PGA TOUR And Twitter Announce New Fan Engagement Initiative

To mark the PGA TOUR’s return to competition at the Charles Schwab Challenge, June 11-14 at Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, Texas, the TOUR and Twitter today announced a global live content execution that will be a first-of-its kind for the social media platform.

“Twitter Multicast” will take place on Thursday, June 11, from approximately 1-2:30 pm ET and will showcase athletes, celebrities and other personalities creating their own live, audio/video commentary in conjunction with PGA TOUR LIVE Featured Groups coverage during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Twitter Multicast will feature the likes of Danny Kanell, Dude Perfect, Darren Rovell, Darius Rucker, Annika Sorenstam, Golden Tate and others.

“The PGA TOUR is proud to be among the first major sports leagues to return to competition,” said Rick Anderson, Chief Media Officer of the PGA TOUR. “With no spectators on site, we want to work harder than ever to connect our fans to the event, across numerous platforms and devices in addition to the PGA TOUR LIVE, Golf Channel and CBS broadcasts. Working with Twitter on this all-new fan engagement initiative is a nod to how important fans are to the TOUR and our players.”

The Charles Schwab Challenge features the top-five ranked players in the world and 17 of the top 20 in the FedExCup Standings. The Twitter Multicast will offer nine versions of the live stream with distribution from more than 20 different Twitter accounts. The video streams will cover pre-game, practice sessions, and the first two holes of competition of players such as Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. Each stream will carry PGA TOUR LIVE featured groups coverage complemented with live audio/video commentary from commentators who will provide their point of view on the return of the TOUR.

A full list of the guest commentators across nine video streams:
CBS Sports:                                     Charles Davis (@CFD22) and Danny Kanell (@dannykanell)
SKY Sports/NBC Sports:                Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) and Conor Moore (@ConorSketches)
Discovery/GOLFTV:                       Henni Zuel (@hennizuel) and Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie)
Golf Digest:                                     Hally Leadbetter (@hallylead) and David Leadbetter (@davidleadbetter)
The Action Network/GolfBet:     Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell), Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) and guest
LPGA:                                               Annika Sorenstam (@ANNIKA59) and Brittany Lincicome (@Brittany1golf)
Celebrity Stream:                          Darius Rucker (@dariusrucker) and Golden Tate (@ShowtimeTate)
Celebrity Stream:                          Dude Perfect (@DudePerfect)
Celebrity Stream:                          Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) and Wells Adams (@WellsAdams)

“This first-ever Twitter Multicast will give golf fans a viewing experience they won’t find anywhere else,” says TJ Adeshola, head of U.S. sports partnerships for Twitter. “By adding conversation and commentary from a range of Twitter notables to premium golf content, the Multicast will have something for everyone, regardless if you’re looking for real-time reactions, analysis or just some laughs to pair with live footage from Colonial. This is a prime example of how to create a richer, more customized fan experience through the power of Twitter.”

The PGA TOUR and Twitter initially teamed up to live stream tournament coverage when portions of PGA TOUR LIVE’s premium window was streamed during the opening rounds of the first two events of the 2016 FedExCup Playoffs. The two companies formalized their live stream relationship in January 2017 when they began offering PGA TOUR LIVE coverage from select events during the 2016-2017 PGA TOUR Season, expanding the agreement in 2019 to include live daily coverage on Twitter during every PGA TOUR event.

BLAST’s Bounty Hunt Tournament To Be Broadcast In 29 Territories

BLAST, the global esports media network, has confirmed a diverse and far-reaching list of broadcasters to show its inaugural DoTa 2 tournament around the world.

32 hours of BLAST Bounty Hunt action will be shown in 11 languages and broadcast in 29 territories across five continents, helping to further extend the esports brand’s global reach. Among others, DoTa fans will be able to watch matches in English, Chinese and Russian ranging to Portuguese, French, Polish and more.

Last month BLAST announced its first foray into DoTa 2 with the introduction of Bounty Hunt – the new online competition will feature the best teams from across Europe. The tournament will be held across five consecutive days from today, where teams will compete for a prize pool of $150,000.

In 2019, BLAST delivered seven Counter-Strike events across five continents with 1 billion minutes of broadcast watched in 19 different languages. During a time when the fanbase is predominately at home, this output has increased with the introduction of multiple new lines of tournaments, content series and commercial partnerships. From 30th April through to 21st June, BLAST is bringing to life over 308 hours of world-class esports to fans all around the world.

Alexander Lewin, VP Distribution and Programming, said: “We are delighted to start our first DoTa tournament and are thrilled to have partnered with a global, who-is-who, of linear and online broadcasting for Bounty Hunt. This confirms the desire for a BLAST DoTa 2 product that we have been working so hard to make happen over the last few months.”

A dynamic prize pool and an interactive fan prediction game, where fans will win $5,000 of the prize pool, are two innovative new features that will be introduced in BLAST Bounty Hunt. These features have been created and brought to the fans by BLAST in collaboration with the competing teams.

Teams involved include OG Esports, Team Secret, Nigma, NIP, Alliance and Team Liquid playing BO3s until the Championship Final BO5. Teams will seed each other and play in double elimination brackets to reach the final two. Seeds 3-6 will playoff with the winners moving on to play seeds 1-2 for a place in the final.

SportAccord 2019 In Gold Coast Recognised At Prestigious Australian Events Sector Awards Ceremony

The 2019 edition of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit in Gold Coast has been recognised at a prestigious annual award show for the Australian events sector.

SportAccord 2019 was selected as Platinum Award winner for Best Event in Australia at the 2019 Meeting & Events Australia (MEA) and also scooped the overall Government Event of the Year and Queensland’s Event Legacy Award. The winners were announced at the MEALIVE 2019 Award virtual event held at ICC Sydney Studios.

Coming just a year after Gold Coast became the focus of the sporting world when it staged the 2018 Commonwealth Games to great acclaim, SportAccord 2019 benefited from receiving the full support of the Queensland Government via Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) as it welcomed over 1700 delegates to the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre last May.

The 2019 edition of sport’s most important annual gathering featured multiple high-profile networking events, a three-day exhibition, and more than 50 conference sessions with over 100 speakers and panellists from the worlds of sport, business and politics, including H.E. Ban Ki-moon, the former United Nations (UN) Secretary General.

SportAccord and GAISF President Raffaele Chiulli said: “We are grateful that SportAccord 2019 has been recognised by Meeting & Events Australia for what was such a productive and enjoyable week in Gold Coast, Queensland. The recognition only solidifies the value of hosting SportAccord to cities, regions and countries and the legacy impact of our event.”

“The awards are a testament to the dedicated work of the local organisers and the incredible contribution of Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) and the partners, suppliers and volunteers who made SportAccord’s first visit to Oceania such a success. The Gold Coast and Queensland were a magnificent host and its people truly embraced the event.”

The next edition of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit will take place in Ekaterinburg, Russia from 23-28 May 2021.

As the only global sports industry event attended by all International Sport Federations and their stakeholders, SportAccord brings together organising committees, hosting cities and regions, governments and administrations, rights-holders, agencies and athletes, as well as top-level experts and organisations from the sports media, technology, investment, medical and legal sectors.

Registration is open now for SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021, which will be held at the IEC Ekaterinburg-Expo convention centre. Organisations can become an official partner or exhibitor and discuss these investment opportunities with sales@sportaccord.sport. Follow developments and updates via Twitter @sportaccord and keep up-to-date via LinkedIn and Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

Extreme E Reveals Virtual Hospitality Plans

Extreme E, the revolutionary new electric SUV off-road racing series, has today confirmed it will provide a host of virtual hospitality opportunities around all of its races, with the aim of bringing the Extreme E experience to guests remotely in their homes, offices and other suitable venues.  

As a series that is ever-mindful about its footprint and maintaining minimal on-site attendance, Extreme E has always concentrated on innovative solutions and alternatives to how traditional sports events are run. The current pandemic has highlighted this need more than ever. 

The packages will include a unique and immersive viewing experience featuring a VIP access portal, live-streaming service, garage tours, race director cuts, chat platform, access to team and driver radios and a live DJ stream, amongst other exclusive benefits. 

And the Virtual Reality (VR) doesn’t stop there. VR goggles will be sent to guests so they can watch footage filmed with 3D cameras and access driver interviews, track walks, drone laps and hot laps. There will also be the opportunity to put questions to drivers and celebrities at the races. 

In addition, a VIP culinary experience will be on offer whereby a personal chef will arrive at your own home or office to create a themed menu based on the Extreme E race location. Guests won’t need to worry about a thing, as chefs bring everything from food to culinary gifts. 

There will also be the option to order VIP hamper boxes including signed merchandise, a signature drink mix from the race location and climate warrior bracelets. 

Alejandro Agag, Extreme E Founder and CEO, said:  “As a championship, we are always looking to innovate and offer the best access and experiences to our teams and partners. If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is that there is technology in place to allow us to do pretty much anything remotely.  

“Virtual Reality is becoming more and more prevalent in society, and it is something we are taking very seriously here at Extreme E. The aim of the virtual hospitality packages will be to provide a memorable and immersive experience for guests without needing to travel thousands of miles. It is a fantastic opportunity for our partners to really show their employees what they are supporting and fully engage them in the culture of the championship and the remote locations Extreme E visits.”

Ania Porzuczek, Hospitality Manager at Extreme E, commented: “It is fantastic that we have access to so many new technologies and services to allow us to bring our guests as close to the action as possible without leaving their home. This is a new challenge for Extreme E but we are all about making the impossible possible.”

More details of how to book these packages will become available as the inaugural 2021 season draws closer. 

To learn more about Extreme E, visit – www.Extreme-E.com 

Everton Name Cazoo As New Main Partner

Everton and Cazoo, one of the UK’s fastest-growing new ecommerce businesses, have agreed a multi-year partnership that will see the innovative online car retailer become the Premier League club’s new main partner.

The Cazoo brand will feature on the front of Everton’s first team playing and training kits for the men’s team from the 2020/21 season – signalling an exciting new partnership for the Club with the pioneering UK business.

Cazoo, founded by renowned British entrepreneur Alex Chesterman OBE – the digital innovator behind LoveFilm and Zoopla – is a digital platform that makes buying a car as simple as purchasing any other product online. Since its launch in late 2019, UK consumers have embraced the simplicity of buying cars online and having their new vehicles delivered to the door. Becoming Everton’s new main sponsor underlines Cazoo’s commitment to securing its place as the UK’s best-known online car retailer.

Everton Chief Executive, Denise Barrett-Baxendale said: “We are delighted to welcome Cazoo as our new main Club partner and shirt sponsor. We have been impressed with the approach that Cazoo has taken and are confident that they will be a great partner for the Club and our fans in the years to come. We are looking forward to working closely with them and are in no doubt that the values of Cazoo and the company’s focus on innovation and future development complement perfectly our own ambitions as we embark on an exciting new chapter for the Club.”

The partnership between Everton and Cazoo will commence at the end of the 2019/20 season. The relationship with Everton is at the forefront of Cazoo’s extensive growth plans as it seeks to accelerate the nation’s shift to online car buying. As well as Cazoo’s eye-catching branding taking pride of place on the shirts of the Everton senior men’s squad and Under 23s side, the logo will be prevalent across Goodison Park, official club merchandise, all of the Club’s digital platforms and on Everton’s media backdrops.

The partnership complements Everton’s commercial development strategy and means that, for the first time since the 2003/04 season, replica kits featuring the Club’s main partner branding will be available to purchase in junior and children’s sizes.

Alex Chesterman, the founder & CEO of Cazoo, is one of the UK’s leading digital entrepreneurs and investors. He has been named the UK’s Entrepreneur of the Year and was awarded an OBE for services to digital entrepreneurship in 2016. He said: “We are really excited to be partnering with Everton, a family club with a rich heritage and a passionate and loyal fanbase. This opportunity will help significantly enhance our brand awareness as we look to make Cazoo a household name. We look forward to working closely with the Club as part of our mission to provide the best possible car buying experience to UK consumers.”

Cazoo will replace SportPesa on the front of the Everton shirt for the 2020/21 season and is set to be the only British owned brand as the main sponsor of a Premier League club next term.

Sasha Ryazantsev, Chief Finance & Commercial Officer at Everton Football Club, said: “In our search for a new partner, we were hoping to find a dynamic brand with strong growth potential and we have certainly found that with Cazoo.

”As a disruptor brand in their industry, Cazoo represents the best of British in terms of innovation and agility, and these values really resonate with Everton and our fans.

“Despite only launching last year, Cazoo is already transforming the way consumers purchase cars and has also proven its resilience through the coronavirus pandemic. Our partnership will help Cazoo extend its reach and audience significantly to continue its impressive growth trajectory. We have been really impressed by Alex and his team and look forward to working with them over the coming years.”

Cazoo owns and fully reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale and delivering them to customer’s doors across the UK within as little as 72 hours. Buyers can purchase or finance a Cazoo car entirely online – as well as getting an instant offer for any part exchange. Every Cazoo car comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee and free comprehensive 90-day warranty and roadside assistance.

LaLiga Bringing Broadcast Innovations For Resumption Of Play, PUMA And LaLiga Celebrate The Competition’s Return, League Wins Anti-Piracy Ruling In Russia

A few days before the competition returns, LaLiga has announced new broadcast experiences that will be part of the remaining eleven matchdays of the 2019/20 season. 

Due to the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank matches will look and sound different than they did before the league was postponed.

The innovations have been implemented in two main areas: virtualisation of stands and fan audio as well as new camera positions and the images they will offer to viewers. Both will be carried out with the help of partners and implemented by Mediapro, the official production partner of LaLiga.

“We have made these broadcasting changes so fans can enjoy LaLiga,” said LaLiga President Javier Tebas. “We work with global partners to offer a great viewer experience. We are in an exceptional situation, but for us it has been important to be able to adapt and offer a compelling, cutting-edge broadcast to our fans.”

Virtualised stands and fan audio for television broadcasts

The biggest change for the return of the competition is the virtualised broadcasting that LaLiga will offer to international broadcast partners, which will allow matches to be seen in an attractive way that closely resembles how they looked and sounded before the competition was postponed.

For these broadcasts, the stands will be virtualised and will always offer to-scale images of seated fans wearing the colours of the home club. To develop this digital experience, LaLiga collaborated with Norwegian company VIZRT, which also works with other European leagues.

In moments when the game is stopped, this image of fans can be transformed into a canvas that matches the colour of the home team and will carry institutional messages among other offerings.

This innovative broadcast will also feature virtual sound, which has been obtained through collaboration with EA SPORTS FIFA, in a project called Sounds of the Stands. Through this, the audio library of LaLiga official sponsor EA, which was recorded in real stadiums, has been used and has been digitally adapted so that it can be implemented in real time during the match. It will be adapted to the flow of the game as certain situations occur, such as a goal or a foul, creating what is known as Atmospheric Audio.

Cameras: New angles to bring action closer to fans

The match itself will also be seen differently due to new camera positions. 

Some cameras will shift their location to positions where they would previously have affected the sightline of fans in the stands. Among other examples, the aerial camera will modify its flight path to offer new shots, the bench camera will be moved to the opposite stand, while robotic cameras will be used in the tunnel for reasons of health safety.

All of these changes, which will be maintained as long as matches have to be played behind closed doors, continue LaLiga’s commitment to bring fans at home the best experience.

LaLiga And Puma

LaLiga is celebrating the imminent return of the football season with a new campaign that captures the excitement being felt by the league’s global fanbase in collaboration with its official partner PUMA.

The campaign, titled #LaLigaBouncesBack, launches with a video featuring an array of global sports stars, including LaLiga Santander players Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak, who are seen passing LaLiga’s official match ball, designed by PUMA. The ball is passed through nine different countries before arriving back in Spain, ready for competition to resume on 11th June.

Marc Bartra of Real Betis and Suso of Sevilla FC, who will face each other in El Gran Derbi to mark the return of LaLiga competition, also appear in the video.

In line with the #BackToWin campaign, launched by LaLiga and Movistar, the video conveys the message that restarting the competition is not only important for LaLiga and its clubs, but also for the millions of fans who follow the competition worldwide, as well as the wider sports industry.

Reflecting the international audience of LaLiga, the ball passes through  the USA (via Fafa Picault of FC Dallas and Juan Pablo Torres of New York City FC), Singapore (including Raihan Rahman of Tanjong Pagar United), South Africa (including Themba Zwane of the Mamelodi Sundowns) and Mexico (including Rogelio Funes Mori), all of which are countries where LaLiga has already established global offices. 

In addition, Japan (Louis Yamaguchi of Extremadura UD), Australia (including freestyler Jed Hockins), Indonesia (including Otavio Dutra of Persija Jakarta) and Philippines (Carlo Dorin, U18 National Team player) are included, while LaLiga Santander ambassadors Diego Forlan, Fernando Morientes and Christian Karembeu also feature.

LaLiga Wins Anti-Piracy Ruling In Russia

LaLiga has won a ruling at Moscow City Court that will see all LaLiga Santander content removed from three Russian websites that had been illegally streaming matches from the competition.

The domains mou.su, hdtennis.ru and liveball.ru were found guilty of showing pirated broadcasts of LaLiga Santander matches in Russia during 2020. In total, these websites were receiving over 1.14 million visits per month.

Having noticed the illegal activity, LaLiga’s in-house antipiracy department, consisting of over 25 technical experts, filed the complaint to the Moscow City Court and compiled the evidence against the three websites, assisted WebKontrol Ltd.

In accordance with Paragraph 4 Article 1253.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the court ruled in favour of LaLiga and ordered the immediate removal of all LaLiga Santander matches from the three websites.

LaLiga has made significant investments in tackling anti-piracy on a global level in recent years, partnering with industry bodies and other rights holders in the process. Through these efforts it has successfully defeated pirate services in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Denmark, Senegal and Indonesia to name a few.

The antipiracy team has also developed a range of in-house tools for detecting and acting against piracy which have been shared with other competitions including Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League and Dorna Sports, the rights holder to the world’s top motorcycling events.

Commenting on the ruling, LaLiga’s Audiovisual Director Melcior Soler, said: “Every ruling against piracy is another step towards removing this illegal practice from the industry. Our global team is able to detect cases across the world and successfully pursue legal action, leading the fight against those who are trying to cheat the rights holders, legitimate broadcast partners and fans.”

Sportradar To Offer Postponed European Championship As Part Of Simulated Reality Product Range

The official European Championship tournament may have been postponed until next summer, but Sportradar, a global provider of sports content and intelligence, is playing out the competition in full via its AI-driven Simulated Reality product.

Kicking off with Turkey vs. Italy at 8.00pm BST on Friday 12 June, as per the original competition schedule, Sportradar is offering Simulated Reality matches for all 51 games of the tournament including the final on Sunday 12 July.

Simulated Reality is completely AI-driven and algorithm based. Drawing on Sportradar’s comprehensive football database, the AI engine creates a huge number of different game situations, outcomes, and gameplays to generate an unpredictable outcome for football fans.

Simulated Reality has already successfully completed the seasons of all major European football leagues, with results mirroring real-life outcomes. Completed seasons include the top leagues in Germany, England, Italy, and Spain, with other leagues still in progress.

To mark the start of the Europe’s leading international football tournament within Simulated Reality, Sportradar is introducing two new features designed to enhance fan engagement.

  • Live video replays – The matches will now include a short, live video replay of significant moments within a game. Fans will be able to watch goals being scored, shots on target, own goals and penalties being scored or missed.
  • Automatically generated match reports – After each match customers will be automatically served a match reports which provides a summary of the game play alongside in-depth match statistics and analysis.

These new features are in addition to the 50+ selection of pre-match and live betting markets available for each match.

Werner Becher, Managing Director, US Betting at Sportradar said: “In the short time that Simulated Reality has been on the market, it has established itself as an authentic and credible alternative to traditional sports betting covering a range of sports including football, cricket and tennis. Now more than ever it is important that we closely listen to customer feedback so that we can continually improve and enhance our product range.

“The new features we’ve introduced at this time create further opportunities for our customers to engage with football fans and create a unique way to enjoy top level tournament football this summer.”

KitKat Teams Up With BLAST Ahead Of DoTa 2 Tournament

BLAST has announced a partnership agreement with KitKat that will see the Nestlé chocolate brand sponsor BLAST Bounty Hunt – the leading esports company’s online DoTa 2 tournament.

The agreement will give the global chocolate manufacturer a number of branding and content activation opportunities during BLAST’s online Dota 2 tournament which takes place from tomorrow (Tuesday, 9 June). The deal also includes sponsorship of in-broadcast feature ‘Captain’s Kick Back’, which will see team captains talk about their life in and outside of esports.

Leo Matlock, Commercial Director for BLAST, said: “We’re thrilled to add a brand as reputable and well-known as KitKat to our family of partners ahead of BLAST’s first DoTa 2 tournament. KitKat is a global brand and we are proud that they have chosen BLAST to further develop their burgeoning esports strategy with a bespoke partnership that maximises our far-reaching and innovative tournament approach.”

Georg Fischer, KitKat Marketing Manager Europe, Middle East & North Africa says “KitKat has always been about a smile in the break and getting a fresh perspective which is also very relevant in gaming and the highly competitive esports environment. We made our first steps in esports earlier this year and were overwhelmed by the positive feedback from fans, teams and partners alike. This confirmed the strong fit between KitKat and the community, and we look forward to a great collaboration with BLAST to bring meaningful, fun content and surprises to the DoTa 2 Bounty Hunt!”

Last month BLAST Bounty Hunt launched the new online DoTa 2 tournament which will feature the best teams from across Europe and the world. The tournament will be held across five consecutive days in June (9th-13th), where teams will compete for a prize pool of $150,000.

A dynamic prize pool and an interactive fan prediction game are two innovative new features that will be introduced in BLAST Bounty Hunt. These features have been created and brought to the fans by BLAST in collaboration with the competing teams.

Teams involved include OG Esports, Team Secret, Nigma, NIP, Alliance and Team Liquid playing BO3s until the Championship Final BO5. Teams will seed each other and play in double elimination brackets to reach the final two. Seeds 3-6 will playoff with the winners moving on to play seeds 1-2 for a place in the final.

Eurosport Announces Two Major Appointments To Production And Digital Teams

Eurosport has announced the appointment of Scott Young to the role of Senior Vice President, Production and Content. With over 30 years in the media industry, Young is expertly placed to help deliver Eurosport’s next phase of growth, bringing an enviable track record in live sports, major event production and on-screen innovation.

Young will be responsible for developing a unique and integrated content offering across broadcast and digital, realising opportunities presented by Eurosport’s enhanced digital products and broader technology transformation. In an exciting period set to see the safe return of live sport, Young will lead the production and operations for all Eurosport’s flagship events including the Olympic Games, cycling Grand Tours, tennis Grand Slams and winter sports World Championship and World Cup events.

Young takes up the role in September 2020. He will be based in London and Paris and report to Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “Scott is one of the most talented and progressive leaders in sports production and it’s hugely exciting to welcome him to the Discovery family. He joins at a pivotal time for our business as we prepare to realise the opportunities delivered by the transformation of Eurosport’s global technology infrastructure, one of Discovery’s most significant capital investments. This will revolutionise how we deliver sport to fans, using cloud and remote technology within a unified production ecosystem for broadcast and digital to create and distribute world-class content from anywhere in the world.

“When you consider a project as complex as the Olympic Games, where Discovery serves fans in 50 markets, localised and in 19 languages, across its full range of free-to-air, pay-tv and digital platforms, it is clear this will be a game-changer for the scale and flexibility of our business.

“Given Scott’s extensive experience and success at delivering major production projects and leading world-class teams, I have no doubt Discovery’s already award-winning sport production and content offering will go from strength to strength and engage even more fans around the world.”

Scott Young, Senior Vice President, Production and Content, said: “Eurosport is one of the world’s most respected and highly regarded sports producers. I am impressed at how Eurosport’s production and on-screen experience has evolved under Discovery’s leadership. While its record-breaking Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 production and award winning Eurosport cube made waves through the industry, it is clear that the company hasn’t stood still and the production infrastructure it has created is ground breaking. I look forward to getting started.”

Young joins from Sky Sports, where he has been Head of F1 for the channel’s award-winning Formula 1 coverage since January 2018. Before moving to Europe, he spent five years as the Head of Television and Content at V8 Supercars (Australian touring car category) and more than a decade at Network Ten in Australia as the Head of Sport Production.

In his role at Ten, Young led the production of the network’s portfolio of sports rights, including premium categories of motorsport spanning Formula 1, MotoGP, the World Rally Championship, Indy Car and World Superbikes. Within a great number of achievements across the period, Young was Executive Producer for the Network Ten’s 2007 Rugby World Cup coverage, leading a team of more than 100 in France for the tournament, and lead the production of the world feed for the UCI Road World Championships’ first event in the Southern Hemisphere in September 2010. Beyond sport, he has produced and created a diverse range of productions across numerous genres viewed by audiences around the world.

Eurosport has also expanded its digital leadership team with the appointment of experienced digital media expert Amar Melwani (pictured) in the newly created role of VP, Distribution Partnerships and Rights Strategy where he will link up to Discovery’s global direct-to-consumer operation.

The addition of Melwani’s experience in leading digital teams, as well as his sports rights expertise, highlights the acceleration of the roll out of Eurosport’s direct-to-consumer strategy. This will see Eurosport engage its customers more deeply with enhanced experiences, driven by world-class products and localised sports content.

Eurosport’s digital products already serve sports fans in more than 50 markets in Europe with localised live and on-demand premium sports programming through OTT streaming on the Eurosport App and Eurosport.com, forming an unparalleled direct-to-consumer sports ecosystem.

Melwani’s appointment will see him further develop Eurosport’s future digital sports rights strategy, ensuring customers are provided with the widest multi-sport offering of world-class programming, however they choose to access it, to drive the continued growth and expansion of Eurosport’s direct-to-consumer business.

He will also leverage his business development experience to establish and manage third-party distribution partnerships for Eurosport’s digital subscription offerings, working with device manufacturers, operating system platforms and other strategic distibutors to make it even easier for customers to access Eurosport’s digital content on any screen.

Melwani joins from The Walt Disney Company where he managed partnerships, product marketing and analytics for the new global OTT platform, Disney+. He previously led rights acquisitions, content distribution and the direct-to-consumer business for Disney-owned ESPN across EMEA, and prior to this, managed the distribution of Sky’s international direct-to-consumer service.

Paul Rehrig, General Manager, Eurosport Digital, said: “As we continue to drive our direct-to-consumer strategy forward, we are excited to welcome Amar and will greatly benefit from his experience developing world-class OTT services and building distribution and commercial businesses within sports media. Even during this challenging period, Eurosport isn’t standing still. We are hard at work enhancing all aspects of Eurosport’s digital products – from content to product to underlying technology – all to better serve our customers.

Amar Melwani, VP Distribution Partnerships and Rights Strategy, said: “The scale and depth of Eurosport’s sport portfolio, combined with a unique level of country-by-country localisation across Europe, is unrivalled anywhere and provides an outstanding foundation for delivering best-in-class direct-to-consumer offerings to customers and partners. I look forward to working closely with the Eurosport leadership team on a digital-first approach that drives further growth throughout our business.”

Melwani is based in London and reports to Paul Rehrig, General Manager, Eurosport Digital.

Industry Leaders Come Together To Discuss Future Of Women’s Sport

French Football Federation Secretary General Laura Georges, Sports Innovation Lab CEO Angela Ruggiero and Google’s Head of Global Sports & Entertainment Marketing Partnerships, Content & Media Kate Johnson came together to discuss the future  of women’s sport on Thursday, in the latest episode of Talking Sport – powered by Eleven Sports and World Football Summit.

The webinar was moderated by Co-founder of The Offside Rule Lynsey Hooper and titled ‘From World Cup glory to COVID-19: The future for women’s sport’. Some key take-outs from the session as follows:

Laura Georges, on female athletes being more available to sponsors:

“If you talk about Olympique Lyonnais, the best women’s team in the world, what makes the difference is that the president there is really giving a lot of support to the women’s team. Also, some brands decided that ‘ok, we cannot afford to have the men, but we’ll decide to work with the women’s team’. What they’ve found as brands by collaborating with Olympique Lyonnais and their girls is that the girls are available. They say ‘this is what we like, we are close to the players’. The players have the right image and are close to the fans. They take the time after the games and it’s really showing that ‘if we want to support the women’s game then we receive a lot back’. But, it’s also the decision of the leaders who say ‘ok, this is what I expect of you, you are a brand and you want to work with us, but you need to step up your game and really give the best of your knowledge and competence to put the women’s game forward’.”

Kate Johnson, on making more content available to fans:

“There’s going to be a call on players to be more accessible, there’s going to be a call on making sure that content and behind the scenes content is going to have to evolve. I think federations are going to have to open up the aperture on what they are willing to let fans into from a behind the scenes perspective and even from a broadcast and a commercial perspective, making sure that what used to be so protected from a commercial rights perspective, where content is concerned… We’ve got to change the game and make sure that content is more accessible to fans and also more accessible to brands because I think that’s where the value comes. For brands to continue to lean in from an investment perspective, there has to be increased value in terms of how they’re able to connect with their audiences too. I think there is an opportunity for women to actually be innovative and lead that charge.”

Angela Ruggiero, CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, on women’s sport’s greater flexibility:

“The biggest advantage that women’s sports has today is that we’re not beholden to the typical way of doing business. We don’t have long-term rights, we don’t have the same long-term contracts. We have the opportunity to lean in and to create more branded content… What if 90% of the league is just branded content around the athletes because we know fluid fans, which is what we talk about at Sports Innovation Lab every day, these new-age fans want to do things differently […] What can we do in the time of COVID-19 to think differently? To lean in to fluid fans, which do things very differently. They’re open to change, empowered to choose and constantly evolving. That’s the three pillars of the fluid fan. That’s what I want this conversation to be about. It’s about how do we rethink the model rather than go ‘please don’t cut us, it’s the right thing to do’. Yes, of course it’s the right thing to do. Let’s get that out of the way. How do we do things differently? That’s the conversations I get fired up about because women have the nimbleness that the men do not. And that is an advantage we should lean in to.”

Next week’s episode of Talking Sport will focus on investment opportunities and challenges during Covid-19 and beyond. For full details and to register click here.