Red Bull Racing Connects With Communications Technology Giant Poly

Red Bull Racing announces its official headset and video conferencing hardware partner Poly for 2022 and beyond.

While victory in Formula One often depends on the lightning-fast decisions made in the cockpit and on the pit wall, success is equally dependent on a team’s ability to make the right connections in every area of the business – between driver and engineer, garage and factory, and among the departments that deliver a winning performance each season. And with communication and collaboration being the key to victory, Red Bull Racing is excited to partner with Poly.

With a long history of innovation, Poly continues to push the boundaries as a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, with audio, voice, and video products that ensure every word and gesture are captured with precision, clarity and focus, no matter how extreme the environment or how complex the working conditions.

Poly’s pro-grade communications gear will be implemented across Red Bull Racing’s operations, with its headsets being used by Red Bull Racing team members throughout the 2022 Formula One season and beyond. Its category defining audio, voice, and video solutions will also allow each of the team’s departments to collaborate more closely and more efficiently in the future.

Red Bull Racing Team Principal and CEO, Christian Horner, said: “A World Championship winning Formula One Team is made up of hundreds of people working in unison, though they are often separated by thousands of miles. As such, it’s vitally important that we have clear lines of communication in every area of the business, bringing our entire team together, no matter where they are in the world. Poly’s category defining suite of audio, voice and video solutions will help us to find the competitive edge we need to win.”

Poly CEO, Dave Shull added: “We are thrilled to partner with Red Bull Racing as they build-off of their success from last season. This partnership unites two global organizations focused on performance and innovation.  As the 2022 season kicks off, Red Bull Racing will rely on Poly’s premium audio and video technology to ensure every word and gesture is captured with precision and clarity, delivering a reliable collaboration experience in support of their business, from any location in the world.”

BLAST Premier Announces Two-Year Partnership Extension With EPOS

Leading esports tournament organiser BLAST Premier has announced a two-year partnership extension with premium audio peripherals provider, EPOS. 

EPOS became BLAST’s official audio partner in February 2020 and the extended deal will ensure the brand continues to receive global exposure across the tournament organiser’s seven events this year, reaching an audience of over 150 territories in 18 different languages.  

The partnership will build on the successes of 2021, with the continuation of the ‘Push to Talk’ podcast series into a second season. The series sees hosts and popular Counter-Strike figures Conner ”Scrawny” Girvan and Mohan ”Launders” Govindasamy dive deep into exclusive interviews with the best CS:GO players, whilst discussing the spiciest ‘Hot Takes’ in the industry and answer fans’ most interesting Counter-Strike questions. 

Throughout the partnership, BLAST and EPOS have highlighted the power of audio and the  key role it plays at the top level of Counter-Strike, with the implementation of premium gaming headset H6PRO throughout the broadcast. This is encapsulated by the popular ‘Mic’d Up’ broadcast segment, providing esports fans with a unique insight into how elite players communicate with each other during the most important moments in-game. 

The announcement comes off the back of two recent partnership renewals, following Coinbase and CS.MONEY. With BLAST continuing to increase the value of its global partnership portfolio in line with future growth plans.

Oliver Clarke, Head of Brand Partnerships for BLAST, said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with EPOS as we go into the new season and beyond, establishing long-term relationships with our partners is a key part of our commercial growth plans. Since last year, we have showcased the importance of audio in providing a competitive edge and look forward to bringing this to life in new ways during 2022.” 

Maja Sand-Grimnitz, Director of Global Marketing, Gaming at EPOS, said: ”We’re really excited to extend our partnership with BLAST for the coming two years. As the past two years have already shown, the BLAST Premier and EPOS brand are a great fit, and we can’t wait to show the power of audio through a lot of exceptional events throughout 2022 and 2023. 

“The BLAST Premier Fall Final in November really showed the value and great opportunities in physical events, and we especially enjoyed seeing our new H6PRO Series activated in the arena. Even after two years we still see this partnership offer endless opportunities to deliver great results to BLAST and EPOS but most importantly all the fantastic esports fans around the world.“

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. 

Pakistan Cricket Board Combines With Fox Sports To Show PSL In Australia

The Pakistan Cricket Board today joined hands with Fox Sports to telecast its home international fixtures and the HBL Pakistan Super League in Australia. With the broadcast deal, the Pakistan cricket fans and supporters down under will be able to watch the upcoming edition of HBL PSL and the one to be played next year, along with all international home cricket till April 2023 on Fox Sports on Foxtel as well as Kayo Sports (Foxtel Group’s sports streaming service). Foxtel Group now has more than 2.4 million sports subscribers allowing PCB access to the largest audience of sports fans in the country across Foxtel and Kayo. 

This partnership is part of the PCB’s strategy and vision to take top-flight cricket in Pakistan in every corner of the earth after it signed deals with Etisalat (Middle-East and North Africa), Flow Sports (Caribbean), Sky NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports (United Kingdom), Sony (South Asia outside Pakistan), Super Sports (Sub-Saharan Africa) and Willow TV (North America).

The PCB has also partnered with OTT platforms ICC TV and tapmad TV to broadcast the HBL PSL 7 in all unexploited territories as well as Australia. The countries where the HBL PSL 7, which begins on Thursday, can be watched on the two platforms are: Andorra, Antarctica, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bouvet Island, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Christmas Island, Cocos Island, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, East Timor, Ecuador, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Faroe islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guyana, Heard Island, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgystan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, North Korea, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vatican City, Vietnam and Venezuela.

The HBL PSL 7 will be played in Karachi and Lahore. The league’s Karachi-leg will see 15 matches staged at the National Stadium, while the last 19 matches will be played at Pakistan’s home of Cricket, the Gaddafi Stadium.

Papa Johns Heats Up With New Scottish Rugby Partnership

Global pizza delivery brand Papa Johns is marking its 20th year in Scotland through a new commercial partnership with Scottish Rugby.

The multi-year sponsorship will see the company become Scottish Rugby’s official pizza and takeaway partner in a deal that will be focussed on supporting the adult and youth community and club game in Scotland.

Through the new partnership, Papa Johns will also become the naming rights partner for the hugely successful ‘Tartan Touch’ programme, which has enabled people of all ages and abilities to experience an abbreviated form of rugby either as their introduction to the sport or as a fun social activity for experienced players.

Papa Johns branding will be first seen at Scotland matches played by both the men’s and women’s team during their respective 2022 Six Nations’ competitions.

Founded in 1984 in the USA, Papa Johns has become one of the world’s most recognisable pizza brands with over 500 stores in the UK alone.

Papa Johns will this year celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first store in Scotland which opened at Glasgow Broomhill in 2002. Since then, the brand has continued to grow and there are currently 30 stores serving delicious slices to Scots all over the country.

Scottish Rugby’s Group Head of Commercial and Sponsorship, Toni Blackhurst said:

“There has been a huge growth in the home food delivery market in recent years and as such we are delighted to secure a key player in Papa Johns for a multi-year deal as our official pizza and takeaway partner.

“Their ambition to support our community game across Scotland and specifically to be directly associated to Tartan Touch shows how attractive rugby is as a sport at a grassroots level. Tartan Touch has been one of Scottish Rugby’s real success stories in recent years and this has enabled us to seek and secure a title sponsor in Papa Johns.”

Speaking on the latest announcement, Giles Codd, Senior Director of Marketing said:

“This partnership with Scottish Rugby is a truly brilliant opportunity for Papa Johns to support grassroots rugby in Scotland. We have been so impressed with Scottish Rugby’s commitment to boosting local communities through sport, and the Tartan Touch programme is the true embodiment of that. We are very excited to witness the difference that rugby can make for people of all ages and abilities.

“With the Guinness Six Nations about to get underway, there really is no better time for this announcement to come and we look forward to engaging with Scottish rugby fans as an official partner of Scottish Rugby.”

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WTT Signs SEA Broadcast Deal With Eclat Media Group For SPOTV

Today, World Table Tennis (WTT) announced its latest broadcast agreement for Southeast Asia with Eclat Media Group, further highlighting the sport’s remarkable growth and appeal in recent years.  

The three-year partnership starts immediately and includes the following markets: Brunei, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Macau (non-exclusive), Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand (non-exclusive) and Vietnam. WTT and SPOTV will work closely together to reach new audiences across a region of over 670 million people.

The South Korean group secured exclusive rights for all WTT events – including the World Table Tennis Championships – on SPOTV, its linear television channel and streaming platform.

WTT unveiled the first part of its 2022 calendar earlier this week, featuring an ambitious list of events with the ultimate objective of making table tennis stronger, more attractive, and more global. Oman joins the WTT Series for 2022, hosting WTT Contender Muscat in February, and the first-ever WTT Grand Smash is scheduled in Asia in March. Players will then return to the Middle East with WTT Feeder Doha, WTT Contender Doha, and WTT Star Contender Doha to be played consecutively.

WTT Senior Media Director Melissa Soobratty said: “We are delighted to welcome SPOTV to the WTT family. Southeast Asia is a significant market for WTT, and we look forward to partnering with SPOTV to build a new era for table tennis in the region.”

Mitchell Hong, Chairman of SPOTV and CEO of Eclat Media Group, commented: “Table tennis is an Olympic sport with a massive following in Asia. SPOTV is the platform for key sporting events, and we welcome WTT as a partner to deliver the best table tennis content to our fans in this part of the world.”

SPOTV runs two regional sports channels, SPOTV and SPOTV2, and is currently distributed across territories in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia (MNC Vision, K-Vision, UseeTV, MAXStream), Malaysia (Astro, Unifi TV), the Philippines (Skycable), Singapore (Singtel TV, StarHub TV), Thailand (TrueVisions), and selected East Asia territories such as Macau (Macau Cable TV), and Mongolia (Univision). Its streaming platform, SPOTV NOW, is scheduled to be launched later in 2022.

By broadcasting globally renowned sports properties such as MotoGP, Wimbledon, US Open (tennis), The Open Championships, Badminton World Federation Events, and World Table Tennis, SPOTV seeks to be an inclusive and dynamic platform that profoundly engages the Asian sports fan.

IMG manages the global distribution of broadcast rights for all WTT events and TV production coverage. 

Hyperice Becomes The Official Recovery Technology Of The Global IRONMAN Triathlon Series

IRONMAN today announced that Hyperice, a global high-performance wellness brand, have entered into a new long-term, global partnership making Hyperice the Official Recovery Technology of the Global IRONMAN Triathlon Series. After a near 10-year successful relationship across the U.S. region between IRONMAN and Normatec, which Hyperice acquired in March 2020, Hyperice is expanding its partnership with IRONMAN to cover all global IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events and will focus on integrating Hyperice’s full suite of technology-driven recovery products.

“Recovery is a critical piece of the athlete journey. We are thrilled to partner with Hyperice, which will give our community access to industry-leading technology that will be paramount in ensuring our athletes achieve their goals,” said Matt Wikstrom, Chief Partnerships Officer for The IRONMAN Group.

https://twitter.com/IRONMANtri/status/1486021051238662145?s=20

Beginning this year, Hyperice will have a presence at IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 events beyond the finish line with ‘Official Hyperice Recovery Zones’ to help athletes recover immediately post-race. Further, Hyperice products will be available within the official IRONMAN Merchandise stores on-site, offering athletes and spectators the opportunity to demo and purchase products.

“Competing in an IRONMAN race is a marker of success for every endurance athlete,” says Jim Huether, CEO of Hyperice. “We have a long-time relationship with IRONMAN beginning with Normatec and now is inclusive of our full-suite of wellness products. Together we have a shared mission to help athletes compete at the highest levels.”

Since its inception, Hyperice has worked closely with athletes and sports organizations in its product and technology development and has existing partnerships with major professional sports organizations and teams including the NBA, NFL, MLB, PGA TOUR, UFC, and U.S. Soccer Federation. The partnership with IRONMAN marks an important step for the brand into the endurance sports space. Together, IRONMAN and Hyperice seek to demonstrate the importance of recovery for athletes of all levels from professionals to recreational athletes, through the benefits of Hyperice’s extensive product portfolio.

Brazilian Football’s Paulista Teams Up With Stats Perform

The Paulista Football Federation (FPF) has now appointed an official betting and data rights partner for the Paulistão Championship and all other FPF competitions.

Stats Perform, the global sports tech leader in data and AI Technology, has secured exclusive rights to distribute audio-visual streaming and data rights to sports betting companies and betting shops worldwide outside of Brazil. The deal was led by LiveMode, the FPF’s commercial partner for all broadcasting and sponsorship rights and brokered by Zeus Sports Marketing (ZSM), an experienced London and Singapore based international media agency who is one of Stats Perform’s trusted commercial partners.  Stats Perform and ZSM already have a deep involvement in Brazilian Football as the official betting and data rights partners with the CBF for the Brasileirão Serié A and Serié B football leagues.

“We are delighted to make this amazing partnership in an area still very little explored in Brazil,” Reinaldo Carneiro Bastos, PFF president, said in a statement. “We keep working hard to bring more and more innovation and technology to all our competitions,” he continued.

The agreement, unprecedented in Brazil, will last for four years and follows the trend already developed by some of the most important leagues in the world, such as the NFL, NBA and other major soccer leagues worldwide. The Federation and LiveMode studied the best practices of these leagues and, together with Stats Perform, will implement the same steadfast measures in FPF competitions, such as enhanced stadium access control.

“Like many of the other major sports properties in the world, we believe that game data is a vital intellectual property of clubs and championships,” said Mauricio Portela, LiveMode Senior Partner.” This agreement will allow the exploitation of the full potential that these data have.”  The agreement kicks in with the start of Paulistão Sicredi 2022.

Commenting on the new agreement, Alex Rice, Chief Rights Officer of Stats Perform, said, “This latest partnership is a testament to the exceptional portfolio of football rights held by our company. Stats Perform is extremely proud to deliver such an outstanding collection of Brazilian football betting and data rights to sit alongside its existing long-term relationship with CBF/ Brasileirão.”

Having brokered this commercial arrangement, ZSM’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, Josh Burack, added, “ZSM has developed excellent relationships in the betting and data sector, with this latest set of rights in Brazil adding to our strong mix. We are delighted to have further strengthened our agency’s growing presence in such an important segment of the marketplace while adding value to FPF, partner agency LiveMode and our long-term client Stats Perform.”

Binance Sign Five-Year Deal With Argentine Football Association

Cryptocurrency platform Binance has unveiled a new deal with the Argentine Football Association that will see them become a five-year sponsor of the national teams.

“Soccer and cryptocurrencies are life in Argentina, so it makes sense for Binance to partner with the Argentine Football Association,” said He Yi, Co-Founder and CMO of Binance.

“Through this agreement, we hope to support Argentine soccer at all levels and introduce Binance, the crypto world and the blockchain to soccer fans across the country and the world.”

Claudio Tapia, AFA President, stated: “Binance meets all the conditions we are looking for. A leading global brand in its field, innovative and with a vision of creating new digital assets,”

“We are very happy to incorporate Binance as a commercial partner of the AFA. An alliance that, without a doubt, will generate excellent results for both parties.”

However, there is some controversy around the deal, as Socios.com claim that via their Chiliz cryptocurrency, which last year signed a deal with Argentine football’s top division and has stated it will be contesting the deal as it is in breach of their deal.

WTT Signs Shuijingfang as a Global Premier Partner

World Table Tennis announced today that it has agreed terms with Shuijingfang as a Global Premier Partner.  

WTT heralds a new era for table tennis events, merging sport and entertainment. Shuijingfang, as one of China’s top baijiu (Chinese rice wine) brands, will support WTT’s efforts to offer fans and spectators a unique experience, and to reach new audiences with the finest hospitality services. Shuijingfang will be the exclusive provider of baijiu at all WTT events. 

The publicly listed company has kept traditional brewing techniques dating back to 14th century and operates the oldest continuous operating drinks plant in China. This 600-year-old distillery is open as a museum and is one of the top things to do as visitors to Chengdu. The ninth generation of baijiu masters continuously strive to perfect winemaking while drawing on the brand’s excellence for innovative breakthroughs to refine a historical legacy.

“I’m delighted to welcome Shuijingfang as WTT’s Global Premier Partner, a partnership that is sure to be filled with anticipation and pleasant surprises,” said Matt Pound, WTT Managing Director. “Shuijingfang will work closely with WTT and our table tennis fans to further develop the sport, conveying China’s table tennis culture and sportsmanship to the world. At WTT events, spectators will catch the world’s best players in action, but also enjoy a premium hospitality experience.”

The Global Premier Partner is WTT’s highest level of partnership and will get premium visibility at all WTT events around the world.

Zhu Zhenhao, Shuijingfang CEO, said, “Shuijingfang has long had an affinity with sports, and it is a great honour to partner with WTT on this journey. With Shuijingfang’s creed of ‘Champion by Quality’, we will pay tribute to the Chinese Table Tennis Team who has bagged countless brilliant achievements over the years, as well as to the players who demonstrate what it is to be ‘Champions in Spirit’ on the field. We look forward to working with WTT and driving global table tennis to brand new heights.”

WTT is part of the ITTF Group, the umbrella organisation of table tennis, along with the sport governing body known as the ITTF, and the ITTF Foundation as the social responsibility arm. The three entities propel the ITTF Group to inspire sustainable Table Tennis growth worldwide, through engagement, innovation and passion.