider European market. We look forward to continuing to work together, hopefully for many seasons to come.”

On the partnership, Russell Jones, Wolves’ general manager for marketing and commercial growth, said: “We are delighted to announce this new partnership with AstroPay, who are a multi-award winning company, specialising in providing payment solutions in over 150 countries.

“As a forward thinking and fast-growing brand, we know AstroPay have enjoyed the exposure and reach that the Premier League brings. This is their first move into principal front of shirt sponsorship, and it gives me immense pride that they have chosen Wolves.

“Their progressive attitude and ambitious growth plans have seen them win significant market share in both Asia and Latin America – two areas where Wolves has developed a strong following but also harbours extensive growth ambitions for 2022/23.

“We have already started working with our colleagues at AstroPay to align our marketing plans. The first step will be unveiling the AstroPay logo on our men’s and women’s first-team shirts for season 2022/23. We can also confirm that AstroPay will adorn the full range of replica shirts (adults and juniors), when available in-store and online.”

OneFootball And Argentina Football Distribution Team Up To Bring Argentina’s Top League To Fans Worldwide

OneFootball and Argentina Football Distribution LLC (AFD) have today announced a new distribution partnership to bring Binance Torneo de la Liga Profesional de Fútbol matches to millions of fans around the world via AFA Play. 

The multi-territorial deal will now give Argentina’s top division’s global fanbase flexible access to a suite of live matches and highlight clips directly on the OneFootball platform (available on App/Web), featuring top teams such as River Plate, Boca Juniors, Racing Club and many more. 

Argentina Football Distribution operates the OTT streaming service AFA Play,  which broadcasts Argentine Primera División matches abroad. With this deal, AFD and AFA Play will tap into OneFootball’s vast user base of 100m highly engaged, passionate football fans and the platform’s innovative single-game pay-per-view feature to further grow the international coverage for Argentina’s top tier.

Offering both paid and free options, content will be available for OneFootball users in over 130 markets around the world, including France, Italy, the UK, Germany and Southeast Asia, among others. Up to five live games per matchday will be made available on a pay-per-view basis for €1.99 per match (or equivalent currency) for the 2022 and 2023 season, in addition to free on-demand match highlights and video compilations for all matches after full time. On-demand content will also be available via the OneFootball distribution network, which includes over 230 premium publishing partners globally.

Argentine Primera División is the latest competition added to OneFootball’s global portfolio of football competitions made available for live streaming through either distribution partnerships such as Brasileirao Serie A (via Brasileirao Play) or select rights acquisitions such as a landmark deal for the international rights to 9 European football leagues (via European Leagues).

This cooperation also builds on OneFootball’s and the Argentine Football Association’s existing partnership for other video content, as well as the recently announced NFT partnership which will see OneFootball bring fans of the Argentine national team into the world of Web3 with unique, officially licensed digital assets.

Nikolaus von Doetinchem, Vice President OTT Streaming & Media Rights OneFootball, said:

“At OneFootball, we are always looking for ways to bring our community more accessible and flexible ways to experience the world’s best leagues. This deal with AFA Play is a major milestone that further complements our OTT portfolio of live matches and highlights on OneFootball, including in some of our core markets such as Germany, Italy, the UK, and Spain. It’s all about putting the fans first and we’re glad to have found another partner with AFD that has the same mindset. We’re excited to be bringing the iconic Argentine Primera División and AFA Play to new audiences across the globe and are looking forward to further deepening the partnership with Argentine football across Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 in the future.”

Ignacio Galarza, President at AFD, added:

“AFD’s goal is to boost the international distribution of the Liga Profesional de Fútbol de Argentina all around the world. We are thrilled to team-up with an innovative company like OneFootball, because this agreement is a significant step to reach new territories and younger audiences that are core demographics of OneFootball subscribers: Gen Y and Gen Z.”

Barclays Women’s Super League And Barclay’s Women’s Championship Rebranded; Isuzu UK Named New Title Sponsors Of FA Trophy And FA Vase

The Football Association can today confirm the beginning of a new era for the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship with the launch of a new visual identity and name change ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The rebrand will also see the naming convention altered for the two competitions, with ‘The FA’ dropped from the title of both the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship. This represents the long term strategy for the leagues to be under new ownership in the future, with this process ongoing. 

The 2021/22 campaign saw unprecedented interest in the women’s professional game, with Sky Sports and the BBC driving visibility in the first season of the new broadcast deal announced last year, while commercial interest continues to grow – highlighted by Barclays renewing their sponsorship of the Women’s Super League and becoming the new title partner of the Women’s Championship from next season.

The sponsorship of the Women’s Championship for the first time and renewed commitment to the Women’s Super League last year sees the organisation’s cyan colour added to the refreshed brand to better align the two competitions.

The refreshed branding will be activated immediately, with all assets associated with the two leagues being updated and available to download from today.

Kelly Simmons, the FA’s Director of the Women’s Professional Game, said:

“We’ve seen tremendous strides made in the women’s professional game since it turned professional four years ago, which meant we needed a refreshed branding that reflected that progress.”

Isuzu UK become new title sponsor for the FA Trophy and FA Vase

England’s two leading non-league competitions will now be known as the Isuzu FA Trophy and the Isuzu FA Vase from today and into the 2022-23 season, as Isuzu UK look to become the driving force behind grassroots football.

The Isuzu FA Trophy is open to clubs playing in Steps 1 to 4 of the FA’s National League System, which are the four tiers immediately below League Two of the EFL, and the Isuzu FA Vase is open to clubs at Steps 5 to 6. The round dates, clubs accepted and any exemptions for both competitions will be announced in July 2022.

The Finals of both competitions are to be held at the home of English football, Wembley Stadium connected by EE, in May 2023. Last season’s ‘Non-League Finals Day’ attracted a crowd of 46,111 people who witnessed two exciting games where Newport Pagnell won The FA Vase and Bromley lifted The FA Trophy.

Isuzu dealerships all across the county will be getting actively involved with their local clubs, with several having already started making preparations for local sponsorship deals, placement of advertising boards and promotional matchday activations.

Our commercial director Navin Singh said: “We’re really excited to welcome Isuzu onboard as both a partner and title sponsor of the FA Trophy and the FA Vase. These competitions involve National League System teams across the length and breadth of the country, and Isuzu’s commitment to this level of the game and extensive network of dealerships will help to support them next season and beyond.”

Meanwhile, William Brown, managing director of Isuzu UK, added: “We’re extremely delighted to announce our new partnership with the FA and the title sponsorship of the FA Trophy and FA Vase competitions.

“We know that a local football club can often be the heart of a community, being run by volunteers and supported by local people and this is something that, along with the Isuzu dealer network throughout the country, we’re pleased to support.

“We’re looking forward to actively supporting the teams involved in the two competitions and being the driving force behind grassroots football. We can’t wait to kick off the new season.”

E. & J. Gallo Winery Announced As Official Wine Sponsor Of NFL

The NFL and E. & J. Gallo Winery announced Wednesday that Gallo will be the official wine sponsor of the NFL.

The multi-branded, multi-year agreement makes Gallo the official wine sponsor of the NFL. The partnership is uniquely structured to engage NFL fans and will include opportunities for local team activation, player imagery and appearances, on-site presence at premiere events, and broadcast, digital, and social content from NFL Kickoff through the Super Bowl.

Barefoot, America’s most loved winery, will kick-off the partnership. Barefoot brings more consumers into the wine category than any other brand thanks to its long-standing efforts to demystify wine and make it accessible to everyone through inclusivity and celebration.

“Gallo is thrilled to be uniting America’s most loved winery with America’s most popular sport,” said E. & J. Gallo Chief Marketing Officer, Stephanie Gallo.

She added, “As an industry leader our role is to welcome new consumers to the wine category in unique and relevant ways. This partnership will do just that by bringing our avid fan bases together. The notion of togetherness seems more relevant now more than ever.”

“We are excited to partner with E. & J. Gallo to bring more choices for our fans,” said Tracie Rodburg, NFL senior vice president, sponsorship management. “We look forward to pairing E. & J. Gallo’s extensive portfolio of wines, including its iconic brand Barefoot, with our fans, clubs and premiere events for memorable NFL experiences.”

Through this partnership, Gallo will implement 360-degree programming, creating surround sound for its brands all the way throughout the consumer purchase journey.

Over the years, through acquisitions, strategic partnerships, and new brand innovations, Gallo has continued to expand and diversify its portfolio across all price points to meet growing consumer demand and evolving preferences. This tradition continues with Gallo as the Official Wine Sponsor of the NFL.

Infront X Restructures Leadership Team For Future Growth

Infront X has announced today a number of changes to its leadership that will take effect in June 2022, in line with the company’s strategy to design and deliver digital experiences with the maximum commercial potential for our clients in the sports and entertainment industry.

The company will introduce a new Executive Leadership team composed of Joel Speier in the newly created Executive Chairman role, Joni Lockridge who will be promoted to Chief Operating Officer, Krishnan Ramachandran remaining as Chief Financial Officer as well as a new Chief Commercial Officer role which the company is currently hiring for.

Philip Sharpe, who has been successfully managing Infront X’s core business together with Krishnan Ramachandran as Managing Director & COO since early 2021, has decided to retire from his position in mid-July.

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Group said: “The new leadership structure of Infront X with Joel at the helm, supported by Joni and Krishnan, brings together an experienced team of complementary backgrounds. This sets the company up for continued growth and will benefit clients seeking to maximize the commercial potential of their digital assets in the rapidly changing market.”

“I would like to congratulate Joel and Joni for taking on their new roles, and I sincerely thank Phil for his leadership and commitment for the past 7 years and wish him all the best for the future. Our clients, internal teams, and the sports industry have all benefited from his efforts,” Blatter continued.

Joel Speier has been a long-standing member of the Infront management team for more than ten years until 2021. Most recently he was leading the Group’s Strategy, Business Development and M&A unit. In this role, he worked closely with major sports rights holders worldwide on commercial rights partnerships and oversaw Infront’s M&A activities, including Infront’s investments in multiple sports technology companies. Prior to his long tenure at Infront he worked with the NBA and Merrill Lynch.

Joni has been with Infront X since 2016, most recently serving as VP of Business Strategy & Operations. She will draw from her sports and digital experience with brands, rights owners, and professional service organizations to grow and evolve an Infront X team who is already known as one of the most trusted development and delivery partners in sports. Prior to Infront X, Joni led Digital Strategy at the PGA of America and the Solutions team at Definition 6 in Atlanta. Joni has been named “Manager of the Year,” “Client Service Person of the Year,” and “Unified Marketer of the Year” at various organizations and started her career with a coveted MBA Internship position at Nike World Headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

Joel Speier, incoming Infront X Executive Chairman added: “Infront X is uniquely positioned as the only player with a long-track record and a clear focus on the sports vertical. Our ability to design and deliver technology-agnostic solutions that achieve tangible and measurable commercial results for clients complements what the industry has always known about Infront X– that our teams can handle the most complex timelines, integrations, and implementations.”