The BCCI Announces The Two Successful Bidders And Locations For New IPL Franchises

The BCCI has today announced where the two new IPL franchises will be located and the winning bidders following the recent tender for the teams.

The Governing Council of the IPL had issued an Invitation to Tender (“ITT”) to acquire the right to own and operate 2 (two) new franchises. Pursuant to the tender process, various interested parties submitted their bids for the new franchises. The bids were submitted by the authorised representatives of the interested parties at Dubai today. 

BCCI is pleased to announce the following successful bidders (subject to definitive documentation and other formalities being completed):

1.     RPSG Ventures Ltd. – Lucknow (for INR 7090 crores – USD 940 million approx).

2.     Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) – Ahmedabad (for INR 5625 crores – USD 750 million approx).

The new franchises will participate in IPL from 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play 7 home and 7 away matches. 

BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly said: “The BCCI is happy to welcome two new teams from the next season of the Indian Premier League. I would like to congratulate RPSG Ventures Ltd. & Irelia Company Pte Ltd for being the successful bidders. The IPL will now go to two new cities in India viz in Lucknow and Ahmedabad. It is heartening to see the inclusion of two new teams at such a high valuation, and it reiterates the cricketing and financial strength of our cricket ecosystem.

“True to IPL’s motto of ‘Where Talent Meets Opportunity’, the inclusion of two new teams will bring more domestic cricketers from our country to the global stage. The ITT process included two interested bidders from outside of India, which strongly emphasises the global appeal of the IPL as a sports property. The IPL is proving to be a wonderful instrument in globalising the game of cricket. I am keenly looking forward to IPL 2022.”

Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI said: “It is a momentous day for all of us and I formally welcome RPSG Ventures Ltd. and Irelia Company Pte Ltd. into the IPL fold. We had promised that IPL will be bigger and better from the 15th season and with Lucknow and Ahmedabad, we will take the league to different parts of India. The IPL has established gold standards for leagues across the world and remains a premium event on the sporting calendar as it has grown rapidly in a short span.

“Despite numerous challenges posed by COVID-19, the 13th and 14th seasons were completed, and the bids prove that interested parties have faith in BCCI and its hosting capabilities. I am thrilled for the people of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat as the long wait is over and they will now have their own IPL team. My best wishes to the two new teams.”

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Brijesh Patel, Chairman, IPL said: The level of interest among the interested parties prove that IPL is among the most sought-after sporting leagues in the world. We had bids from different parts of the world and from parties with diverse portfolios wanting to make a foray into the world of sports. I extend my heartiest congratulations to RPSG Ventures Ltd. and Irelia Company Pte Ltd. for securing the rights to operate the two teams. We had a wonderful 14th season and the 2022 season will see a new beginning.

Arun Singh Dhumal, Honorary Treasurer, BCCI said: The fact that winning bids were way above the base price set for the two new IPL franchises is a direct indication of the true value of the Indian Premier League. We received tremendous interest after the ITT was floated with many conglomerates putting their hat into the ring. I congratulate RPSG Ventures Ltd. and Irelia Company Pte Ltd. for placing the highest bids and winning the rights to own the IPL teams. I also thank all the bidders for showing faith in the BCCI and IPL. This is the start of an exciting chapter, and I can’t wait for the big auction to see how the new teams shape up.

IMG To Distribute The Global Media Rights To The PGL Stockholm Major 2021 This Month

Tournament organiser PGL has appointed IMG to distribute its media rights globally for its PGL Stockholm Major 2021, one of the highest-profile events in esports in 2021. The tournament will mark the sixteenth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Major Championship and the first time since 2014 to be held in Sweden. 

Making its long-anticipated return, the PGL Stockholm Major 2021 will take place between October 26 – November 7, 2021. The playoffs, held between November 4 and November 7, will be hosted at the iconic Avicii Arena with an expected attendance of more than 16,000 fans.

Silviu Stroie, PGLCEO said: “The PGL Stockholm Major is set to be the esports spectacle of 2021 with the most competitive fields to date. Partnering with IMG will ensure this exciting event is seen as widely as possible by esports fans across the world.”

Joe Jenkins, Commercial Manager, IMG’s media business, commented: “There is huge appetite and excitement amongst the counter-strike community for this event following last year’s cancellation due to the pandemic. Set to be distributed in 25 languages, we are delighted to be working with PGL to ensure the widest possible audience for the PGL Stockholm Major 2021 and a number of new territories for the sport.” 

The prize money will be doubled to a $2 million – the largest prize pool in CS:GO history. Twenty-four teams across the globe will qualify in three different tiers; Legends; Challengers, and Contenders. 

Headline teams: Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, Furia Esports, Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, Nantus Vincere and Gambit Esports. Click here for complete list of teams.  

Track Night Announces New Partnership With At The Races

Ground-breaking virtual horse racing event provider Track Night has been helping transform get-togethers over the past 12 months, and now the brand is excited to announce a new partnership with At The Races. This new partnership will allow Track Night to feature races from the UK’s leading racecourses, helping to create an even more engaging event.    

With the popularity of virtual events rising significantly over the past 18 months, Track Night has been transforming how friends, family and colleagues celebrate together. The innovative game brings an exciting night at the horses direct to your home, allowing everyone to host a virtual race night over Zoom. 

The highly engaging evening lets people place virtual bets, watch races and compete to see who will come top of the leaderboard. Great for groups of all sizes, from several players up to 400, Track Night is the perfect solution for birthday parties, celebrations, and virtual office parties. 

After a highly successful year, Track Night is excited to confirm a new partnership with At The Races. As the rights holders for race footage from the UK’s leading racecourses, this new partnership will allow the game to feature even more footage from these iconic tracks, helping to create an even more immersive and engaging experience.  

Mike Campbell, CEO at Track Night added, “We have been blown away by the response we have had to Track Night over the last year. Our fun and engaging evenings are the perfect virtual event for any celebration, and this new partnership with At The Races will help to ensure we can deliver an even stronger and more engaging experience to our customers.”

Olly Stokes, Commercial Online Manager at At The Races commented,“We are proud to partner with Track Night and help further enhance their customers’ virtual race evening experience. We’ll be providing race footage from a host of our racecourse partners via our Sport Mediastream (SMS) platform. Our SMS platform launched in 2013 and is integrated with over 60 betting operators and media partners, and it’s great to be able to add Track Night to our array of partnerships.”

The RFU Announce Plans To Bid For 2025 Rugby World Cup

Since England last hosted the RWC in 2010 and won it in 2014, women’s rugby has grown exponentially with World Rugby stating the women’s game is the single biggest opportunity to grow the sport globally. 

The Red Roses are the number one ranked team in the world and the RFU has grown female participation in England from 13,000 to 40,000 registered players in clubs, with a growing pipeline of 80,000 girls playing in schools, colleges and universities.   

“Securing RWC 2025 would add to the impressive list of major sporting events that the UK has attracted since London 2012 reinforcing the UK’s international reputation as a leading major events’ destination and a global leader in promoting women’s sport,” said RFU Chief Executive, Bill Sweeney.  

“As well as providing great economic returns, hosting the tournament would help to further promote rugby as an inclusive sport and provide a springboard to narrow the gap between male and female participation.”

For the 2025 bid The RFU plans to adopt a multi-city and multi-region approach to delivering the tournament. This hosting model will facilitate great opportunities for people living in different parts of the country to attend the tournament, promoting rugby and enhancing participation in the sport nationwide.    

A central theme to the bid will be to deliver a legacy programme in parallel to the tournament from 2022 to 2025 for growing the women’s game across the country. The legacy programme will focus on three key strands: Creating capacity through facility development and the recruitment of female coaches and referees, creating a multigenerational legacy through a call to arms for more young girls and University women to play, and for women who didn’t have the opportunity to play to become fans, and to support international development within the home unions. 

The legacy programme will see facilities standards improved to enhance the experiences females have in hundreds of clubs through investment in facilities the programme will modernise toilet facilities, upgrade changing rooms and develop social spaces in clubs across the country.

Grassroots education and mentor programmes will aim to attract 500 new female coaches, 1,000 match officials and 60,000 new registered players.

Through partnerships with universities the legacy program will recruit and retain players and plans to create 300 club leaders of the future with activities including the staging of a Festival of Rugby event engaging 2,500 students and 150 club transition events.  

With the aim of attracting more fans of women’s rugby in the build up to 2025 renewed effort will be put on marketing and encouraging fan attendance at Allianz Premier 15s matches and club houses will be opened up to hosting female events to encouraging women who have never played or watched rugby to see rugby clubs as a place they would like to visit.

The RFU is also committed to growing the English game leading into 2025 and has created two new roles to focus on implementing an ‘Every Rose Action Plan’.

International development will see investment into women’s elite rugby directed through the Home Unions to support the development of 120 female coaches and 30 female referees. The focus on female coaches and referees will improve the player experience across the Home Nations, with high level coaching fundamental to developing competitive players and top-level match officials necessary to facilitate a high-quality league and support the growth of an underrepresented cohort in elite rugby. The long-term ambition is to drive up standards in the domestic teams to enable England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland to all qualify for RWC in 2029 for the first time in over 20 years.

A study by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) demonstrated hosting the RWC in 2025 would be of benefit to the local economies of host venues around the country through job creation as well as services provided and the RWC could boost the economy by £156.25m with projections of an economic return of £5 for every £1 invested.   

The Legacy Programme could generate an estimated £86m. The values attributed to the legacy programme are based on increasing female participation in rugby and volunteering in the sport, combined with evidence on the contribution of community sport and physical activity in England to the five outcomes identified in the UK Government strategy for sport.

Sue Day, RFU Chief Operations and Finance Officer and former England Women’s Captain who represented England at three World Cups and won three grand slams said: “Securing a bid to host the Women’s RWC would be incredible. We want to leave a lasting legacy for women’s rugby in England the UK and across the world, both in terms of attracting more people to play and attracting new fans. As we have seen from other home World cups in Cricket, Hockey and Netball a RWC would further advance all women’s sport and nothing would beat watching the Red Roses compete in front of a full capacity crowd at Twickenham Stadium.”

Subject to securing sufficient private and public sector funding, the final bid submission will go to World Rugby for consideration in January 2022.

Mengniu Becomes Official Sponsor Of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

Mengniu, one of China PR’s leading dairy product manufacturers, has entered into a partnership with FIFA to become an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

Mengniu, which was previously an Official Sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ , will activate branding and promotional activities in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ stadiums, as well as and will also have  activations across FIFA’s online and mobile channels, in its role as an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

Speaking about the announcement of Mengniu as Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said: “We are delighted to welcome Mengniu back as an Official Sponsor of the FIFA World Cup. Mengniu is committed to promoting a healthier world through nutritious products and safeguarding a sustainable planet. These values echo FIFA’s values of promoting healthy lives through football, as well as fair play. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with Mengniu and the wider Chinese market in the build- up to what will be a truly unique competition -– the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.”

“Continued investment in world-class sporting assets represents Mengniu’s determination to build stronger relationships with our consumers while embodying the values of sportsmanship and encouraging active engagement of football enthusiasts and wider audiences,” said Jeffrey, Minfang Lu, the CEO of Mengniu Group. “It builds on our successful collaboration with FIFA on at the FIFA World Cup™ in Russia in 2018, and sits well with our five-year plan to develop Mengniu into an international dairy leader, a nutrition and health platform, a company with its strong cultural gene and its own sustainable development mode, and a brand loved by consumers across the world.”

Mengniu is a trusted brand for families across China PR. It has popular range of milk in both powdered and liquid form, yoghurt, pre-packaged ice cream, cheese, butter, and other dairy products.

The Hong Kong-listed group, which currently has around 40,000 employees worldwide, has, since 2017, been in the top 10 of the “‘Global Dairy Top 20’” list published by Rabobank. By the end of December 2020, the group’s annual production capacity of dairy products reached 9.90 million tons.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will take place from 21 November until 18 December 2022. For more information on the event, please visit FIFA.com/WorldCup.

Esports Set To Make Historic Debut At The Asian Games 2022 In China

This week’s Meet The Team piece comes from Satvik Tandon, looking at the introduction of esports at the Asian Games 2022 in China.

Esports is a thriving global industry in which skilled video gamers compete. It is different from standard video gaming but includes competitions in a variety of video games similar to how traditional sports have competitions in baseball, basketball, and football.

The tournaments usually consist of amateur or professional gamers competing against one another for a cash price. Unlike any other traditional sport, where men’s and women’s games are split, esports is technically mixed with male, female, and non-conforming players. As well as this, esports is also open to all, regardless of physical ability.

In recent years, esports has progressed greatly. In fact, it is going to make its historic debut at the Asian Games 2022, which will be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10th to September 25th, 2022, with medals awarded in eight games. This recent announcement by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has caused quite a stir in the industry, with many hopes and expectations.

“The decision to incorporate esports into the Asian Games was taken in collaboration with Alisports, the sports branch of Alibaba.”

The decision to incorporate esports into the Asian Games was taken in collaboration with Alisports, the sports branch of Alibaba (the Chinese online retail giant and top-tier Olympic sponsor). The Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF) will serve as esports’ technical delegate. They will be in charge of the Asian Games 2022 qualifying competition and management.

During this event, eight medal events along with two demonstration games will be held, reflecting the popularity and growth of electronic sports in China and Asia. Esports will be included in the category of “intellectual property,” which includes events like chess. FIFA (EA SPORTS), the Asian Games versions of PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor, Dota 2, League of Legends, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Hearthstone, and Street Fighter V are amongst the eight medal games. Each event will be awarded a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Apart from these eight medal events, Robot Masters and VR Sports are the two demonstration games.

All the esport events of the Asian Games 2022 will take place in the Xicheng District. The stadium is currently under construction and is expected to be finished by October 31, 2021. It will cover an area of 80,000 m2 (about 50 square miles) and have a capacity of 4,087 people. The venue will be designed with a vortex-structure for the events.

The gaming industry we see today is vastly different from even ten years ago. One of the very first esports events happened all the way back in October of 1972 at Stanford University, where students competed in the video game Spacewar. The grand prize for the winner was a one-year subscription to the renowned Rolling Stone Magazine. Even though this event was not an official esports event, it was certainly the start of something new in the world of gaming.

“Back in the 2018 Asian Games, esports was a demonstration event, meaning that the medals won by the competitors were not considered in the final medal tally.”

Back in the 2018 Asian Games, esports was a demonstration event, meaning that the medals won by the competitors were not considered in the final medal tally. This is the second time that esports will be competed in as a medal event. The first instance occurred during the 2019 ‘Southeast Asian Games’ in the Philippines, where teams competed in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, StarCraft II, Tekken 7, and Hearthstone. The Philippines won gold in Mobile Legends, StarCraft II, and Dota 2. Thailand won gold in Tekken 7 and Arena of Valor, while Malaysia won gold in Hearthstone.

The world of esports is still on the rise with no hint of slowing down. The industry is growing every day. Traditional teams have now fully recognised esports, and millions of dollars in sponsorship for esports teams in large-scale events is happening. With the momentum that esports is running with, the future continues to look bright for the industry.

But will we see it taking place within the Olympic Games in due course? We shall see. There are so many options for potential games to play it would certainly be interesting to see which the IOC would choose in that scenario.

One thing is certain, it’s closer than ever…

Joanna Coates Resigns As CEO Of UK Athletics

UK Athletics have announced that CEO Joanna Coates and Performance Director Sara Symington will be stepping down from their roles.

Prior to her appointment to the role at UK Athletics in early 2020, Coates had overseen a very successful period as CEO of England Netball, which included the hosting of the 2019 Netball World Cup in England.

Her exit leaves the organisation in turmoil once again. The previously appointed CEO to the role was forced to leave before even taking up the position, an independent review last year also deemed that there needed to be significant change to the culture.

On top of all this, on the track in Tokyo British athletes put forward a very unsuccessful performance compared to recent Olympic Games.

In a brief statement released on the organisation’s website, they stated:

UK Athletics can confirm that Joanna Coates and Sara Symington have given notice from their respective roles, Chief Executive Officer and Performance Director.

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Mark Munro, current Development Director, will take over as Interim CEO for a period of six months to provide strategic continuity and leadership to the staff, athletes and coaches and will prioritise working with the Board to start the recruitment process for both roles.

Chair of UK Athletics, Ian Beattie, said: “I’d like to thank Jo and Sara for their work during their time at UK Athletics and I wish them both all the best for the future”.

Sara Symington will meanwhile head to British Cycling, who today announced that has been appointed as the Head of Olympic and Paralympic Programme for the Great Britain Cycling Team.

The announcement read:

Symington is widely regarded as one of the top sport performance leaders in the country, with over 12 years’ experience as a well-respected performance director in athletics, archery and netball.

Symington, a former GBCT track and road cyclist herself, who competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, will begin the role imminently.

Performance Director Stephen Park said: “The Head of Olympic and Paralympic Programme is a new role which has been created to support me in ensuring the operations of the Olympic, Paralympic and Pathway Programmes are focused on delivering against the performance strategy and associated targets, and I am delighted to welcome Sara back to the Great Britain Cycling Team in this role.

“Sara is renowned for her ability to lead sports teams and deliver results, not to mention her knowledge of Olympic and Paralympic sport, so she is the perfect addition to the GBCT as we seek to continue our legacy of success with wider social impact at Paris 2024 and beyond.

“I have respected Sara’s work throughout her career, and I am thrilled she will be able to join our Senior Leadership Team.”

Sara Symington said: “This is an incredible opportunity to play a pivotal role within cycling – the nation’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic sport.

“My experience as a leader within elite sport combined with my time spent as a rider for Great Britain means I have developed the skills to lead the team to continue to deliver medals and more. I aim to do this through building on the culture of continuous improvement and investing smartly to support priority areas and athletes.

“This is a really exciting time to rejoin British Cycling, they have just enjoyed yet another successful Olympic and Paralympic Games and are looking forward to an exciting three years of major events including the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year, the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and of course Paris 2024. I am excited to join this team of talented athletes and staff, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Redstrike and IPG To Team Up With New Joint Venture

The Venture  

The Dubai based Group IPG and Redstrike are delighted to announce the establishment of a joint venture to further  expand their working relationship with the aim of strengthening their combined resources to grow sports rights  globally, deliver 360 degree media productions and develop emerging sports in South-East Asia. 

The joint venture will also see IPG become the cricket and media arm of Redstrike and will be led by Redstrike  Commercial Director and former Commercial Director of Cricket Ireland, Dennis Cousins 

Redstrike IPG will oversee all commercial activity for the Sri Lanka T20 Cricket League (LPL) which is due to take place  in December 2021. The company will have a presence in both Dubai and Dublin and will work in partnership with  other Redsrike and IPG’s offices in the UK, Asia, South Africa, Pakistan and India. 

Redstrike IPG recently acquired the Commercial Rights of the Scotland versus Zimbabwe T20 series which took place  in September and was livestreamed globally. The new venture is also currently in the process of evaluating and  acquiring other cricket and sports rights globally.  

The Vision  

Redstrike’s Vision for this Joint venture is to expand and acquire new media and commercial rights in emerging  markets, not only in cricket but within all sports associated with IPG and Redstrike. Redstrike will use the export  champion program and it’s best in class services to create a long lasting and successful Joint Venture with IPG. 

Redstrike is proud to be the only UK department of International Trade Export Champion for Sport, allowing access to a network of over 275 International Trade Advisers, complete support from and access to British embassies abroad, gaining Redstrike governmental support in almost any nation.  

Mr. Anil Mohan, CEO, The IPG Group, said 

“I’m delighted to formalise our partnership with Redstrike by creating this new joint venture. Working with Redstrike  is a natural step for IPG to grow our media business globally through the Redstrike network and utilising the vast  expertise that Redstrike have working with sports organisations globally. From the outset, I’ve been excited by the  vision of Mike Farnan and am confident that our own experience and relationships and foot-print in South-East Asia, especially in cricket, will open new doors for Mike and his team through Redstrike IPG.” 

Mr. Mike Farnan, Group CEO Redstrike, said 

“Having joined the advisory Board of The IPG Group a number of months back, it became apparent quickly that  there were huge synergies between both Redstrike and IPG that could be built on to create new opportunities for both brands. Delivering 360 degree experiences across multiple sports and acquiring new sports rights is high on the agenda for Redstrike IPG. While Redstrike has grown our own range of services over the last number of years, working with Anil will now enable Redstrike IPG to exploit new media opportunities through IPG media  services.” 

Mr. Dennis Cousins, Managing Director Redstrike IPG, said 

“Managing the Redstrike IPG Joint Venture is something which I’m really looking forward to. I’ve been hugely  encouraged by the visions of both Mike and Anil and this is a challenge that I’m relishing. There are not only  significant opportunities for both organisations to grow in South-East Asia, but in Europe too where Redstrike are a leading sports rights owner and where IPG have built up a strong reputation for high quality TV production  especially in cricket. Having the opportunity to lead the team and combine the resources of Redstrike and IPG will  enable us to open up new opportunities globally and to provide more added value to our existing client base.”

Borussia Dortmund Become The Latest Team To Sign Up With Horizm

Borussia Dortmund has become the latest UEFA Champion’s League (UCL) winners to choose Horizm’s AI powered platform to manage their digital assets. Dortmund is the first Bundesliga team to join Horizm’s growing roster of football clients and they join fellow UCL winners Real Madrid, Inter Milan and current Champions, Chelsea in choosing to work with the digital asset monetization specialists.

Dortmund is one of the most successful teams in German football, winning the league championship eight times and the DFB Pokal, the national cup competition, five times. The club is famed worldwide for its passionate following with their stadium, the Westfalonstadion, boasting the highest average attendance of any club in the world. Dortmund also have a big digital fanbase with just under 24m followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Through this new agreement, Dortmund will be using Horizm’s tool better understand and evaluate this digital relationship and how it can be used to drive additional commercial revenues for the club.

Commenting on the new agreement, Alexander Mühl, Head of Digital, Innovation and E-Business, Borussia Dortmund said:

“Understanding the performance and reach of content on our digital channels is crucial to how we connect with our millions of fans worldwide but also to spot and analyse commercial opportunities. We are always on the lookout for innovations that help us to improve on these fields and this new agreement with Horizm, will give us a better picture of digital relationship we have with our fans and enable us to deliver more value for partners.”

Sam, Grimley, Head of Commercial, Horizm added:

“We are very proud to work with Dortmund – the club are synonymous with their huge, passionate following and together we can help them maximise the revenues they generate through their digital audience”.

The addition of Borussia Dortmund to Horizm’s football client list means Horizm now support teams across 13 different leagues, around the globe, including all of the top six leagues in Europe.

Extreme E Expands Coverage In Ukraine With Setanta Sports

Extreme E, has today confirmed Setanta Sports as its latest broadcaster in Ukraine.

As part of the series’ growing expansion in Ukraine, Setanta Sports will air Extreme E’s full debut season, including the live race feed, highlights, preview, review and magazine shows on its Setanta Sports and Setanta Sports + channels, as well as on-demand on its digital outlet: https://www.setantaplay.tv.

With its population becoming increasingly aware of the negative impact of air pollution caused by fossil fuel, Ukraine’s electric car market has shown significant growth in recent years. In 2020, the number of electric cars on the roads grew by 375 per cent since 2018, and the country currently boasts the biggest number of public charging points compared to its nearest EU countries – with more than 8,500 (a 57 per cent increase compared to the same period two years ago).

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E, said: “We are thrilled to be announcing Setanta Sports as our latest broadcaster. As a sport for purpose championship which is committed to amplifying the benefits of electrification, it is important to further the exposure of Extreme E in a market where EV sales are continuing to increase.

“There is an even greater purpose to our championship than the radical racing on show, with the need to reduce carbon emissions and combat the climate crisis, something which Ukraine has clearly recognised. As we expand our coverage in Ukraine by partnering with Setanta Sports, I am confident that there will be continued interest in the action-packed wheel-to-wheel racing delivered by Extreme E, as well as the wider storytelling around electrification, the environment and the series’ gender equal platform.”

Following the races in Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Greenland the series now goes on to visit Sardinia (23-24 October 2021). The locations that the championship visits are all, in some way, affected by environmental issues such as desertification, deforestation, melting ice caps, plastic pollution, and rising carbon emissions. By holding races in areas that are suffering at the hands of the environmental crisis, the aim is to raise viewers’ awareness and interest in environmental issues.