World 12s Appoints Rowena Samarasinhe As Chief Executive Officer

World 12s, the new annual international 12-a-side rugby union tournament, has today announced the appointment of Rowena Samarasinhe as Chief Executive Officer.

Starting with immediate effect, Samarasinhe will oversee World 12s’ establishment, development and expansion while working with global stakeholders to enhance and complement the XV’s game.

With close to 15 years’ experience in the sports industry, Samarasinhe has worked with some of the biggest global sporting properties and athletes across Athletics, Football and Rugby Union in particular.

Samarasinhe joins the organisation with substantial experience from the sports agency world and for the last three years has been running the commercial consultancy GENSport. She is a member of the National Sports Council of Sri Lanka, and sits on the board of several organisations, including the PSA World Tour; CIMPSA; and leadership advisory firm, Equiida.

Commenting on the announcement Rowena Samarasinhe, Chief Executive Officer World 12s, said: “I am honoured and delighted to join World 12s and embark on this exciting journey for our sport.

“World 12s presents an incredible opportunity to bring rugby to new audiences and benefit both the men’s and significantly the women’s game.  I am extremely excited about the opportunity to progress innovation and diversity in the sport of rugby union as well as encouraging an accessible path for audiences and participants alike. I look forward to working collaboratively with the game’s bodies to try and make this exciting concept a successful reality.

“World 12s has been, and continues to be, in regular contact with World Rugby. 

“The challenges around the international calendar are well-known. World 12s is a long-term project, and will grow over the years. We are optimistic that, even within the restrictions posed by the current calendar, World 12s will be able to host a tournament in August 2022 that includes a number of the game’s leading players, who will not be impacted by fixture clashes at that time.

“World 12s will launch its first women’s tournament in 2023. This has the potential to be a gamechanger for women’s rugby, and will not face the same calendar challenges as the men’s game. 

“World 12s has always stated its commitment to working closely with all the game’s stakeholders to build an event that showcases the best talent, while bringing new audiences and significant investment to the sport. 

Ian Ritchie, Chairman of World 12s, added: “We are delighted to welcome Rowena as Chief Executive of World 12s. Rowena’s expertise and experience at the highest level of sport will be invaluable as we grow and build an innovative format of the game. We know that our sport has incredible potential and we have appointed a CEO who is well equipped to navigate the road ahead.”

World 12s is an innovative 12-a-side rugby union tournament which will see the world’s leading male and female players compete annually around the world. The first tournament is due to be staged in England in August 2022 and aims to invest £250 million of new financial support into the global game over the next five years.

IMG To Advise On Media Rights For Turkish Super League

IMG has entered into a long-term advisory role with the Turkish Clubs Association (TCA) on the sale of media rights for the Turkish Süper League with the full backing of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF). 

The Commission of Broadcasting & Media Rights consists of nine members appointed by TFF & TCA. Both organizations have agreed to sign a strategic agreement with IMG on advising the worldwide tender process for all broadcast rights for the next broadcasting cycle, starting with 2022/23 season as well as consulting on other commercial elements of the league. 

Michael Mellor, SVP, Head of Football, Media, IMG said: “The Turkish Super League is one of the most passionate and competitive leagues in European football. We are delighted to be working with the TFF and TCA to increase broadcast reach across all platforms and grow awareness of an established and well-respected competition featuring some of the most well-known teams on the continent. We are looking forward to a successful partnership.” 

Mehmet Sepil, Board Member of the TCA said: “This is an exciting relationship for the clubs as we look to showcase the quality and intensity of the teams and players and the special atmosphere in the stadiums every week throughout the season. IMG understands football and we look forward to working with them over the coming years.” 

TFF Vice President Mr.Erhan Kamışlı, said: “Our aim for the Süper League is to reach the widest possible broadcast audience and to maximize our value commercially. IMG has the global network to help us achieve our ambitions and we believe that they are the perfect partner for Turkish Football to achieve our goals.” 

The Süper League It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system with the season running from August to May. Current champions are Beskitas who won the title on goal difference from Galatasary, with Fenerbahce just two points further back. 

Eight Partners Added For BLAST Premier’s Return To Arena Events At November’s Fall Final

BLAST Premier has brought on board eight new partners ahead of next month’s highly-anticipated Fall Final (24-28 November) – the esports tournament organiser’s first LAN event in over 20 months. 

Elgiganten, Kia Denmark, A.P. Moller – Maersk, Xbox, OMEN, Stimorol, KPMG and Greater Copenhagen will all team up with BLAST Premier ahead of the long-awaited return of fans and physical events at Copenhagen’s iconic Royal Arena venue in late November. 

The return of arena events with spectators provides a number of exciting in-person opportunities to engage and excite BLAST Premier’s Counter-Strike community at the first LAN event since the London Spring Series in February 2020. 

Kia Denmark, A.P. Moller – Maersk and Xbox team up with BLAST Premier for the first time, with the three brands making their first move into Counter-Strike, while the remaining line-up of partners have a strong history with the Copenhagen-based event. 

Greater Copenhagen and BLAST Premier worked together to create Counter-Strike’s first ever live in-game prediction tool for last year’s Fall Final and will be sponsoring their first BLAST Premier event next month. 

KPMG, OMEN and Stimorol will be partnering with BLAST for a third event – following last year’s online Fall Final and the 2019 Pro Series in Royal Arena. November’s tournament will be Elgiganten’s second event after the 2019 Pro Series.  

All partners will be activating at BLAST Premier’s eagerly-anticipated return to LAN events at November’s Fall Final – via a number of fan engagement initiatives, giveaways and designated spaces at the venue to activate around on top of digital branding that will reach BLAST’s global audience watching from home. 

The eight brands will join current partners, Betway, CS.MONEY, EPOS, SteelSeries and L33T Gaming – taking BLAST Premier’s portfolio of partners for the Fall Final to 13 in total. 

Oliver Clarke, Head of Brand Partnerships for BLAST, said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming a great, diverse line-up of partners for the BLAST Premier Fall Final in Copenhagen – one of Counter-Strike’s most eagerly-anticipated events of the year. We look forward to creating new activations and content together while capturing the huge fan excitement around BLAST’s return to LAN events and the iconic Royal Arena in November. The return of fans and physical events means we can provide our partners with further value and opportunities to engage and interact with the audience in-person.”

The Fall Final is BLAST Premier’s sixth event of the 2021 season and will see eight of world’s best CS:GO teams fighting it out for $425,000 in prize money along with a place in December’s World Final. 

Full list of partners for the BLAST Premier Fall Final: Betway, CS Money, EPOS, SteelSeries, L33T Gaming, Elgiganten, Kia Denmark, A.P. Moller – Maersk, OMEN, Stimorol, Xbox, KPMG and Greater Copenhagen.

Six Nations Rugby And Pitch International Extend Partnership Into Fourth Term

Six Nations Rugby and Pitch International have extended their partnership, which began in 2010, to see the sports marketing agency represent the Six Nations wider rights portfolio and continue to distribute the international media rights for the Six Nations.

The agreement covers the men’s, women’s, and Under-20s Six Nations tournaments, the Autumn Nations Series and World Cup Warm-up matches for all six unions, as well as management of the archive for the Six Nations.

Henri Kamerling, Managing Director of Rugby, Football and Global Partnerships at Pitch International said: “Over the past decade we have worked in tandem with the Six Nations and its unions to significantly grow revenues, international distribution and fan engagement for all Championships.

“This new agreement gives us the opportunity to build on our strong Rugby foundations and create a roadmap for future growth. In this cycle we are able to go to market representing all of Northern Hemisphere Rugby in one package of rights for the first time, which we believe will be a hugely exciting proposition for our international broadcast partners.”

Over the course of the partnership both the men’s and women’s game have seen significant growth.

The men’s Six Nations international distribution has risen from 60 million households in 2010, to 200 million across 188 territories.

The 2021 women’s Six Nations was available in 130 territories to an audience of 100 million households – a 100% increase since 2017.

Ben Morel, CEO of Six Nations Rugby said: “Our joint approach has been to focus on taking international rugby to previously untapped territories and fans, as well as the traditional rugby markets.

“As a result, both the men’s and women’s tournaments have flourished on the international stage. We have been working in great partnership with Pitch, whose credentials in rugby are very strong, to develop deeper and stronger relationships in overseas markets and deliver our broadcast partners a comprehensive offering of international rugby.”

Alongside their agreement with Six Nations Rugby, Pitch also distribute the international rights for Premiership Rugby.

UPL Ltd Announced As Regional Supporter For FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

FIFA is pleased to announce UPL Ltd, a world leader in sustainable agriculture, as a Regional Supporter in the South American market for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.

UPL Ltd is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions and is one of the top five agriculture solutions companies worldwide. Its mission is to “reimagine sustainability” and as part of its activities leading up to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, it will invest in sustainable farming practices and develop carbon reduction projects in South America.

Its portfolio consists of biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions, with more than 13,600 registrations. It is present in more than 130 countries and reaches more than 90% of the world’s food basket. Through this network, UPL Ltd aims to spearhead community outreach programmes and enhance awareness of improved farming practices, such as carbon capture technology, via marketing campaigns and media placements in the South American region, as a Regional Supporter for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Today’s announcement builds upon UPL Ltd’s memorandum of understanding with the FIFA Foundation, signed in August 2020, to work together to use football as a platform to raise awareness about several key social and environmental issues, including the positive impact that sustainable development, environmental protection, educating young people and leading a healthy and active lifestyle can make within society.

Speaking about the announcement of UPL Ltd as a Regional Supporter in the South American market for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said: “We are happy to welcome UPL Ltd on board as a Regional Supporter in the important South American market for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar. UPL Ltd is a leading global brand in its sector and, like FIFA, believes in the importance of sustainability, development and education. Today’s news builds on the MoU signed by the FIFA Foundation and UPL Ltd in 2020. We look forward to working closely with UPL Ltd to use football as a means to improve awareness of sustainable farming practices and emerging technologies that are beneficial to all.”

Commenting on the collaboration, UPL Global CEO Jai Shroff said: “We could not be more excited that UPL is teaming up with FIFA. Football is a universal language – and loved by countries across the world – and if we can use it to power people’s understanding of food systems, how they work, and why the world needs them to be sustainable, then it’s a win-win for people and the planet. This relationship is a dream team for the goal of reimagining sustainability and transforming sustainable food systems.”

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will take place from 21 November until 18 December in eight stadiums across Qatar.

Sportradar Announces Extension Of Official Data Partnership With The International Tennis Federation

Global deal to enhance integrity measures and drive fan engagement

Sportradar, the leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans and bettors, today announced a three-year extension to its agreement with the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to serve as the ITF’s Official Data Partner.

The agreement extends the strong partnership between Sportradar and ITF, which, since 2012, has encompassed the World Tennis Tour as well as a number of other major ITF competitions, such as the Billie Jean King Cup.

In addition to the official data partnership, the extension enables the Federation to deliver a number of important ongoing integrity-led major projects, including the development of innovative technology infrastructure to further enhance integrity protection at World Tennis Tour events. Together with the projects and activities mentioned, the ITF, in partnership with Sportradar, will continue to invest significantly into accreditation, control systems and personnel to safeguard the integrity of tour events, leading the tennis world in efforts to ensure a secure player and fan experience.

As the global governing body of tennis, the ITF subscribes to the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) tennis-wide anti-corruption programme and services. As part of its ongoing commitment to protect the integrity of its sport, the ITF will continue to leverage Sportradar’s integrity services by including its Universal Fraud Detection System, an advanced and proven bet monitoring service to analyse global betting patterns, and its unrivalled ‘Intelligence and Investigations’ (I&I) capabilities.

Furthermore, Sportradar will create a suite of enhanced digital assets connecting tennis fans with new websites, apps and fan-centric products to provide a more dynamic user experience that will be powered by Sportradar’s fast, accurate and reliable data.

Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl said: “Sportradar is the world leader in helping leagues and federations across the globe maximize the value of their data whilst ensuring the integrity of sport. We’ve partnered with the ITF for almost a decade, and the extension of our agreement is a sign of their continued trust, which is built on a shared commitment to innovation and to driving increased fan engagement. We are passionate about tennis and I’m very proud of the benefits this partnership will bring to an incredible sport.”

ITF President Dave Haggerty commented: “We look forward to our continued partnership with Sportradar as we deliver technology that will help to ensure the protection of integrity and data as well as a digital platform that will enhance the fan experience around ITF World Tennis Tour and major events, including the Billie Jean King Cup.”

Betway Become Official Partner Of Philadelphia 76ers

Today, leading global online betting and gaming brand Betway has announced its partnership with Philadelphia 76ers.

As part of the multi-year agreement, Betway signage will be displayed throughout The Center during locally televised 76ers regular-season home games, including visibility on 52-square foot Court Aprons, Courtside LEDs and game-clocks throughout the games. 

Betway will also have a presence on TV-visible signage alongside the scorers’ table.

76ers will also provide Betway with exposure and brand recognition through the 76ers’ official Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Prior to each regular season 76ers game, Betway will sponsor a Pre-Game Stats Graphic that will include relevant statistics giving fans per-game insights, while 76ers social media will help promote Betway marketing initiatives.

Anthony Werkman, CEO of Betway, said:

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“As the Betway brand is licensed in Pennsylvania, this is not just a branding opportunity but a chance for us to engage with fans who will also be able to access our product.

“With an extensive list of marketing assets associated with the deal, we are sure this will be a very successful partnership.”

Owen Morin, Vice President of Corporate Presidents of the Philadelphia 7ers, said:

“We are thrilled to announce this partnership with Betway.

“As a leader in sports betting across leagues and teams, Betway is best-in-class and provides their customers with premiere betting offerings. Together we will bring elite experiences to 76ers fans.”

The LEGO Group, Pandora and Starling To Partner With UEFA Women’s EURO2022 In England

Today UEFA and The FA have announced three new national partners of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, with the line up now including the LEGO Group, Pandora and Starling Bank. The tournament, which is due to be the biggest European women’s sporting event in history, will be hosted in England next year. The partnership announcement comes just two days before the tournament’s final draw, live on BBC One on the 28th October, with the public ballot for tickets opening that evening.

The competition’s partnership with the LEGO Group forms part of the company’s ongoing commitment to champion girls who rebuild the world through creative problem solving and their ‘Ready for Girls’ campaign, celebrating girls who rebuild the story of old-fashioned gender norms.

The partnership with Pandora is aligned to their mission of giving a voice to people’s loves and passions, highlighting the vital role team sport can play in equipping young people with self-confidence and a sense of identity.

Starling Bank has been named the official national banking partner for the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 and as part of it’s involvement, the four-times winner of Britain’s Best Bank, will showcase its commitment to health & wellbeing, empowerment and equality.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Director of Marketing at UEFA, said “We are delighted to have the LEGO Group, Pandora and Starling Bank join us as the first national partners of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022. The addition of these three major brands is further proof of the scale of this event and our ambition to make it the biggest women’s European sport event ever. It is important for us to have partners on board who share the same values, working together collectively to deliver what is set to be a record breaking tournament that further grows the women’s game.”

The tournament takes place from 6 July – 31 July 2022 in 10 stadiums, across nine cities in England, including Brighton & Hove, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Rotherham, Sheffield, Southampton, Trafford and Wigan & Leigh.

The Final Draw will be hosted live on BBC One from 16.30 BST on the 28 October. Fans tuning in can expect a star-studded show, hosted by Alex Scott and Gabby Logan live from Greater Manchester.

Fans will have their next chance to apply for tickets following the draw with the Public Ballot opening that evening at 19.00 BST here: www.uefa.com/womenseuro/ticketing. 

IC Markets Announce Sponsorships With Six Bundesliga Clubs

IC Markets, the world’s largest Forex CFD broker, has secured six Bundesliga Club partnerships for the current 2021/22 season. The line-up includes Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Hertha BSC, FC Augsburg, DSC Arminia Bielefeld, Greuther Fürth and VfL Bochum. For IC Markets, it is the first engagement in German football. All partnerships were facilitated by the global sport business agency SPORTFIVE.

In essence, the packages at each Bundesliga club are comprised of LED perimeter advertising securing IC Markets comprehensive TV presence in one of their core European markets. In addition to this, as a club partner IC Markets can also benefit from logo and IP rights from each club.

Hendrik Schiphorst, CEO of SPORTFIVE Germany, says: “The eye-catching TV presence at the six Bundesliga clubs will contribute a great deal to increase the awareness for IC Markets in Germany as a core market. We are happy that, thanks to our vast sales network, we were able to facilitate these first-class partnerships in Europe’s No.1 sport that will help the brand to achieve the communication objectives.”

Andrew Budzinski, Founder and CEO of IC Markets, explains: “Practice, hard work and discipline are the foundations for success as a trader. These same values can be found in sport. The Bundesliga stands out as a leading example of the virtues of sportsmanship, and IC Markets is proud to be taking this step with a league with such a rich legacy. We’re always looking for ways to make the world’s most powerful trading tools more accessible. That’s why we are partnering with these exceptional clubs to bring fans closer to the action than ever before.”

NFL Signs New Five-Year Deal With Sport 24

Sport 24, the world’s only live 24/7 sports channel for the inflight industry, has renewed and expanded its partnership with the National Football League (NFL) for a further five years, building on a relationship which started in 2014.

The IMG-owned and operated service will broadcast 100 live NFL games per season to passengers on select airlines including JetBlue, Emirates, Etihad, Turkish Airlines and ANA.

The agreement includes all international games, Playoffs, Pro Bowl and Super Bowl which shall take place on Sunday, 13 February 2022, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Sameer Pabari, Managing Director of International Media at the NFL, said: “Our fans are keen to follow the action wherever they are, and we are pleased to continue our relationship with Sport 24 to bring fans NFL games while inflight.”

Richard Wise, SVP, Content and Channels, IMG’s media business, said: “We are delighted to grow our partnership with NFL for an additional five years. NFL has been a key component of our premium US sports offering and Super Bowl has always been one of Sport 24’s most popular events. With its large global fanbase, we have no doubt it will be a huge hit onboard.”

Sport 24 is available on Panasonic’s market-leading live television service, which is broadcast via satellite. Launched in 2012, both Sport 24 and Sport 24 Extra are produced from IMG’s production HQ at Stockley Park, near London’s Heathrow Airport. Sport 24 also shows live action from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, NBA, MotoGP, golf’s Majors, tennis’ Grand Slams and more.