Twitch Co-Founder A New Investor In Sleeper As App Launches New Esports Fantasy Game

Twitch co-Founder Kevin Lin and Juju Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers wide-receiver, have joined the likes of NBA superstar Kevin Durant in investing in Sleeper.

At the same time the company has also announced they are expanding to release a brand new Esports fantasy game covering the League of Legends platform.

A statement released by Nan Wang, Sleeper’s Co-Founder and CEO, said:

“Sleeper has been the fastest organically growing sports app in the U.S. over the last two years, despite only previously offering one game—fantasy football. We surpassed 1 million active players on the platform in 2019, and the tremendous response has energized us to keep rolling out new sports.

“To turn this vision into reality, we raised a new $20 million investment led by Andreessen Horowitz and with participation from some of the best in business and sports.  New and existing investors also include 10x NBA All-Star and 2x NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant and Thirty Five Ventures co-Founder Rich Kleiman, 2x NBA All-Star Baron Davis, NFL Pro Bowler JuJu Smith-Schuster, ESPN basketball analyst Ros Gold Onwude, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, and prior investors General Catalyst, Birchmere Ventures, and Rainfall.

“The new investment allows us to grow our team and continue bringing new games onto the platform. We already started working on fantasy basketball for the NBA and a tournament game for March Madness. However, like much of the world these days, we’ve had to adjust our plan.

“Fantasy esports was always on our roadmap. Most of the team at Sleeper are avid gamers and esports fans. With traditional sports on hold, we decided to hit fast forward and launch a fantasy game for the upcoming League of Legends season.

“The launch of fantasy League of Legends is an exciting milestone for our company. LoL is the third-most popular professional sports league in the U.S. among 18-34-year-olds, yet a fantasy experience does not exist. We see tremendous opportunity to define this experience on a platform that will feel familiar to gamers. Staying connected has never been more important, and we hope fantasy esports will provide users with a fun new outlet to spend time with family and friends.

“The new investment means that Sleeper will be here as a place for you and your friends to connect, both today as you explore a new world of fantasy esports, and in the future when traditional sports return.

“We’d like to close with a heartfelt thank you to all of our team, our users, and our investors for supporting Sleeper’s mission to help people build genuine friendships through sports, and now esports as well.”

 

Verizon Media Signs Global Partnership With Football Digital Media Company Dugout

Verizon Media and Dugout today announce a new global partnership, bringing Verizon Media new exclusive advertising packages to market through its sales teams and self-serve Demand Side Platform, allowing advertisers to reach Dugout’s audience of 60 million unique users of highly engaged football enthusiasts across the globe.

As part of the deal, Yahoo Sports also gains access to Dugout’s ever-growing library of football-related videos brought together from the top leagues’ world-class clubs globally, including; Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, FC Bayern Munich, FC Internazionale Milano, AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona, Flamengo, Real Madrid CF and many more.

This builds on the Yahoo portfolio of up-to-the-minute sports content from partners across the world and brings football fans on Yahoo closer to their favourite club’s official content – both past and present – as they await the re-opening of global leagues.

Dugout works with football clubs, leagues and federations to help repackage, distribute and monetise their video content. Through Dugout’s team of editors, a club’s brand-safe video is repurposed and localised into digestible videos for digital fans across the world. Once published to the club’s Dugout library, the video is distributed across all of Dugout’s O&O platforms and embedded network of premium publishers globally, reaching a qualified digital football audience.

Verizon Media’s expertise in digital media will enable brands to reach Dugout’s highly-engaged football fans in premium environments. This new inventory will be enriched as part of its broader proposition of premium owned & operated brands and beyond with its unique, unified Verizon Media Ad Platforms technology; allowing brands to optimise their campaigns against outcome-based deliverables using the combination of quality ad formats and powerful first party data.

Iván Markman, Chief Business Officer at Verizon Media said: “This new partnership, driven by our EMEA team, not only brings fantastic quality video content for Yahoo’s football fans globally, but also allows us to connect our advertising customers to millions more football fans around the world.

“It’s the world’s favourite sport and inspires huge loyalty and engagement on a daily basis, which hasn’t changed in recent times as people catch up on archive content and rewatch their favourite matches. We are looking forward to helping brands reach these audiences in quality premium environments where they can connect and showcase the value their company can bring to these fans.”

Elliot Richardson, Chairman at Dugout said: “This partnership delivers significant value across Dugout’s stakeholders, supporting not only our clubs and fans but publishers, bringing Verizon Media’s global advertising power to our ecosystem.

“It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity for our stakeholders, supporting international and regional advertisers with highly engaged audiences, working together with our publishers who produce a wealth of premium content and our premium video from the world’s top clubs, and most importantly of course, for the fans – delivering the best experience for them globally.”

Kukri Sports Back As Official Team England Kit Supplier For Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games

With just over two years to go until the next Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, Team England have announced that Kukri Sports will be the home nation’s official kit supplier for the third consecutive Commonwealth Cycle.

Kukri Sports have designed and produced Team England kit for the last two Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast 2018 and Glasgow 2014 and have been brought back on board for a home Games. As part of the deal, Kukri will create the kit that athletes will represent their country in, encompassing 19 different sports, including eight para sports.

In keeping athletes at the forefront of the design process, Team England and Kukri have today hosted a virtual athlete panel. Each National Governing Body that represent Team England athletes in Birmingham 2022 were invited to nominate up to two athletes to be involved in creating the design for the kit and be part of creating the Team England identity.

The panel, held via a virtual video conference, included 23 elite English athletes from 17 of the 19 Birmingham 2022 sports. Also joining in their capacity as Commonwealth Games England board members, were the three athlete representatives, Aimee Willmott, Ama Agbeze and Ali Jawad. In addition, Commonwealth Games England President, Denise Lewis OBE, took part in the panel. She said:

“It’s fantastic that athletes have agreed to give up their time and contribute to such an integral part of Team England’s identity.  

“The look, feel and the general WOW factor of the team kit for our home Games in 2022 is so important. When it comes to kit, each sport has specific requirements and needs, therefore the functionality of the apparel produced has to be right. It’s also important that we look and feel like ‘One Team’.”

Originally, the kit panel was due to take place in person, with Team England bringing together athletes from Commonwealth sports. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been held virtually for the first time. In both Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018, athletes were involved in the kit design, but over double the number of athletes have joined ahead of the 2022 Games kit design, with athletes at the forefront of planning more than ever before.

Each athlete was sent a design package consisting of a design book with blank sketch pages and coloured pencils which they filled in and fed back to the team.

Athletes were given an overview on the kit development process between Kukri and Team England over the last two Games cycles in Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018 and were asked to provide feedback on previous Games kit as well as the first design concepts for Birmingham 2022. Following on from today’s panel, the athletes will remain involved along every step of the way as the design concept develops.

Paul Blanchard, CEO of Commonwealth Games England, said:

“We’re delighted to be partnering with Kukri Sports again for Birmingham 2022. With a home Games, we know our kit has to be impactful and create a strong image of our Team England values but most importantly the athletes need to feel comfortable in what they perform in. The process we’ve been through with Kukri over the last two cycles has worked to refine our kit with a focus on performance and we will build on that to show off our best in Birmingham. 

“It’s been incredible, given the unprecedented impact of Covid-19 that we have been able to engage with so many athletes in an innovative way and I would like to thank our partner Governing Bodies for their support in this process.

“The size of our kit project is huge with the complex nature of accommodating for 19 different sports, including eight para sports, and over 600 people and Kukri have proven time and time again that they are up for the challenge. We’re really looking forward to seeing the designs come to life after today and we can’t wait to share it.”

For the Gold Coast 2018 cycle, 38,000 items of kit were produced by Kukri for Team England as they travelled across to Australia, where the athletes returned with 136 medals.

Chris Marshall, Director of Sales at Kukri Sports, said:

“We are delighted to be working with Team England for the 2022 Games, which will be our third cycle alongside the team. As an English brand working towards a home Games, this collaboration has been made all the more special.

“Our renewed partnership has been the culmination of a project undertaken after the Gold Coast Games in 2018. We have always been proud of our heritage in providing truly bespoke apparel, however in 2018 we knew we had to be innovative and bold in developing a new capability and product range to work with Team England again, as they prepare for Birmingham.

“The England team want to be at the pinnacle of their performance at every competition, so we developed with them. With this in mind, the range we are designing, with the input of the Team England athletes, will be a new chapter in the company’s history and one we cannot wait to launch.”

The kit design, which will be worn by over 600 athletes and staff at Birmingham 2022 will be revealed ahead of the Games when the athlete vision is brought to light.

Premier League Lacrosse Partners With Genius Sports Group

The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) has announced a partnership with Genius Sports Group as its Official Data and Integrity Partner for sports betting. Through this partnership, Genius Sports Group will power a host of live betting markets on the PLL for the first time, providing sportsbook operators in the U.S. and globally with critical new content.

The partnership with Genius Sports Group is the culmination of the PLL’s desire to offer real-time betting markets to enhance the in-game fan experience. Sportsbook operators will be provided with the fastest, most accurate and reliable data on the upcoming PLL Championship Series and future PLL events, expanding lacrosse’s global reach and audience.

As the trusted integrity partner to the English Premier League, PGA and LPGA Tours, Genius Sports will also help to protect the PLL from any betting-related corruption through its leading educational and advisory services.

“Today is a landmark day for not only the Premier Lacrosse League, but the sport of lacrosse,” says PLL Co-Founder & CEO Mike Rabil. “We feel like the PLL is the most innovative sports league in the world and today is another testament to the hard work of our leadership team. We’ve partnered with the premier data provider in Genius Sports and will continue to work closely with top-tier operators to ensure a first-in-class experience for betters. With the addition of legalized sports wagering in the PLL, the PLL fan experience just got better.”

“The Genius Sports team has a proven track record of success in working with leagues to launch sports betting platforms”, says Rabil. “Our partnership will offer services that span integrity education services, data collection and distribution as we work with state regulators and authorized gaming operators to cover the PLL.”

Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports Group, said: “Being selected by the PLL to launch their live wagering offer is testament to the quality and breadth of Genius Sports Group’s sports technology solutions. The PLL is committed to delivering the ultimate digital fan experience with sports wagering providing a new competitive outlet to interact with every play of every game. We’re thrilled to be partnering with such an innovative and forward-thinking league, representing one of America’s most popular and respected sports.”

In addition, the PLL has recently announced that it has secured distinguished gaming executives Sara Slane and A.G. Burnett as advisors. Slane previously served as the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for the American Gaming Association (AGA) for over five years where she oversaw the effort to legalize sports betting in America.

On May 6th, The Premier Lacrosse League announced the return of professional lacrosse with the launch of the PLL Championship Series Powered by Ticketmaster, a two-week quarantined and fanless tournament scheduled to run from July 25th – August 9th on NBC and NBC Sports.

AC Milan Announces Skrill As Official Global Payments Partner

AC Milan and Skrill have today revealed details of their new four year partnership deal which sees Skrill become the Club’s Official Global Payments Partner.  

Although the deal was signed some weeks ago, and the Skrill name has already appeared in the San Siro stadium on several occasions, both parties were reluctant to talk about marketing activities at a time when both the Club and Italy were enduring the devastating arrival and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.  Instead, both Skrill and AC Milan refocused their efforts and found ways to support the local community, putting the partnership activation plans on a temporary hold.

While the COVID-19 crisis is far from over, following the return to training last week, the two companies feel the time is now right to talk more about their collaboration and their hopes for players and fans that football matches will soon make a come back in some capacity. 

Founded in 2001, Skrill is a leader in digital payments providing a platform which supports multiple payment methods including credit cards, prepaid cards and real-time banking solutions in over 100 countries. Merchant using Skrill are able to promote their services to millions of Skrill users around the world. Furthermore, Skrill provides chargeback protection to merchants, so payments accepted using its platform are guaranteed. Skrill is part of Paysafe, a leading specialised payments platform.

Skrill has a track record of supporting football as well as other popular sports and identified AC Milan as an ideal partner, given the highly relevant profile of the team’s fan base and followers around the world, combined with Skrill’s general popularity in Italy.  

As part of the partnership agreement, Skrill has become the preferred payments partner for AC Milan merchandise sales and is a live payments option on its international online store which serves fans around the world.  The partnership also means that Skrill branding will be prominently displayed at all AC Milan home matches and promoted on an ongoing basis across the club’s online channels including its website and official App, as well as its hugely popular social media channels. 

Skrill has additionally been integrated into Vivaticket giving fans the option of using Skrill’s digital wallet when buying match tickets and other AC Milan experiences once they resume. 

According to Skrill CEO, Lorenzo Pellegrino an Italian national, “It has been heart-breaking to see this devastating situation unfold in my home country and then around the world and the timing just wasn’t right to talk about our partnership. Instead, we refocused our efforts on supporting the local community and dropped our fees on our Skrill money transfer service for anyone who wanted to send money to loved ones in Italy from outside of the country.  

Pellegrino added: “Now, in the hope that football is going to make some sort of comeback in the not too distant future, we feel the timing is right to talk openly about our deep support of the Club.  I’m confident there will be good times ahead and we will emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever.  We’re absolutely thrilled to be the Club’s new payments partner and will continue to seek ways to add value to the Club’s payment ecosystem.”

Casper Stylsvig, AC Milan’s Chief Revenue Officer added: “We are delighted to welcome Skrill to our growing family of partners and look forward to promoting its leading digital payments offering to our millions of fans and followers around the world.  We share many synergies, with both of our organisations being driven by ambition, focus and results . As we look to the future and an on-pitch return, we are committed to working closely with Lorenzo and his team to make this a winning partnership for all concerned.  Bringing global brands such as Skrill on board is an integral part of our strategy to bring this club back to where it deserves to be.”

Luca Montebugnoli, Executive Chairman of Vivaticket commented: “As we hopefully return to some sort of normality over the coming weeks and months, our customers more than ever will be looking for the widest choice of payment options when buying their tickets and experiences on our platform.  Over these recent weeks, people have become even more attuned to using digital payment methods such as those provided by Skrill and we’re really pleased to be adding their solutions as part of our offering.”

Skrill branding was first activated in the San Siro stadium in February and has already driven significant incremental traffic to Skrill’s website and social media channels.  

Wanda Diamond League Announces New Provisional 2020 Calendar

The Wanda Diamond League today announces a shortened, provisional calendar for late summer and autumn 2020. Several events will be rescheduled, others cancelled as organisers continue to adapt the season in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

The Wanda Diamond League today announces a shortened, provisional calendar for late summer and autumn 2020. Several events will be re-scheduled, others cancelled as organisers continue to adapt the season in the face of the coronavirus crisis.

In recent weeks, the Wanda Diamond League has been forced to suspend a number of its meetings as a result of health and logistical concerns brought about by the global coronavirus crisis.

The meeting organisers, the Wanda Diamond League and World Athletics have remained committed to staging competitions athletes can compete in and fans can enjoy athletics as soon as the global pandemic allows.

With this in mind – and with an eye on the range of pandemic-related restrictions currently in place across the world, the decision has been made to propose an alternative calendar for the 2020 season.

This provisional calendar will see a number of Wanda Diamond League meetings go ahead as one-off, exhibition events, while others will be staged as adapted Wanda Diamond League meetings. There will be no events in July and the first half of August (other than National Championships where possible), and the season will instead be extended into October.

The 2020 Wanda Diamond League will not be a structured series of events leading to a final as is usually the case. Given the current discrepancies in training and travel opportunities, it would be impossible to ensure a level playing field and a fair qualification system during 2020. Athletes will therefore not earn Diamond League points this season, and there will not be a single, 24-discipline final in Zurich as originally planned.

The uncertainty over future government restrictions and timings in the different host countries requires flexibility and adaptability on the part of meeting organisers when planning, staging and offering competition opportunities to athletes.

Each meeting organiser will review and announce the format of their competition and which disciplines are included two months before the event takes place so they can work with the prevailing conditions set by their Governments.

This two-month window will also help to give athletes time to prepare mentally, stay motivated and adjust training for competition. Some meeting organisers might choose to stage their events in innovative, alternative formats and/or under social distancing regulations.

The new provisional dates for Wanda Diamond League events in 2020 are as follows:

In August: Monaco (14th), Gateshead (16th) and Stockholm (23rd).

In September: Lausanne (2nd), Brussels (4th), Paris (6th tbc), (Rome/Naples (17th), Shanghai (19th)
In October: Eugene (4th), Doha (9th), a second meeting in China (17th, venue tba).

The following events have been cancelled: Rabat (31st May, suspended in March), London (scheduled for 4th July) and Zurich (9th-11th September). The latter would have been staged as the Wanda Diamond League Final.

Due to the extraordinary situation in 2020 and the re-structuring of the entire season, Zurich has been granted by the General Assembly of Diamond League the right to stage the finals in 2021 and 2022. This was possible after Eugene gave consent for the final of 2022 – previously awarded to them –  to be shifted by one year to 2023.

LaLiga Reveal Results Of League COVID-19 Tests Prior To Return, Announce New Programme With Movistar

After carrying out the mandatory medical tests among essential staff at LaLiga clubs in order to resume training, a number of positive COVID-19 cases have been detected.

Concretely, five positive cases have been detected among players of LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank clubs, all of which are asymptomatic and in the latter stages of the virus. The identity of the players is unknown to LaLiga in line with data protection legislation. The aggregate results have been sent by LaLiga to the CSD (Spanish High Sports Council) and to the Spanish Ministry of Health. 

Among the objectives of these medical tests, carried out in accordance with LaLiga’s Return to Training protocol which incorporates recommendations from both the CSD and Spanish Ministry of Health, was to identify so-called ‘false negatives,’ or asymptomatic cases, that is to say infected individuals who can potentially infect others without showing symptoms. By doing so, the safety of all those returning to work is guaranteed in line with current workplace risk regulations. 

Per LaLiga protocol, The next steps for those who have returned positive COVID-19 results are:

  1. Remaining in quarantine at home. Players will stick to the same individual physical training routine they have been following until now, in line with the club’s instructions.  
  2. They will be tested for COVID-19 again in the coming days and, after two consecutive negative results, will be able to rejoin training at the team facilities. 
  3. LaLiga will also offer tests to people living with those affected. 

LaLiga will continue to apply the Return to Training protocol approved by the CSD and Spanish Ministry of Health, in order to guarantee as much as possible the health and safety of all players, coaching staff and club employees.  

LaLiga and Movistar are starting the countdown to the return of the competition with a series of special programmes that will be broadcast every Sunday on the Movistar LaLiga and #Vamos channels under the name El Partidazo #VolverEsGanar. These will be broadcasts in which the latest updates from the competition will be unveiled exclusively, such as the umbrella campaign designed to promote the return campaign of LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank, the schedules or audiovisual news that will include the broadcasts of this end of the season, among other aspects.

The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, will participate in the first of these programmes, which will be broadcast this Sunday, May 10 at 10:00 p.m CET. Together with Juanma Castaño and the rest of the programme’s collaborators, he will speak about the current situation in the league and announce the next steps that all parties involved in the return of the competition will follow.

In addition to Javier Tebas, in the Partidazo #VolverEsGanar this Sunday, several players from LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank will be present to talk about their feelings throughout the period of confinement and their expectations of the return of the competition.

In addition to Movistar, the first part of this special programme can be seen on the LaLiga Facebook page, as well as on the social networks of Santander Bank and the rest of the LaLiga sponsors, who have also joined this initiative.

Global FTP page to share training images with media

In addition, LaLiga will offer a service for the distribution of club training content for the national, international and regional media. Compact videos, photos and press releases will be provided with free online access.

Every day, LaLiga will send an alert to the media informing them of the access codes to the FTP folder with videos, photographs and press releases from the training sessions of the clubs to which the LaLiga communication teams have access.

City Football Group Acquires Belgian Side Lommel SK

City Football Group has agreed the acquisition of Belgian Football Club, Lommel SK. The investment further grows CFG’s global presence and focus on developing clubs, academies and players. As part of CFG’s network of clubs, Lommel will contribute to and benefit from the sharing of knowledge and experience across the Group. Completion of the agreement follows the renewal of Club’s professional footballing licence.

Lommel SK, currently in the Belgian second division, plays its home games at the city-owned 8,000 capacity Soevereinstadion in Lommel, in the province of Limburg. Renowned for a strong Academy and focus on youth development, the history of the Club dates back almost a century.

The newly comprised Club board will include Paul Kerkhofs, president of the Foundation from which CFG acquired the majority of the Club.

CFG, the world’s leading private owner and operator of football clubs, which is best known for its ownership of English Premier League Champions, Manchester City FC, also comprises New York City in the US, Melbourne City FC in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay, Girona FC in Spain, Sichuan Jiuniu FC in China and Mumbai City FC in India.

Ferran Soriano, Chief Executive of City Football Group, said: “We are excited to welcome Lommel SK to City Football Group and to work together with the fans and the city to develop the Club. Belgium is one of Europe’s best football countries as demonstrated by the success of the national team and the development of world-class players, some of whom we know very well, like Kevin De Bruyne and Vincent Kompany.

“This investment is part of our long-term strategy to be present in key football countries, play beautiful football and develop talent. We were attracted to Lommel’s culture, training facilities and commitment to youth development and we look forward to learning from their approach and helping the Club to evolve in the months and years ahead.”

Paul Kerkhofs, President of the Lommel Not for Profit Foundation, added: “We are delighted that City Football Group has chosen to acquire Lommel and ensure the future of our Club. We are extremely impressed with their philosophy, track record and approach and look forward to working together to take the Club forward.”

Bob Nijs, Mayor of Lommel, added: “Lommel SK is an incredibly important part of our community. In City Football Group we have an ambitious, stable and reliable partner, which is committed to developing young players and will help the Club to grow and succeed in the future. It is excellent news for the Club and for the City”.

3D Digital Venue Announce New Partnership With PTI

PTI and 3D Digital Venue are pleased to announce a partnership which will see both companies present a combined offer of support to the sports and entertainment sectors through COVID-19 and beyond.

Both PTI and 3D Digital Venue have been assisting the market with free of charge consultancy and products over the last two months.  Now, with social distancing set to continue across 2020, this partnership unlocks the combination of PTI’s extensive and specialist experience in digital transformation and 3D Digital Venues Venue Business Intelligence (VBI) offering to enable technology to lead the way in scenario planning ticketing for clubs and venues.

VBI aims to support the decision making and implementation of new business models to maximize ticketing and premium seating revenue of the venues through the crisis of COVID-19, helping venue owners to achieve the most profitable scenario through re-activation.

VBI can propose new seating layouts for venues, respecting the safety and security recommendations of distance. The system allows you to enable several configurations and to easily adapt to different events via automatic algorithms on the fly.

We showed you VBI here last week, follow this link to see more – 3DDV Venue Business Intelligence.

Commenting on the partnership, Mike Bohndiek, CEO at PTI said “3D Digital Venue and PTI have a shared vision of support for the sports and entertainment industry to help clubs and venues deal with the current challenges. As long-time friends as companies, we are delighted to be formally in partnership to bring solutions to the market.”

Co-Founder and CEO of 3D Digital Venue Francis Casado commented “We are very excited with this new partnership with PTI and we believe it is going to be a fantastic opportunity for 3D Digital Venue. PTI is an experienced company providing high-quality consultancy services to Clubs and Venues.I am sure we can provide a bundled solution to help clubs and organisations to plan and simulate return to venues post Covid-19. We are really looking forward to working together.”

3D Digital Venue focus on Digital Venue Management Solutions for the sports and entertainment industry that heighten fan satisfaction, increase season ticket holder renewal rates and provide special viewing experiences for prospective VIP buyers.

PTI deliver integrated technology and digital strategy to the market, along with digital media expertise and venue technology solutions.

City of Birmingham and British Blind Sport to host IBSA World Games 2023

Birmingham has been selected as the host of the 2023 IBSA World Games, a multi-sport event for blind and partially sighted athletes.

The decision by the International Blind Sport Federation (IBSA) follows a combined bid between British Blind Sport, UK Sport, Birmingham City Council, the University of Birmingham and Sport Birmingham.

The Games, due to take place from 18-27 August 2023, will be held at the University of Birmingham, across the Edgbaston area and wider region.

The IBSA World Games are the largest high-level international event for athletes with visual impairments, with more than 1000 competitors from more than 70 nations.

Staged every four years the World Games are the pinnacle of the international calendar outside of the Paralympic Games. With three Paralympic and eight non-Paralympic sports, for some athletes it is the highest level they can compete at.

There are over two million people in the UK living with sight loss, with over 28,000 people from the VI community resident in Birmingham.

Alaina MacGregor, Chief Executive Officer, British Blind Sport commented “As the IBSA affiliated organisation representing Great Britain, we are delighted to have been selected to host the 2023 IBSA World Games. This is really an immense opportunity for us and all stakeholders to showcase an amazing sporting event for visually impaired people from across the globe. Our choice of Birmingham as the host city put us in great position, showcasing to the host selection committee a city that is vibrant, inclusive and welcoming.

“The whole team at British Blind Sport are delighted with the outcome and cannot wait to raise the profile of sport for people living with sight loss, as well as the aspirations of the participating athletes.

“A huge thank you to all those who supported us to submit such an impressive bid, particularly the teams at MLS Contracts, the University of Birmingham and UK Sport.”

Jannie Hammershoi, IBSA President, said: “We are confident that Birmingham 2023 will contribute towards our goal of being the world’s leading body for sports for athletes with visual impairments.

“That is why in three years’ time we hope to raise the bar for the IBSA World Games. We want athletes to have the best platform for their skills, as well as ensuring as many people as possible can experience the sports for themselves.

“We are excited to work with the team at British Blind Sport in reaching our common goals and making 2023 a really memorable year.”

Esther Britten, Head of Major Events, UK Sport said “We are delighted Birmingham has been announced as host city for the 2023 IBSA World Games. Sport is for everyone and so to have world class athletes in such a diverse range of sports coming together promises to create a truly inspirational event.

“At a time when sport is facing such unprecedented challenges, this news brings a welcome boost to the major events landscape and provides the UK with a fantastic new event to look forward to. We look forward to working with all partners to host a world class competition for the athletes, the local community and the nation.”

Professor Sir David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham said: “I am delighted to hear that Birmingham has been chosen to host the 2023 IBSA World Games.

“The University of Birmingham has a long and proud sporting tradition and an enviable track record in hosting world-class sports events, including the British Transplant Games in 2018.

“The IBSA Games will be another opportunity for us to demonstrate our deep commitment to diversity and inclusion through sport, and to showcase the world-class sports facilities enjoyed by our staff and students, as well as the wider community.

“We look forward to welcoming athletes to our beautiful Edgbaston campus, along with team members, officials and supporters; and to giving them a truly immersive and holistic Games experience.”

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council said: “The announcement of Birmingham as host city for the 2023 IBSA World Games is great news for us and underlines our credentials as an inclusive and international sporting city.

“We have a strong track record for welcoming athletes from all over the world for events in Birmingham, with the knowledgeable and enthusiastic crowds and the warm welcome from our citizens always regarded highly by those who come here.

“I look forward to working with the organisers and want to congratulate all of those involved with the successful bid – and offer thanks to the other candidate cities who helped us raise our game to win this contest.”