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.

Genius Sports Names Ian Wray To Lead Global Soccer Growth

Genius Sports Limited, the official data, technology and commercial partner that powers the ecosystem connecting sports, betting and media, has appointed sports data expert Ian Wray to lead its growth in the global soccer market.

Wray joins Genius Sports from ChyronHego where he led global sales for their sports-data focused Tracab division for the past nine years. In that role, he worked closely with the majority of major football leagues and federations globally to implement data tracking, coaching and fan engagement solutions.

Wray will oversee Genius Sports’ partnerships with many of the world’s leading soccer organizations including the English Premier League, Argentine Football Association and Liga MX. Applying his extensive expertise in official sports data, Wray will help to expand Genius Sports’ fast-growing range of technology, video and fan engagement solutions across the global soccer sector.

Jack Davison, Chief Commercial Officer at Genius Sports, said: “Ian is a real expert in how official data can be monetized to power the most contextual and engaging products for fans, coaches, broadcasters and other key stakeholders. Our global soccer business has grown significantly in recent years and Ian is the perfect person to take that to the next level.”

Ian Wray said: “I’m tremendously excited to be joining Genius Sports at this key moment in the company’s development. The market for official sports data and video content is continuing to expand at pace. I’m, therefore, very much looking forward to helping Genius Sports leverage its existing technology portfolio, as well as its impressive recent acquisitions, to deliver even greater value across the whole spectrum of stakeholders within the world of soccer.”

CSM Sport & Entertainment Appoints Dual Regional Directors In Asia

CSM Sport & Entertainment has announced a new leadership structure for their Asia operations which sees the appointment of two Regional Directors.

Lesley Murphy and Kathryn Rhodes have been promoted to oversee the agency in a joint Regional Director role after having both played a key part in overseeing client accounts and business operations in recent years.

Murphy has been with the CSM business since 2014, first leading the agency’s key account with AIA Insurance and the strategic delivery of their global partnership with Tottenham Hotspur. In her previous role, Murphy oversaw marketing and communications for CSM in the region and will continue to lead on driving exposure of the agency’s service offerings and expertise moving forward.

Kathryn Rhodes joined CSM in 2016 to spearhead HSBC’s sponsorship strategy and delivery of the World Rugby Sevens Series in Asia. In more recent times, Rhodes has led the charge on the agency’s business development, focused on driving new and existing client growth.  Rhodes will look to ramp up business development efforts across the region in her new role and continue to work closely with global and regional sales teams to connect brands with value-adding properties.

Both roles will report into CSM Deputy Chairman, Jim Glover, who commented: “The combination of the two skillsets that Kathryn and Lesley bring to the business will provide a very solid base from which we plan to increase our involvement and activity in the region. I have no doubt they will continue the fantastic work we already provide for our clients and look forward to working with them and the whole team to grow our offerings in Asia.”

On the appointment, Rhodes shared “I’m extremely excited to lead the CSM team and our growth strategy in Asia.  And it makes me proud to do so alongside another female leader”. Murphy added “I am thrilled to be taking on this new role to oversee our ambitions in Asia, and grateful to work with such an exceptional team. I look forward to expanding CSM Asia’s reach and impact across the region together”.

CSM has been delivering work across the APAC region for over ten years with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, and Australia. Aside from long-standing clients, HSBC and AIA, the agency works with leading brands and rightsholders in the region such as adidas, SAP, Jaguar Land Rover, Hisense, Citi, CLP, and most recently NEOM.

CRYPTO.COM Becomes Paris Saint-Germain’s Official Cryptocurrency Platform

Innovation-driven Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has today announced a multi-year partnership agreement with the world’s fastest growing crypto platform, Crypto.com. Crypto.com will become the Official Cryptocurrency Platform Partner of the Parisian club and the partnership will also include the release of exclusive Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on Crypto.com’s native NFT platform: Crypto.com/NFT. In addition, for the first time ever for an agreement of such a scale, Crypto.com will pay a significant portion of the sponsorship fee using the cryptocurrency token CRO.

Paris Saint-Germain has recently built one of the strongest football teams in the history of the sport. Adding world class players Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes to an already exceptionally strong squad, has seen the club’s international appeal rise to new heights. Partnering with Crypto.com, a leader in the crypto industry was a natural next step. The company boasts over 10 million users worldwide and is a top-ten finance app in both the App Store and Google Play. In addition to building the world’s fastest growing crypto platform, Crypto.com also offers the world’s most popular crypto card available in 30+ countries.

Crypto.com has led the industry in sports partnerships, recently announcing global partnerships with UFC, Formula 1®, and Lega Serie A. Earlier this year, Crypto.com became the first crypto platform to partner with an F1 team, and the first to partner with an NHL team.

Marc Armstrong, Chief Partnerships Officer, Paris Saint-Germain, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Crypto.com to the Paris Saint-Germain partner family. We share the same passion for innovation and the same ambition to reach the very top. With this partnership Paris Saint-Germain demonstrates once more it’s vision and leadership as a pioneer in areas such as lifestyle, esports and digital. It is an exciting time for Cryptocurrency and we cannot wait to work with Crypto.com to bring new experiences to all of the club’s fans.”

“Our mission since day one has been to accelerate the world’s transition to cryptocurrency. We do so by finding the best partners in the world, and Paris Saint-Germain is second to none” said Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek, “Between the brand visibility, stadium and team access, and collaborative development of NFTs, I have no doubt we’ll create new and exciting experiences for football fans around the world.”

InCrowd Welcomes Simon Thomas As Chairman

With significant growth in the UK and International markets in the last three years, InCrowd has appointed Simon Thomas, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. A leader in the evolution of commercial sports marketing during his time at TEAM Marketing, FIFA and Fox, Thomas will guide the Board and shareholders, whilst offering strategic advice and support to the senior management team. 

Aidan Cooney, InCrowd’s co-founder and CEO stated, “We are absolutely thrilled that Simon has agreed to join InCrowd as Chairman. His appointment adds to a number of new senior executive appointments we have made in the past year. The level of experience that Simon brings both in terms of his standing in the industry and as a specialist in organisational transformation and development, should turbo-charge our next phase of growth across multiple new territories .”  

Thomas adds, “I have great respect for Aidan; as the founder of Opta Sports, he has a great track record and enormous experience in this area. At InCrowd he has built a strong team and the progression of the business in just 6 years is impressive. Product innovation to crack the digital challenge is paramount, along with client success and the creation of strong and trusted relationships. It’s an exciting era for the business and I’m very happy to join the team.”

Over the last 18 months, sport has seen a distinct acceleration in its digital transformation, as organisations realise the importance of truly knowing, connecting and engaging with fans on a deeper and personalised level through better use of first party data and premium fan facing platforms. 

In response to this, InCrowd chose to focus on product development, ideating, building and delivering new and innovative solutions to respond to the rapidly changing requirements of clients and their commercial partners. Over the last 2 years, InCrowd has almost doubled in size to over one hundred team members, with 65% of the workforce focussed on R&D. 

At the heart of InCrowd’s product innovation is their Customer Data and Experience Platform (CDXP), Bridge, a “one stop shop” for querying and using customer data to create personalised fan experiences across digital platforms via a best in class headless CMS and direct to fan content, messaging and engagement tools, all analysed across a range of tailored reporting suites.

“The very foundation of our business lies in our belief that fans are your greatest asset and that creating great digital experiences through high-quality fan facing platforms, data driven content & messaging and innovative activations is the most effective way to drive swift ROI.” says Cooney.

“We empower clients to be bold in their digital and data transformations and support them fully at every stage of their journey. These are the organisations that are now reaping the rewards and we’re excited to help others reach their full potential.”

Thomas agrees; “We are in an era of digital disruption, and clearly the industry is moving towards greater and more effective use of data. InCrowd are market leaders in this space. Everyone’s talking about the need to connect directly with fans and consumers, but at the moment it seems to be more talk than action. InCrowd are actually making things happen, facilitating monumental digital changes for their clients and demonstrating tangible returns, which is one of the things that sets them apart.”

About Simon Thomas

A sports industry veteran, Simon will take on the role of Chairman alongside his role of Partner at Colgan Bauer. An influential boutique firm, Colgan Bauer offers international sports strategy consultancy for many of the world’s top governing bodies, rights holders and investors. Prior to this, Simon was Chief Commercial Officer at FIFA, where he extensively restructured the digital and commercial teams.  His further experience includes 15 years at TEAM Marketing, UEFA’s commercial agency for the development of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League competitions in various roles culminating in Chief Executive Officer; and 3 years as EVP Global Sport and Content Sales at Fox where he acted on rights acquisitions for Fox Sports internationally and established a global content sales team selling entertainment, factual and sports content. Simon also established his own advisory agency, Talisman Sport & Media.