iSPORTCONNECT’s Monthly Deals Update – August 2020: UEFA + Pepsico And Coca Cola + IPC

iSPORTCONNECT’s Monthly Deals Update, powered by Connexi, looks back at some of the key partnerships created within sport for the month of August. Connexi’s Zak Gelbier takes a deeper look at some of August’s biggest deals and how they will work.

Europa League + Heineken

For Heineken, a platform like the UEFA Europa League is the perfect way to showcase their non-alcoholic offering, providing them with a large audience of potential consumers. Replacing Amstel with its flagship non-alcoholic beer brand, Heineken 0.0%, is a statement that they offer much more than just alcoholic products.

Using this platform to encourage responsible drinking and also give consumers a choice is needed. Traditionally, there has been a strong association of football and alcohol so it will be interesting to see whether the football fanbase is ready to accept the change and make this partnership a success.

Spotify + Riot Games

A strong move from Spotify to make their first ever paid sponsorship and choose to do it in esports. A massive statement that shows the stature that esports now holds.

Spotify offers Riot Games the perfect platform to entertain their current League of Legends following and at the same time continue to reach out to a worldwide potential audience. Giving them exclusive League of Legends music, podcasts and playlists inspired by the gaming community and access to millions of monthly listeners. The partnership seems a great fit for both Spotify and Riot Games with a lot of crossovers between gamers and audio streaming audiences.

UEFA + PepsiCo

A proven partnership that now sees women’s football sit alongside men’s football. For UEFA Women’s football this multi-year partnership further strengthens the ever growing presence of the women’s game in the elite football landscape, both on and off the field.  Helping not only the growth of the women’s game but also towards equality with the men’s game. For PepsiCo this is an obvious expansion of their already successful football offering.

Coca-Cola + IPC

A partnership that makes perfect sense for both parties. Olympics and Paralympics tend to go hand in hand, for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to partner with Coca-Cola, a historic sponsor of the IOC, it just fits. For the IPC this is a massive opportunity to help to communicate the impact of the Paralympic Movement to a whole new audience and to bring themselves on par with the IOC.

Other notable deals from August

  • AC Milan + Electonic Arts
  • Dorilton Capital + Williams Racing
  • Bundesliga + Mola TV
  • World Bowling + StriveCloud
  • Star Times + LaLiga
  • Fanatics + Rebel
  • Sky Sports + NFL as well as Sky Sports + Ascot
  • Formula E – ProsiebenSat
  • IPL + Dream11
  • Hisense + PSG
  • PGA Tour + Pointsbet
  • Riot Games + Cisco
  • W88 + Crystal Palace
  • SailGP + Greenfly
  • bwin + Eleven Sports/Belgian Pro League
  • Ospreys + Pumpjack
  • AC Milan Women + Banco BPM
  • Betway + Real Betis
  • Mondelēz International + Manchester City and Arsenal
  • Eleven Sports + LaLiga
  • World Bowling + Curveball
  • Eleven Sports + Telenet
  • LaLiga + Canal+
  • Wasps + Seyu/Vodafone
  • Norwich City + PTI Digital
  • Amazon Prime Video + Seattle Sounders
  • LRT + Euroleague
  • Southampton FC + SportsBet.io
  • Real Sociedad + PTI Digital

Beach Soccer World Wide Joins Forces With New Platform

Beach Soccer World Wide is proud to announce a key strategical partnership agreement with IQONIQ, who becomes the official beach soccer fan engagement platform on a multi-year deal. 

This new relationship, which will begin immediately and last for the next three seasons, makes IQONIQ the exclusive official fan engagement and loyalty platform for all the Beach Soccer World Wide-organized competitions. 

Founded in 1992, Beach Soccer World Wide, the entity behind the creation and promotion of beach soccer on a global stage, is a major sports property. For almost three decades, BSWW has organized more than 300 international top-level events in more than 50 countries all over the world, involving thousands of athletes and achieving yearly audiences above 250 million households. 

IQONIQ is a new social media and fan engagement platform that targets the world of sport and entertainment from a unique perspective. IQONIQ’s varied and dynamic all-in-one app creates a whole new experiential ecosystem that provides fans with a more personalized, stimulant and interactive approach, in which they obtain rewards, exclusive content, in-app games and special merchandise and ticketing offers following a detailed engagement loyalty program, thus strengthening the way they relate with their favorite stars, teams and clubs.  

Launching in fall 2020, IQONIQ has already reached worldwide agreements with big sports properties such as LaLiga, Euroleague Basketball, McLaren Racing, Olympique Marseille, AS Monaco, Real Sociedad, Crystal Palace and FC Zenit, amongst many others. 

This strategical agreement reinforces Beach Soccer World Wide’s commitment with its fanbase, exploring new ways to give supporters a much more intense and direct conversation with the sport, its athletes and teams. 

For IQONIQ, beach soccer offers a new universe in the top-notch sport, with a very active and committed fanbase, at the time it gives access to audiences and users no other sport can.

Joan Cusco, Beach Soccer World Wide president:

“Our task is to promote and develop beach soccer and engaging with our fans is one of our main priorities, because they play an instrumental role in the sport. Beach soccer is a young, fresh and vivid sport, and our relationship with our fans is something we truly value. This is why the agreement with IQONIQ is so important for us. It opens a whole new set of possibilities to relate with our fanbase, to offer new experiences and to strengthen our communication with the global beach soccer family at a whole new level”. 

Kazim Atilla, CEO and founder of IQONIQ:

“Beach soccer is a sport with a huge potential, with a strong connection with its supporters, both inside and outside the stadium. It is very important for us to have the chance to work with such a unique sport, with endless possibilities with regards to fan engagement, what will give us a phenomenal opportunity to provide unexplored experiences to our users”. 

PepsiCo Extend Partnership With PGA Of America, Adds Ryder Cup Deal

PepsiCo extended its longstanding partnership with the PGA of America and, in a separate multi-year deal with the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, expanded its golf reach to The Ryder Cup.

Building off a relationship with PGA Professionals that began in 1993, PepsiCo continues as the “Official Soft Drink,” “Official Iced Tea,” “Official Sports Drink” and “Official Bottled Water” of the of the PGA of America, PGA Championship, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

With this landmark agreement through 2025, PepsiCo is named “Worldwide Supplier” of The Ryder Cup as the “Official Soft Drink,” “Official Iced Tea,” and “Official Sports Drink” serving beverages such as Pepsi, Gatorade and Lipton Iced Teas. The company’s Aquafina brand, meanwhile, becomes the “Official Bottled Water” of The Ryder Cup in the United States. The expanded offerings from the PepsiCo portfolio also introduce an array of low calorie and no sugar options to The Ryder Cup.

“Our relationship with PepsiCo is foundational in nature and to take it past the 30-year mark is incredibly satisfying,” said PGA of America Chief Commercial Officer Jeff Price. “Looking back at what we’ve achieved with PepsiCo ― our longest-standing partner ― is a motivating exercise that only elevates our excitement about what we can accomplish together in the coming years.”

As a result of the two beverage agreements, the PGA of America, Ryder Cup Europe and PepsiCo will work together to bring a thirst-quenching portfolio to the game of golf in addition to driving innovation and sustainability initiatives from new hydration options, including the introduction of Aquafina in cans. “The Ryder Cup is recognised as one of the world’s truly great sporting events and, as a result, we look forward to welcoming PepsiCo and its globally recognised portfolio of brands into our commercial family,” said Guy Kinnings, European Ryder Cup Director.

“We’re thrilled to deepen our relationship with the PGA of America and Ryder Cup,” said Anne Fink, president of PepsiCo Global Foodservice. “PepsiCo is proud to bring our brands to the course and support the game of golf on the world’s stage. We look forward to our partnership with both organizations to drive innovation and sustainability initiatives to the green in the years to come.”

Lega Basket Serie A Strikes Partnership With Infront Until 2023

Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, and Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) have unveiled an exclusive three-year partnership ahead of the presentation of the 2020/2021 Championship.

The new agreement will see Infront become the exclusive marketing, sponsorship and digital rights partner starting from the 2020/21 season until the end of the 2022/23 season.

Infront will manage sponsors at all LBA events including the regular season and playoff phases of the Serie A Championship, the Italian Cup ‘Final Eight’, the Italian Super Cup and the NextGen Cup. It also includes non-competitive events exclusively managed by LBA.

The scope also covers the investment and implementation of a digital strategy aimed at growing LBA’s digital channels. This includes post-production content creation of both recent and archive footage.

Umberto Gandini, President of LBA, said: “The agreement with Infront represents a turning point for top basketball and aims to increase and expand the platform of those interested in our championship, strengthening the bond with current and new fans. This is a goal that can only be achieved through medium and long-term planning and through Infront and this strategic partnership I am sure that we will achieve the results we have set ourselves.”

Alessandro Giacomini, Managing Director of Infront Italy, said: “The agreement with LBA is of strategic importance for Infront. Our experience working with other international basketball properties including the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Italian territory gives us the ability to accelerate the growth of the sport in Italy.

“We are pleased to have concluded a long-term agreement which has potential for renewal for another three seasons as it allows us to be able to work strategically with current and future partners of the League. On the social and digital front, we have created a project for the creation of digital content and distribution channels that make the basketball movement increasingly exciting and engaging, so that it can be accessible to an ever wider and more varied audience.”

Wasps Sport Appoints PTI Digital To Lead Their Data & Digital Ecosystem

Wasps Sport have appointed PTI Digital to lead a cross-business, cross-sport review of their data and digital eco-system as the group consider its return to play and the future of fan engagement.

Working across Wasps Sport, which includes Wasps Rugby (male and female), Wasps Netball and the Ricoh Arena, PTI will be completing a deep-dive analysis of the current state before helping to build out a future target operating model that delivers on the commercial vision of the group.

With skill sets across technology, digital, and data, PTI Digital provide a single pane view of an estate using proprietary IP to visualise systems, integrations, data management and more.

Adam Benson, Chief Commercial Officer at Wasps Sport commented: “As a sports club and large, multi-use entertainment venue, it is imperative that we have the right infrastructure in place to ensure we are maximising the data opportunities available to us. Wasps have recently embarked upon a review of our digital offering and technological capabilities as part of the development of a wider commercial strategy. PTI Digital have defined the framework for this and, in a very short space of time, understood our business and the challenges we face.”

Mike Bohndiek, Chief Executive Officer at PTI Digital commented “At the core of our proposition is our blended, specialist skill set. Be it fibre into a ground, in-stadia connectivity, digital platform architecture or best utilising club data, we have experienced sports industry executives on hand to help clubs go further, faster. We are delighted to be completing this analysis for Wasps Sport as their root and branch business review takes shape.”

UEFA Foundation Joins Forces With Stack Sports

tack Sports, provider of digital solutions to international, national, grassroots and professional sporting organisations across Europe, Australia and New Zealand, has joined forces with UEFA Foundation; a charitable organisation to help children in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Stack Sports will provide GameDay, it’s Online Auction Platform, which will assist in fundraising activities for the UEFA Foundation for Children. Limited edition items including official match worn and signed UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, shirts and footballs will be available. Stack Sports and UEFA Foundation for Children’s live auction will launch on the 25th September 2020 and can be found by visiting auctions.uefafoundation.org

Andy Graham, General Manager for Stack Sports – EMEA, said: “We are excited to partner with the UEFA Foundation. Our auction platform assists clubs, foundations and charities in fundraising activities for their respective organisations. The UEFA Foundation continues our growth in the EMEA region in 2020 having also partnered with Basketball Ireland and World Bowling in recent months.”

Cyril Pellevat, UEFA Foundation for Children, Head of Administration said: “UEFA Foundation for Children is pleased to partner with Stack Sports and digitise its fundraising activities. It will ensure we can offer all Football fans across the world their chance to win limited edition items from Champions League and Europa League matches. The profits benefit projects in favour of children around the world.”

Stack Sports have been providing next generation technology solutions in the Australian market since 2001 and have extended their key markets to include Europe, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Other Stack Sports partners in the European region include Basketball England, The Rugby Football League, Basketball Ireland, World Bowling and Run for All. Stack Sports provides membership, competition and event management platforms and various digital websites, e-commerce, and fundraising solutions to the sports community.

Stefano Domenicali Set To Be Appointed New Formula One CEO Replacing Chase Carey, Reports Say

Ferrari’s former Formula One Team Principal, Stefano Domenicali, is set to be named as the new Chief Executive of Formula One next year, according to reports.

He will replace current CEO Chase Carey, who has been in the role since January 2017 following Liberty Media’s acquisition of the motor racing championship.

Domenicali currently serves as the CEO of Italian car brand Lamborghini following his long tenure with Ferrari until 2014, and he returns to the sport after a six-year absence.

The appointment is yet to be confirmed by either Formula One or Domenicali himself, but has been widely reported by many sources.

Stefano Domenicali during his time at Ferrari.

LaLiga Signs IQONIQ As Global Fan Engagement Licenced Partner

LaLiga and IQONIQ have reached a global licence agreement to include LaLiga content and information on the IQONIQ platform, which is aimed at encouraging fan engagement in the world of sports and entertainment.

The main beneficiaries of this licence agreement will be fans around the world, who will have the latest information from LaLiga accessible on the IQONIQ app, as well as exclusive offers for merchandising, match tickets, unique experiences and more.

The agreement spans three years and will see IQONIQ become LaLiga’s “Global Fan Engagement Licenced Partner,” through which LaLiga demonstrates its firm commitment to thinking outside the box when it comes to establishing platforms to interact with its fans across the world.

“It’s strategic for LaLiga and its clubs to continue increasing their contact with fans around the world,” said Oscar Mayo, LaLiga’s Director of Business, Marketing and International Development. “In order to achieve this, there’s no better way than establishing this partnership with IQONIQ, the all-in-one fan engagement app that is already working with the Basketball Euroleague, McLaren Racing and several European football clubs, among others.”

From IQONIQ’s perspective, the agreement represents its commitment to football both in Spain and across the world, when considering LaLiga’s global reach.

Kazim Atilla, IQONIQ’s CEO, said: “We are very excited to have signed this partnership agreement with LaLiga, one of the most innovative and forward-thinking sports leagues in the world, and to become its exclusive and official fan engagement partner. IQONIQ is seeking to revolutionise the world of fan experience, so it is vital for us that we work alongside partners that are equally committed to providing their fans with the best possible engagements and experiences. Through this partnership, fans of LaLiga will be given new and unique opportunities to engage with their clubs and stars and be fairly rewarded for their ongoing commitment and loyalty. We look forward to working alongside LaLiga and their global partners to fulfil our common ambitions in this regard.”

Kings XI Punjab Strikes Fan Engagement Partnership With Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra Ltd. a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting and business reengineering services and Kings XI Punjab, a leading Dream11IPL team join hands to ‘bring fans closer to the game’ amidst COVID-19.

Through this partnership, Tech Mahindra has launched a dedicated fan engagement app to virtually connect fans to teams during the Dream11IPL 2020 and beyond. The mobile app will be available on iOS/Android platform for fans to download during the Dream11IPL2020 season.

Tech Mahindra and Kings XI Punjab will also work on 5G related use cases for introducing holographic virtual fans to the stadium. As part of the collaboration, Tech Mahindra will also support Kings XI Punjab to reach wider markets and audiences from at-home spectators real-time, during live games played in fan free stadiums and venues during the Dream11IPL 2020.

Satish Menon, CEO, Kings XI Punjab, said, “We are very excited to partner with Tech Mahindra as our “Digital Fan Engagement Partner”. The timing of launching this fan engagement app by Tech Mahindra is just perfect, as this will help Kings XI Punjab to be boundaryless and connect to even more fans than the previous IPL. Through this app, we are also helping our partner brands to be more digitally connected.”

Jagdish Mitra, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth, Tech Mahindra, said, “Technology is going to play an important role in enabling digital disruptions and social innovation in the post-COVID world. Tech Mahindra is committed to revolutionize the fan experience globally by leveraging digital and virtual technology in sports. This strategic partnership with Kings XI Punjab will give us an opportunity to bring the best of both the worlds and help sports club to create the reach for fans beyond the obvious. We will enhance Fan engagement app further to provide hyper-personalised experience to Kings XI Punjab fans. With the launch of this app, we want to see more and more fans following the Kings XI Punjab.”

Manish Upadhyay, Head – Global Business Development, Sports Vertical, Tech Mahindra, said, “Tech Mahindra has recently launched the Sports Tech business unit focusing on Sports Specific digital solutions to provide digital ecosystem for fans, sponsors, suppliers and clubs. We are happy to partner with Kings XI Punjab and this is our first step towards building a state-of-the-art digital fan engagement platform. Though this collaboration, we will bring fans closer to the Kings XI Punjab and grow the game. Through our fan engagement app, we are not only providing great augmented and virtual reality experience to the fans especially the millennials, Gen Z and Gen X, but also providing great activation value to digital brands by monetizing on the fan experience.”

As part of the TechMNxt charter, Tech Mahindra is committed towards creating a partner ecosystem to deliver enhanced cutting-edge next-generation technologies like Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, 5G, and Internet of Things, to disrupt and enable digital transformation, to build cutting-edge technology solutions and services for customers globally.