Pac-12 Networks Announces Licensing Partnership With RECUR And Veritone

Pac-12 Networks has announced a new content licensing partnership with RECUR, the technology company that designs and develops on-chain experiences allowing fans to buy, collect and re-sell digital products and collectibles (NFTs), and leading artificial intelligence technology company Veritone, Inc., that will make Pac-12 Networks content available through NFTs for the very first time. The partnership makes Pac-12 content the first in college sports to be available through NFTs.

As the exclusive licensing partner of Pac-12 Networks, Veritone has licensed RECUR in an exclusive agreement to make video highlights of Pac-12 Networks coverage of moments across all men’s and women’s sports available for NFT creation. Veritone and RECUR will coordinate with student-athletes to obtain authorization to use their highlights, in accordance with the Pac-12 Networks NIL Licensing Program.

“Consistent with the innovative spirit that drives Pac-12 Networks and the Pac-12 Conference, we are thrilled to be leading the way in collegiate sport content licensing for NFTs,” said Pac-12 Networks Senior Manager for Distribution and Licensing Kenden Blake. “This new partnership between Pac-12 Networks, Veritone and RECUR will unlock new ways to deliver the Pac-12 sports content fans love, now through NFTs.”

NFTU is a new marketplace that, for the first time, will allow college sports fans to own the latest and greatest highlights from college sports, starting with Pac-12 Networks. NFTU will be the sole marketplace for these assets, making it an instant staple in the NFT sports world.

“At RECUR, our goal is to democratize access to NFTs and dispel the notion that they are too challenging to understand or only accessible to those heavily engaged in the cryptocurrency world,” said RECUR Co-CEO Zach Bruch. “In partnership with Veritone, we are excited to leverage our technology to bring Pac-12 Networks to the NFT arena, and offer fans the previously unavailable opportunity to own their favorite Pac-12 plays, sports memories, and traditions.”

As experts in their respective spaces, Pac-12 Networks, Veritone and RECUR are uniquely equipped to navigate the complexities of a multi-rights environment to offer the greatest Pac-12 moments to fans everywhere.

“Veritone is at the forefront of advancing technology, and the opportunities we see through NFTs are endless,” said Senior Vice President at Veritone Licensing Michael Arthur. “Working with an innovative partner like RECUR to make the Pac-12 Networks library licensable through NFTs is another way we are fulfilling our mission to make content more accessible to licensees and generate more distribution opportunities for our international library partners.”

To learn more about Veritone’s Content Licensing services, please visit: https://www.licensing.veritone.com. To learn more about RECUR and NFTU, please visit recurforever.com and NFTU.com.

Drone Racing League Signs ‘$100m’ Algorand Deal

Algorand, the leading high performance blockchain platform, and DRL will transform sports and gaming through blockchain-based technology.

Bringing scalable, fast, and decentralized gaming applications to DRL, Algorand’s blockchain will be the foundation for the sport of the future.

Get ready for digital drone racing on the Algorand blockchain network, blockchain-enabled ticketing, collectables, fan transactions and non fungible tokens (NFTs), and crypto-themed hackathon events around DRL World Championship Season events.

The deal is reportedly worth $100m over five years according to CNBC sources.

DRL is the global, professional drone racing property for elite pilots. With custom built racing drones traveling 90 MPH, pilots race through the most insane courses across virtual and physical competitions. Merging the digital with the real, DRL delivers innovative drone technology, immersive content, and visually thrilling races on the best sports networks around the world, including NBC, NBCSN, Twitter, Fox Sports, Sky Sports, ProSieben, and Weibo.

LDN UTD Announce New Commercial Manager

The LDNU family continues to grow. Please welcome our new Commercial Manager, Hannah Shiels. Hannah has previously worked at IMG and Limelight Sports and represented England for football at U19.

Hannah joins LDN UTD at an exciting time, with the recent launch of our purpose driven NFT campaign, and our Centre of Excellence in Camden is due to open soon.

The organisation have recently announced the launch of a community driven NFT initiative in partnership with a host of big names.

LDN UTD is giving all participants of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation’s programmes the opportunity to design their own NFTs, with a view to their designs being added to the LDN UTD marketplace. This is in addition to 10% of all profits being donated to the charity.

One-Minute Briefs is also tasking their community to create irresistible designs that align with what it’s like to be a gamer, whilst incorporating their favourite London places.

Additionally local artists including Jess Wiseman will continue to create a bespoke London based biome range, that once collected in a series will unlock a physical product. This will be launched alongside LDN UTD’s gamer profile collection, giving fans the option to buy a digitised version of gamers, whatever their preference. The collection will be varied and very limited. Jess has previously worked on many digital projects including alongside YouTube sensation VEXX to help complete his latest NFT creation which sold for $45,000, as well as Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, Reebok, AJ Tracey, and Billionaire Boys Club.

The NFT marketplace solution has been built in partnership with US based tech company Accubits and Future Tech who are trusted by federal agencies, Fortune 500 companies and clients including NASA. Additionally, LDN UTD is partnering with the GoChain Foundation, developer of the GoChain blockchain protocol, to enable the responsible, environmentally-friendly minting of NFTs and the auction and secondary sale of NFTs via the Zeromint NFT Marketplace.

AFC Confirms Media Rights Deal With Sport 24

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today announced Sport 24 as their in-flight and in-ship partner through to 2024. The IMG-owned and-operated service will broadcast the AFC’s national team and club competitions (excluding domestic rights in China PR,  Japan and Australia), including the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to QatarTM  and the AFC Asian Cup China 2023TM, as well as the AFC Champions LeagueTM.

Launched in 2012, Sport 24 and sister channel Sport 24 Extra are the world’s only live 24/7 sports channels for the in-flight and in-ship industries.

The AFC’s competitions will be added to Sport 24’s portfolio, which includes some of the world’s major sporting events and leagues including the Premier League, UEFA Champions & Europa League, UEFA European Qualifiers, NFL, NBA, NHL, tennis’ Grand Slams, golf’s majors plus the rescheduled Ryder Cup. Earlier this summer, Sport 24 broadcast the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and UEFA EURO 2020.

Recently, Sport 24 extended their distribution deal with Panasonic Avionics Corporation to further expand their distribution in the in-flight and in-ship space.

Dato’ Windsor John, the AFC General Secretary, said: “The AFC has outlined its ambitions to ensure football continues to be the Continent’s most popular sport and we want to thank Sport 24 and IMG for their confidence and for sharing our Vision to expand the reach of the AFC’s brand and competitions to our passionate fans.

“This partnership presents an excellent opportunity to showcase the best of Asian football to one of the widest ever in-flight and in-ship audiences in the world, ensuring that the AFC’s world-class competitions are accessible to all fans whether on land, in the air or at sea.”  

Richard Wise, Senior Vice President, Content and Channels, IMG’s media business, said: “This deal marks an exciting extension of our sports portfolio and we are delighted to bring Asia’s top national team and club competitions to our audiences. The AFC Champions League features the best clubs on the Continent and we are looking forward to showing the best Asian football action over the next four years.”

Patrick Murphy, Board Member and CEO at Football Marketing Asia (FMA) said: “We are pleased to welcome Sport 24 as the AFC’s new media partner. Our mission has always been to increase the accessibility of Asian football; hence we are proud to see the AFC’s national team and club competitions being added to the on-board entertainment offerings of the world’s leading airlines and cruise ship operators.

“We are looking forward to working with Sport 24 to provide a seamless AFC football experience for passengers, and to continue to grow the audience of Asian football fans worldwide.”

Castore Sign Reported 10-Year Kit Deal With England Cricket, Replacing New Balance

The ECB and Castore have today announced a new long-term partnership that will see the fast-growing premium lifestyle and sportswear brand become the Official Kit Supplier to England Cricket.

All of England’s national team athletes – women, disability, pathway and men’s teams – will wear high-performance and bespoke matchday and training kits supplied by Castore from April 2022.

England athletes will help to design the teamwear, creating a uniquely England Cricket style, with recycled material to be used in the manufacture of the matchday playing kits.

Castore will also significantly invest in the ECB’s e-commerce infrastructure, dovetailing its innovative digital-first approach with the ECB’s commercial ambitions.

England fans will benefit with a best-in-class website, tailored specifically for fans to easily select from the high-quality range of Castore’s men’s and women’s England Cricket teamwear.

The partnership is the first time Manchester-based Castore is sponsoring its home nation, a major milestone as the brand continues its rapid growth trajectory and ambitions to challenge the established global brands who dominate the sportswear market.

The partnership follows multiple recent high-profile agreements that Castore have secured across sports including Premier League clubs Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United, while next year also heralds the start of their partnership with Formula One team McLaren.

All England teams will continue to wear kit provided by current supplier New Balance throughout the coming winter.

Tony Singh, ECB Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Castore is a fine example of British ambition driving success and we look forward to working closely with their team over the long term.

“I am excited by the digital-first expertise that Castore will provide to a truly innovative partnership that puts our athletes and fans at the heart of our planning.

“The financial and intellectual investment in our e-commerce will give fans faster and easier access to a high-performance range of women’s and men’s teamwear that I am sure our athletes, and our fans, will wear with pride.

“I would also like to place on record our thanks and gratitude to New Balance for all of their efforts ahead of their partnership with England Cricket concluding.”

Tom Beahon, founder of Castore, said “Today truly is a special day for everybody at Castore. When my brother and I founded this business in 2016 it was our ambition to one day have world-class athletes wearing our products and to achieve this ambition with our home nation for the first time is a monumental occasion for us.

“We can’t wait to get started and create market leading products for the team’s and contribute to the next generation of success for cricket for the men’s and women’s teams in this country.”

EA SPORTS Announce New Exclusive Partnership With Italy’s Lega Serie A

Beginning in EA SPORTS™ FIFA 22, the new agreement includes 14 exclusively licensed teams, bringing more of the unique characteristics of Italian football and each of its storied clubs to the game. The agreement also includes an all-new EA SPORTS Player of the Month award.

EA SPORTS has also been named Title Sponsor and Partner of Supercoppa Italiana which will be renamed EA SPORTS Supercup beginning with the 2022-23 season. Fans can expect to see EA SPORTS content displayed during the season at Coppa Italia, Suppercoppa Italiana, and the Serie A Championship games and on its digital platforms. The partnership will also provide the ultimate Lega Serie A gaming experience with the eSports competition eSerie A TIM, which will be exclusively played in EA SPORTS FIFA. 

With 17,000+ players across 700+ teams in 100 stadiums and over 30 leagues, FIFA 22 is the only place you can play in iconic competitions such as UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, brand new UEFA Europa Conference League, Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga Santander, CONMEBOL Libertadores and CONMEBOL Sudamericana.

FAQ

Which Serie A Clubs will be authentically integrated into FIFA 22?

The 16 clubs that will be authentically integrated into FIFA 22 are Bologna F.C. 1909, Cagliari Calcio, Empoli F.C., ACF Fiorentina, Genoa C.F.C., Hellas Verona F.C., FC Internazionale Milano, A.C. Milan, S.S.C. Napoli, U.S. Salernitana 1919, U.C. Sampdoria, U.S. Sassuolo Calcio, Spezia Calcio, Torino F.C., Udinese Calcio, and Venezia F.C..

These clubs will have authentic team names, crests, kits, and squads throughout FIFA 22.

How will Serie A Clubs that aren’t authentically integrated into FIFA 22 be represented?

FIFA 22 will include Piemonte Calcio, Bergamo Calcio, Latium, and Roma FC in Serie A. The names and likenesses of authentic players from all 20 Serie A clubs will continue to be playable throughout FIFA 22.

What does this mean for FIFA 22 Ultimate Team?

Serie A players from all 20 clubs continue to be included in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team. Serie A teams with authentic integration in FIFA 22 will have their authentic kits and crests as club customisation items in FUT 22, whereas Piemonte Calcio, Bergamo Calcio, Latium, and Roma FC will have original kits and crests as club customisation items. For the first time in FUT 22, we’re excited to recognise the winner of the Serie A Player of the Month award with a special boosted FIFA Ultimate Team player item to reflect their performances that month.

Why aren’t the remaining four clubs authentically represented?

EA SPORTS and Lega Serie A are entering into a multi-year agreement which allows for Serie A clubs to be authentically represented in-game, providing that the rights of those clubs are available and not currently contractually held exclusively by another party. EA SPORTS is respectful of pre-existing relationships that certain clubs have with third parties, but is equally committed to further growing its presence in Italian football both now and in the future.

ELEVEN Sports To Broadcast All EuroLeague And EuroCup Games In Italy

Euroleague Basketball is proud to announce that ELEVEN Sports has joined the Euroleague Basketball family by becoming the OTT platform broadcaster for its competitions in Italy, thereby ensuring that all Italian fans will enjoy elite broadcast coverage of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup.

ELEVEN Sports will broadcast all Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup games once those seasons begin on September 30 and October 19, respectively, bringing more than 500 fixtures to all Italian fans. The agreement will run until the end of the 2023-24 season, which will mark the 25th anniversary of Euroleague Basketball. All games with AX Armani Exchange Milan, Dolomiti Energia Trento, Umana Reyer Venice and Virtus Segafredo Bologna – plus other selected games – will have Italian commentators calling all the action of the two top pan-European basketball club competitions on ELEVEN Sports.

The new agreement with ELEVEN Sports will increase the choice of elite basketball sources being offered to Italian fans following the recent announcement that SKY Italy will broadcast EuroLeague and EuroCup games in the country until 2024-25 on an exclusive basis for linear rights and a non-exclusive basis for digital rights.

ELEVEN Sports was founded in 2015 as a multinational group operating sports television channels and OTT services with a combination of linear and digital channels that now reach millions of fans wherever they are and generate billions of views every month.

“We are very proud to welcome ELEVEN Sports to the Euroleague Basketball broadcasters family, widening the options for our Italian fans to watch all our games,” Alex Ferrer Kristjansson, Euroleague Basketball Marketing and Communication Senior Director said, said. “Italy, a traditional basketball market, has experienced renewed interest in our sport over the last years, and it is our intention to bring our games as close as possible to all our tifosi.”

Euroleague Basketball’s importance in Italy has shown solid and continuous growth in recent years, with fan interest jumping 36% and TV audience growing an outstanding 390% over the last three seasons.

“EuroLeague and EuroCup represent the excellence of European Basketball” stated Giovanni Zurleni, Delegate Administrator of Eleven Sports Italy. “We are very proud of broadcasting these two top competitions and this is a demonstration of the growth of Eleven while becoming a big media destination for both local and international sports; we have a big focus on premium rights, maintaining an important space for lower level championships. We want to involve, satisfy and entertain all the fans on a global sports community. Not only with the live broadcasting but also explaining with passion all the stories that make sport something unique. The appointment for all fans is next September 30, we expect the moment to start this new adventure together with all participating clubs and specially with AX Armani Exchange Milan, Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Umana Reyer Venice and Dolomiti Energia Trento representing Italy on both competitions.”

2021 Edition Of The WTA Finals To Be Held In Guadalajara, Mexico

The WTA announced today Guadalajara, Mexico will host the 2021 season-ending WTA Finals the week of November 8. The prestigious year-end finale, featuring the top 8 singles players and doubles teams on the Porsche Race to the WTA Finals, will be held in Guadalajara this year, with the event returning to its home in Shenzhen, China from 2022 through 2030.

“I would like to extend my appreciation to the Guadalajara tournament organizers and Octagon for their commitment in hosting the event this season and for helping the WTA write another exciting chapter in WTA Finals history,” said Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO. “We are excited to bring our showpiece tournament to the exciting and vibrant city of Guadalajara in this unique year.”

Simon added, “I would also like to express my gratitude to the Gemdale Corporation in Shenzhen for their cooperation and resilience, and we look forward to returning in 2022 to enjoy the WTA Finals over the next decade.”

Guadalajara, a city in western Mexico and the second largest city in the country, is considered the cultural center of Mexico and has hosted various international sporting, film and entertainment events. The city is no stranger to women’s tennis, having also held a successful WTA 250 event in March earlier this year.

“We are delighted to announce the WTA Finals will be coming to Guadalajara this season and it is our immense honor to welcome the top 8 singles players and doubles teams to Mexico for this highly respected event,” said Tournament Director Gustavo Santoscoy. “We look forward to hosting the WTA Finals in 2021 and putting on a world class tournament in November for the millions of tennis fans around the globe.”

Remarking on the home of the WTA Finals, Eddy Liu, Co-Tournament Director of the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen and CEO of Gemdale Sports, stated, “Shenzhen remains honored and committed to the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen and we look forward to welcoming the event back to China in 2022 to build upon the legacy after its first historic staging in 2019.”

Click here for the latest 2021 WTA Tour calendar. Further details on the WTA Finals in Guadalajara will be announced at a press conference in Guadalajara shortly.

Tokyo 2020: A Full Analysis Of Sponsorship Impact Across Social Media

In their latest report, Hookit have delved into analysing how social performance across the unique Olympic Games in Tokyo panned out. Find out more in this new Insights piece and download the full report.

The Most Social Olympics Ever

The Olympics are over, the medals have been handed out, but the impact for brands is still being counted. For many Olympic athletes, their star shines brightest once in a lifetime or only once every 4 years. Tokyo 2020 (in 2021) was their moment to shine and shine they did. From 16th July to 15th August (a week before the Opening Ceremony to a week after the Closing Ceremony), Olympic athletes, governing bodies, and Olympic organizations posted over 230k times across social media, gaining nearly 4B interactions and video views from fans.

Hookit tracked posts from 3,500+ Olympic Athletes and 500+ IGBs & Olympic organizations published across Facebook, Instagram*, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, VK, Weibo, and YouTube from 16 Jul, 2021 – 15 Aug, 2021.

Here is the social media impact of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics:

  • 1.6B total fans / followers (Athletes and organizations combined)
  • 113M new followers gained
  • 232k total social posts
  • 3.8B interactions + video views on those posts

Top Sports On Social

Global Football, Tennis, and Basketball star athletes like Kevin Durant, Novak Djokovic, and Alex Morgan came into the Olympics with huge social followings, lifting their sports to the top of the social media followers charts. However, only one of those 3 sports came in the top 5 sports by fan engagement (likes, comments, shares, and video views). 


The above chart shows the top sports by total fan engagement (likes, comments, shares, and video views) on posts by athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Global Football, Tennis, and Basketball athletes came into the Olympics with the most total followers, but athletes in Skate, Diving, Track and Field, Badminton, and Gymnastics all saw 30%+ gains in cumulative total followers during the Olympics.

When it comes to fan engagement, Skateboarding athletes generated the most total engagement, but Diving and Rugby athletes had the highest average engagement rate on each post.

These Games saw a breakout social star, Ilona Maher of USA Rugby, lead all athletes in terms of total fan engagement on social media, led by her massively popular TikTok videos. She was the only athlete with over 100M video views, most of which came from TikTok. Why did fans watch her videos so much? She nailed the perfect combination of relatable humor, behind-the-scenes access to the Olympic Village, and interacting with her followers. Some of her top posts were about mingling with other athletes, the infamous “cardboard” beds, and her teammates.

Here’s a look at the top 10 athletes by social media engagement during these Games:

AthleteSportFan Engagement
Ilona MaherRugby149M
Rayssa LealSkate109M
Rommel PachecoDiving90M
Tom DaleyDiving71M
Sky BrownSkate68M
Kanoa IgarashiSurf42M
Yuto HorigomeSkate38M
Simone BilesGymnastics29M
Daniel AlvesGlobal Football23M
Tai Tzu-YingBadminton20M

The top 10 list is dominated by newcomers, pushing Simone Biles down to 8th place in total fan engagement on social during the Games.

Value For Brand Sponsors

Every Olympic marketing professional is familiar with Rule 40 and how it limits the ability of brands and athletes to promote their partnership during the Games. While it was eased slightly for the Tokyo Games, the general rule was that any athlete was allowed ONE social post thanking each brand they worked with for the support. Anything beyond that was restricted unless the brand was an official Olympic sponsor. As the Olympics bill themselves as a “clean playing environment” without sponsor logos everywhere in the background, the general assumption would be that any Olympic partner brand would get great exposure when they could. However, when looking at the top 10 brands by sponsorship value AAV, another story emerges.

Official Olympics sponsors made up 4 of the top 10 brands by sponsorship value during the Tokyo 2020 Games period. The remaining 5 brands are all Apparel or Equipment companies, outfitting the NOCs and Olympic athletes. Apparel & Accessories brands dominated total sponsorship value received with over $30M in AAV. No other industry received even $5M in cumulative AAV. 

How did the Apparel brands do so well? Their branding on team uniforms led to a massive amount of incidental exposure. 83% of the total sponsorship value generated during the Tokyo Games came from incidental exposure. However, when examining the deliberate promotion of brands, Visa rises to the top with Comcast, Red Bull, RBC, and United all making the top 10. The partnerships these brands established paid off during the Olympics with the deliberate promotion by their athletes and organization partners. Even with Rule 40 limiting athletes to one branded post per partner, athletes still generated 69% of the total deliberate sponsorship value for brands.

The Full Report

To get the full analysis of the Tokyo 2020 Games on Social Media, download the attached report. In addition to diving deeper into the above data, it also covers the following:

  • Top Athletes by Sponsorship Value
  • Top Industries & Brands in each
  • Daily trends & when fan engagement peaks
  • Excellent activation examples and why they worked
  • Key Learnings for Beijing, Paris, & beyond

Head to the following link on Hookit.com where you are able to download your free copy of the full report – GET THE FULL REPORT

Parimatch Strengthens English Premier League Presence, Adding Three New Clubs

Parimatch, an international tech and betting brand, signs a new three-club agreement involving English Premier League teams: Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Southampton.

The company signed agreements with the clubs on August 21, 2021. The contracts cover multiple offline and digital rights, tickets & hospitality, club merchandise, exclusive access to club assets, and much more.

The agreements also include several exciting upcoming joint projects, advertisements, and giveaways.

The agreements with the three clubs closely follow Parimatch’s recent partnership announcement with Chelsea and further boosts its presence in one of the world’s strongest leagues. With Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, and Southampton, Parimatch is now one of the few betting brands to have multiple club partnerships among Premier League clubs.

Aside from three new club signings, the global company has official marketing agreements with Chelsea, Leicester City, and Everton.

Roman Syrotian, co-CEO at Parimatch Tech, says: “Our determined expansion into global sports propositions is the subject of huge pride to everyone at Parimatch Tech. With the addition of these three great football clubs to our portfolio, we can say that, as of now, 30% of the English Premier League shares our values and our spirit.

We are glad to be partnered with these clubs and are excited to utilize the upcoming opportunities these ventures present mutually. Parimatch is in awe of the clubs’ great history and hopes to contribute to their success in the coming years. We are also honored to have Chelsea, Everton, and Leicester City by our side, and can’t wait to see our partners on the pitch — showing their passion for football and, naturally, winning.”

Nicola Ibbetson, Aston Villa Chief Commercial Officer

This is an exciting announcement for the club, bringing onboard an international brand like Parimatch who match our growth ambitions. This partnership will enable us to bring even more opportunities to our fans, and we look forward to what we can achieve together.

Sarah Batters, Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Southampton Football Club

We are delighted to welcome Parimatch as a new commercial partner. Parimatch shares our club values of being ambitious and forward-thinking, and we look forward to working with them for the season ahead.