Lega Serie A’s Arabic-language YouTube channel is becoming more and more attractive. Starting from matchday 24, all ten Serie A matches will be broadcast, only in the MENA region, until the end of the season. Of these, nine will be commented from IBC in Lissone and one directly from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).
One match for each matchday will also see the creation of a pre- and post-match studio directly at the stadium and in Arabic: the first major event will be the Derby di Milano Inter- AC Milan on Saturday 5 February at 6 pm. This will be followed by Napoli-Inter on Saturday 12 February at 6 pm and Juventus-Torino on Friday 18 February at 8.45 pm.
The pre and post-match coverage of the Milan derby will be conducted by Ghazy M M Elamry, with former Inter and AC Milan player Francesco Coco. For the occasion, the big match Inter- AC Milan will not only be broadcast in Arabic but also in English.
Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo said: “Given the steady growth of Lega Serie A’s YouTube channel, which is the number one football league channel in the world in terms of subscribers, we have decided, in agreement with the clubs, to further exploit its potential in the MENA region, which has always had many fans of our league.
“Thanks to the technical possibilities offered by the new IBC in Lissone we will offer spectators the full Serie A spectacle and a great pre and post match event for a big match in every round of the championship, starting with the Derby of Milan. We are confident that this major production effort will bring further international value to our brand and allow us to increase our fan base in a very important area”.
The UEFA Executive Committee has today appointed TEAM Marketing as its global sales partner to market the commercial rights for its men’s club competitions, including the flagship UEFA Champions League, for the 2024-27 cycle. Relevent Sports Group has also been appointed to sell the media rights specifically in the United States for the same period.
The new format of UEFA club competitions post-2024 carries significant commercial opportunities and this was reflected in the quality of the bids received during a comprehensive tender process conducted together with the European Club Association (ECA) over the last few months.
TEAM Marketing will provide creative and sales support in the global marketing and sale of the commercial rights, including media, sponsorship and licensing rights, together with the provision of account management and associated services for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, UEFA Super Cup and, the UEFA Youth League for the 2024-27 cycle.
Relevent Sports Group will be solely responsible for the sale of the media rights of these competitions in the United States.
These deals will guarantee increased revenues for participating clubs and bigger solidarity payments for those teams who have not qualified to take part in European club competitions, as well as providing UEFA with significant funding to invest in the development of the sport at all levels across the continent.
Commenting on the agreement, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: “We are pleased to have seen such high-level interest from renowned parties and are delighted that the agreements reached with TEAM Marketing and Relevent Sports Group will allow further distribution of revenues to clubs across Europe at such a crucial time when financial stability is needed.
“Both companies delivered a compelling vision for European club football and we are convinced that the world’s best club football competition – the UEFA Champions League – and our other men’s club competitions will continue to go from strength to strength. I would also like to thank the European Club Association for the great cooperation during this highly intense bid process.”
McLaren Racing and Official Partner Castore, the premium British sportswear brand, today announced the launch of the 2022 team replica apparel range, featuring replica versions of the all-new official McLaren Formula 1 team apparel.
The range will be added to throughout the 2022 season, with the release of various performance, fanwear and limited-edition collections designed and produced by Castore.
Accompanied by a launch film featuring McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, the range marks the beginning of What It Takes, a 2022 Formula 1 season-long campaign showcasing the synergies between two brands who pride themselves on challenging convention in the pursuit of improvement.
The range features hero products including driver fanwear t-shirts with the team logo and respective LN4 and DR3 tags, and a fanwear hoody with brushed interior for warmth. The McLaren Racing x Castore replica range will mirror the kit worn by Lando and Daniel throughout the 2022 Formula 1 season.
The McLaren Racing x Castore range will be available to purchase from Friday 11 February on a new end-to-end ecommerce platform provided by Castore at mclarenstore.com.
Lindsey Eckhouse, Director of Licensing, ecommerce & esports, McLaren Racing, said:
“We’re delighted to be working with Castore to launch our new fanwear and replica team kit for the 2022 F1 season. Castore have truly embraced McLaren’s appreciation of bold and brave design, creating a range that we believe our fans are going to love.
“The What It Takes campaign marks a perfect union of McLaren’s Fearlessly Forward team ethos with Castore’s Better Never Stops, and we’re excited to move into a new era together pushing the boundaries and striving for innovation.”
Tom Beahon, Co-founder, Castore said:
“With an ethos of ‘Better Never Stops’, Castore was created to push the boundaries of technical sportswear and do what it takes to push athletes and teams forward. This ambition is clearly echoed by our partner McLaren Racing. F1 is the perfect place for Castore to showcase our beliefs and we are thrilled to be taking these bold next steps in automotive alongside a brand and partner that shares our demand for excellence and unwavering commitment to innovation.”
Following an extensive feasibility study, which assessed the potential opportunities in international football, the football associations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have agreed to focus on a bid to host UEFA EURO 2028, the third largest sports event in the world.
In a statement released by the FA, the organisation says:
The feasibility study included an analysis of the economic impact, the political football landscape and likely costs of hosting major international tournaments. On balance, the five associations have decided to focus solely on an official bid to host UEFA EURO 2028, and have agreed not to bid for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
Hosting a UEFA EURO offers a similar return on investment, with the European tournament carrying a far lower delivery cost and the potential of the benefits being realised sooner.
It would be an honour and a privilege to collectively host UEFA EURO 2028 and to welcome all of Europe. It would also be a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the true impact of hosting a world-class football tournament by driving positive change and leaving a lasting legacy across our communities.
We believe the UK and the Republic of Ireland can offer UEFA and European football something special in 2028 – a compact and unique five-way hosting collaboration that will provide a great experience for the teams and the fans. We continue to collaborate with our Government Partners of the UK and Ireland about the next steps.
iSportConnect: This is a very interesting development potentially signalling that the UK’s football associations believe they have a much better chance of securing the 2028 Euros rather than the World Cup of 2030, otherwise it is plausible to assume they would have pursued the latter.
After the Euros last summer where UEFA trialled the multi-country approach with numerous cities around Europe hosting tournament fixtures (to limited success, particularly due to the Covid pandemic) the competition will revert to a sole-nation hosting in 2024 in Germany.
The Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and FINA President Husain Al-Musallam today announced an agreement for Hungary’s capital city to hold a FINA World Championships from 18 June – 3 July 2022.
The agreement ensures athletes have a global aquatics championship to target in the summer of 2022. The agreement was reached after approval from the FINA Bureau today.
FINA and key stakeholders of the Fukuoka 2022 Organising Committee jointly agreed last week to move the FINA World Championships from 13-29 May 2022 to 14-30 July 2023 due to the current health impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant and the pandemic measures currently in place in Japan.
“As an aquatics community, we are finding solutions around the pandemic and today’s announcement is an important step in this process,” FINA President Husain Al-Musallam said. “We know we need to be imaginative in our approach in navigating through the current health crisis for our athletes. Today’s agreement is a testament to this work. FINA also recognises that the pandemic is evolving differently according to time and place. We are extremely fortunate to have event hosts that share our passion for aquatics and have the willingness, capability and flexibility to organise FINA’s most prestigious event. We are deeply grateful to all our hosts and know that aquatics athletes feel the same way.”
“With four FINA World Championships and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games over the next four years, we are maximising the racing opportunities and earnings potential for established and emerging aquatics athletes alike,” FINA President Al-Musallam added.
A regular stop for FINA Swimming World Cup, FINA Water Polo World League and FINA World Series events, Budapest previously hosted the FINA World Championships in 2017. That event saw 12 world records set in the pool during an event that drew record-breaking numbers of spectators and television viewers.
This FINA World Championships is set to feature five FINA aquatics disciples: swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and open water swimming. FINA will continue to work towards similar event programming for high dive athletes and masters competitors.
FINA continues to consult athletes and stakeholders on the schedule for the FINA World Championships in Doha, Qatar and more information will follow as soon as possible.
The city of Bilbao, Spain, has been awarded the hosting of the 2022 Basketball Champions League Final 4. The season-ending tournament will be organized from May 6-8, 2022 and signals the first time the arena of a non-participating team is selected as host.
The four teams that will qualify out of the Quarter-Finals will participate in the pinnacle event of Basketball Champions League’s sixth season, which will be played in a single-game knock-out format over the first week of May in Bilbao, the 10th largest city in Spain. The games are set to take place in the Bilbao Arena (10’000 seating capacity), regular home court of Surne Bilbao Basket.
As part of this host city announcement, the logo of the 2022 Final 4 has also been unveiled:
“We are very excited to have Bilbao host the Basketball Champions League Final 4. We are grateful to the city of Bilbao, the Spanish local and regional authorities, the Spanish Basketball Federation and the ACB for their commitment to help us organize this event in the best and safest way possible for all stakeholders, especially the players and the accompanying members of all qualified teams. We have acknowledged the fervour of the city to organise this historical event and we look forward to working together to deliver a fantastic season-ending tournament,” said Patrick Comninos, CEO of the Basketball Champions League.
“Despite the challenging situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to award this Final 4 to an environment that has proven experience in organizing top-level basketball events. This will guarantee a unique weekend of basketball for fans across Europe,” he added.
The Mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, is very pleased with the holding of this event in Bilbao: “Once again, Bilbao proves to be an attractive city for major international sporting events”.
“Bilbao will host this great event of basketball at the Bilbao Arena and I hope that both fans and all those who visit us can enjoy a fantastic event, and also take advantage to know and discover our city, our gastronomy, our shops and our traditions,” he added.
“For the Spanish Basketball Federation, it is a great pleasure and honour to see Bilbao hosting the Final 4 of the BCL, a great competition where Spanish teams usually perform very well,” proclaimed Jorge Garbajosa, President of the Spanish Basketball Federation and FIBA Central Board member. “Organising such a major event is no easy task, but in such a great arena, and with the expertise of the local authorities of Bilbao, with the support of Surne Bilbao Basket club and all relevant stakeholders, the ACB league and the Spanish Basketball Federation, we will do our best to organise the best event possible. The level of the previous editions of the Final 4 or Final 8 will be challenging to match, because they were excellent events, but we will do our very best to help this competition to develop and grow this year as well,” he added.
Antonio Martin, ACB President and Member of the BCL Board declared that “having the BCL Final 4 at Bilbao is a great news for Spanish basketball. Bilbao will be a perfect host, has a great arena and the city is perfectly suited for an event that grows every year”.
The Round of 16 has started on January 25 and will conclude on March 23, 2022.
A Draw will determine the Quarter-Finals, that will be played over the month of April, and Final 4 brackets and will take place on March 25. The event will be livestreamed on championsleague.basketball.
The Semi-Finals will be played in Bilbao on May 6, with the Third-Place Game and Final scheduled for May 8.
The event will be organized in accordance with the FIBA Return to Play Protocol and the relevant regulations applicable by the Spanish authorities. The decision concerning the presence of fans in the arena will be taken at a later stage and in accordance to the rules and regulations set by the Spanish official authorities.
UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organisation and bet365, have announced an extension of their partnership that names bet365 the exclusive ‘Official Betting Partner’ of UFC in the UK and Ireland, following a successful collaboration in 2021.
As part of the agreement, fans will be treated to top-class MMA content as UFC and bet365 reveal the launch of a new YouTube show entitled ‘One on One,’ hosted by UFC analyst and commentator Laura Sanko. Sanko brings her exceptional MMA insight as she sits down with some of the best MMA fighters in the world. The show will include behind the scenes action as well as fight previews, reviews, and feature-based content.
In addition to this bespoke content, bet365 will also be placed in front of UFC’s fanbase as it features in select UFC digital content distributed across the promotion’s social media platforms. This includes fan favourite series ‘If you don’t know, now you know,’ hosted by UFC President Dana White.
“After such a successful 2021 with bet365, we’re looking forward to expanding our partnership to include the creation of new digital content for our fans this year,” said Nick Smith, Vice President of Global Partnerships at UFC. “This is the continuation of what we believe will be a long relationship with bet365.”
A bet365 spokesperson commented on the partnership: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with UFC in a year that sees the organisation return to the UK with live events. We are looking forward to giving Laura Sanko an additional platform to engage with the UFC fan base and show her technical insight and analysis.”
The agreement also includes visibility for the sports betting organisation on UFC FIGHT PASS, the leading digital subscription service for combat sports, as it becomes the presenting partner of the Cage Warriors playlist on UFC FIGHT PASS. bet365 branding will also have visibility within the world-famous Octagon® at select UFC events.
The DP World Tour has announced that Hero MotoCorp will be the Title Partner for the upcoming Ras Al Khaimah Team Challenge – which will now be known as the Hero Challenge.
The Hero Challenge is a one-day exhibition event that will be played on Tuesday February 8 at Al Hamra Golf Club. It will feature 26 teams of two professionals per team playing over nine holes in a classic Scramble format. The event takes place in the build-up to the Ras Al Khaimah Classic, which takes place from February 10-13, and as part of this agreement, Hero MotoCorp will also be an Official Partner of the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.
Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, is a big supporter of innovation in golf and the DP World Tour in particular. This includes its existing Title Partnership of the Hero Indian Open and the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews. The upcoming exhibition event is the latest in a series of Hero Challenges that take place on the DP World Tour each season, which see the world’s best players compete in unique challenges and competition formats.
Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said; “Golf has rapidly gained popularity on the world stage, and yet there is a constant need to push the envelope and bring innovation to attract younger audiences. Hero MotoCorp has been one of the largest promoters of multiple disciplines of sports around the world for more than two decades now, and Golf remains a key focus for us. The Hero Challenge has been one of our initiatives as part of this commitment. We are delighted to be the Title Partner of this unique one-day exhibition event. As part of this collaboration, we are also happy to be an Official Partner of the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.”
Guy Kinnings, Deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer of the European Tour group, added; “Hero MotoCorp have been a key partner in our drive to introduce innovative new formats into the game of golf. Whether it’s setting new Guinness World Records or bringing players together for fun exhibition events, our series of Hero Challenges are attracting more fans to the game. The Hero Challenge in Ras Al Khaimah will certainly be a unique test for the world’s best players, with a classic Scramble format no doubt leading to some remarkably low scoring.”
UEFA has released the thirteenth edition of The European Club Footballing Landscape report, its annual club licensing benchmarking report on European club football.
One of the starkest findings of the report is that the majority of the lost revenues, €4.4bn and counting, comes from lost gate receipts, with this revenue stream almost wiped out (88% down) during the financial year 2020/21 as a result of empty stands from the health emergency. Gate revenues contributed just 2% of club revenues across Europe, down from 16% pre-pandemic.
Naturally, the loss of gate receipts has had a profound impact on overall club finances. The report shows that the overall pandemic impact effect on club revenues over the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons is expected to be €7 billion.
But the publication shows that two key forms of club income remain strong. The report shows healthy television revenues in 2021, after disruption and rebates in 2020. In addition, the new UEFA club competition rights cycle (2021/22–2023/24) has seen further growth in broadcast rights revenue.
€1billion in youth investment Prize money will increase to over €2.7bn per year, to be shared among the 96 clubs participating in the three club competitions. Solidarity payments for youth development to clubs not qualifying for UEFA club competitions, are projected to increase by more than 60%. Since the start of the UEFA Champions League, more than €1billion has been distributed to more than 1,500 clubs and academies across Europe for youth investment purposes.
The report also shows that players aged 23 or under accounted for 55% of total transfer spending (by value) across Europe’s 20 largest transfer markets, compared with a ten-year average of 47%. This suggests that clubs increasingly believe that value can be found in younger players, given their resale potential.
Women’s focus
The report includes a dedicated and detailed chapter on the growth and status of women’s football in Europe. It shows that a major contributing factor in the growing commercialisation of the women’s game is the increased exposure gained through match broadcasts. Twenty of Europe’s 42 top divisions now have structured domestic broadcasting deals in place across a range of media platforms.
There is also a new players section. Among the wealth of information contained within, it shows that among the Big 5 leagues, Italy’s Serie A clubs used the most players on average, fielding an average of 30.9 players, four more than clubs in the Premier League. LOSC Lille fielded the fewest players (21) of all clubs in the Big 5 leagues, with only Sweden’s Halmstads BK using fewer (20) overall. By contrast, FC Schalke 04 used 42 players, the most of all the Big 5 league clubs, while Russia’s PFK Tambov fielded an extraordinary 50 players over the course of their league season. The report also simulates the likely impact of new FIFA regulations on European clubs.
Aleksander Čeferin, looking ahead: “One lesson of the past two years has been that it is only by showing solidarity and working together that European football can overcome existential challenges such as the pandemic. That was also a lesson drawn from the so-called Super League project. The self-interested actions of a misguided few were thwarted by the unity of European football – fans, clubs, players, and national associations.
“This report provides sobering details of the post-pandemic challenges that await us, but it also illustrates the remarkable robustness and resilience of European football, with its unified approach. Ultimately, the pandemic will only make us stronger. The COVID crisis has also highlighted to what extent football is part of the fabric of European life. Football was a true lifeline for many. I will make no bold predictions for the year ahead, except to say that, whether the pandemic stays or goes, European football will remain strong, stable, and united in 2022.”
