Acronis Becomes Roma’s Official Artificial Intelligence Partner

Roma are delighted to announce that Acronis is its new Official Artificial Intelligence Partner.

Acronis is a world leader in the field of cyber-security and data protection, and will help bring its expertise to the club and its operations.

As part of the agreement, Acronis will also provide AI and Machine Learning (ML) solutions to process football data to optimise game and business operations, and cyber protection solutions for mission-critical workloads.

“The sport of football is constantly evolving, and we have entered an age where we are more dependent than ever before on data to make game-winning calls,” said the club’s Chief Operating Officer, Francesco Calvo.

“However, the more important data is the more at risk it becomes. This is why we are partnering up with Acronis to not only help us analyse and improve the quality of the data we collect, but also to protect it.”

Acronis sets the standard for cyber protection through its innovative backup, anti-ransomware, disaster recovery, storage, and enterprise file sync and share solutions.

Enhanced by its award-winning AI-based active protection technology, blockchain-based data authentication and unique hybrid-cloud architecture, Acronis protects all data in any environment – including physical, virtual, cloud, mobile workloads and applications.

AI/ML technology is a major factor of the partnership. Not only is it being applied in data analysis, but it is also a core part of many of the solutions that Roma will be using to protect their systems.

One such solution is Acronis Cyber Protect, an AI-powered integration of data protection and cyber security. Everything an organisation needs to protect itself from cyber threats and data loss, including backup and recovery, anti-malware, and security management, can be managed from a single console.

“Using a patchwork of solutions for anti-malware, backup, and so on leaves gaps in the system that can be exploited by cybercriminals,” Acronis’ Senior Vice President Jan-Jaap Jager said.

“Acronis Cyber Protect ensures that organisations like AS Roma can rest easy knowing their data is secure, while also encountering minimum disruptions to their day-to-day operations. Acronis is also working not only to protect AS Roma’s data, but also analyse it. AI and ML technologies will help the club in the back office and on the pitch, especially as the country recovers from Covid-19 pandemic.”

Acronis helps partners and customers worldwide to address the Safety, Accessibility, Privacy, Authenticity, and Security (SAPAS) of workloads.

Acronis is also helping organisations and individuals secure remote workloads during the COVID-19 outbreak.

NHL Announces Plan For Returning To Play: Will Go Straight To Playoffs, Regular Season Over

The NHL announced its Return to Play Plan on Tuesday with 24 teams in competition for the Stanley Cup.

The tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round and a Seeding Round Robin among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The NHL paused the regular season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and its remaining 189 games will not be completed. The 12 qualifying teams from the Eastern and Western conferences were determined by points percentage as of that date. Seven teams did not qualify.

“I want to make clear that the health and safety of our players, coaches, essential support staff and our communities are paramount,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said in announcing the Return to Play Plan. “While nothing is without risk, ensuring health and safety has been central to all of our planning so far and will remain so.

“Let me assure you that the reason we are doing this is because our fans have told us in overwhelming numbers that they want to complete the season if at all possible. And our players and our teams are clear that they want to play and bring the season to its rightful conclusion.”

The format was determined in meetings of the Return to Play Committee, which included executives from the NHL and NHL Players’ Association, and five players: Ottawa Senators defenseman Ron Hainsey, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares and Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk.

The objective was to find a way to award the Stanley Cup this season.

“I certainly hope that we can. I certainly hope that is the case,” NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told NBCSN. “I certainly hope that all the necessary agreements, health and safety, and economic, and the rest can be finalized, so that they can take place. But I hope it is for another reason, because if we can, that would suggest that the world is beginning to return a little bit towards normal, and that’s something that everybody wants and is in everybody’s interest, and we can’t forget that.”

The Qualifying Round and Seeding Round Robin will be held at two hub cities to be identified — one for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams and one for the 12 Western Conference teams – and begin at a date to be determined. Candidates for the hub cities include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver.

The Commissioner said the decision on the hub cities and when play will begin will depend on COVID-19 conditions, testing ability and government regulations. A comprehensive system for testing will be in place in each hub city, and each team will be permitted to travel a maximum of 50 personnel, including players, coaches and staff.

“Obviously, we anticipate playing over the summer and into the early fall,” Commissioner Bettman said. “At this time, we are not fixing dates because the schedule of our return to play will be determined both by developing circumstances and the needs of the players.”

In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins (44-14-12, 100 points), Tampa Bay Lightning (43-21-6, 92 points), Washington Capitals (41-20-8, 90 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (41-21-7, 89 points) will each have a bye and play each other once to determine the order of the top four seeds for the first round of the playoffs.

The Eastern Conference Qualifying Round will have four best-of-5 series: the Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, 86 points) vs. the Montreal Canadiens (31-31-9, 71 points); the Carolina Hurricanes (38-25-5, 81 points) vs. the New York Rangers (37-28-5, 79 points); the New York Islanders (35-23-10, 80 points) vs. the Florida Panthers (35-26-8, 78 points); and the Toronto Maple Leafs (36-25-9, 81 points) vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets (33-22-15, 81 points).

In the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues (42-19-10, 94 points), Colorado Avalanche (42-20-8, 92 points), Vegas Golden Knights (39-24-8, 86 points) and Dallas Stars (37-24-8, 82 points) will each have a bye and play round-robin to determine their seeding order.

The Western Conference best-of-5 qualifying round series are: the Edmonton Oilers (37-25-9, 83 points) vs. the Chicago Blackhawks (32-30-8, 72 points); the Nashville Predators (35-26-8, 78 points) vs. the Arizona Coyotes (33-29-8, 74 points); the Vancouver Canucks (36-27-6, 78 points) vs. the Minnesota Wild (35-27-7, 77 points); and the Calgary Flames (36-27-7, 79 points) vs. the Winnipeg Jets (37-28-6, 80 points).

“It’s great that we can play some meaningful games against the top teams in the West for seeding,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon told TSN. “… I think that’s a pretty good format, how they’re doing it. You know, there’s no perfect way, everybody had to get creative and it seems like a good place to start.”

Seven teams did not qualify for the postseason and their season is over: the Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings. Each of them will participate in the NHL Draft Lottery, which will hold its first phase June 26.

Games in the qualifying round will be played with playoff overtime rules. The round-robin games will be played with regular-season overtime and shootout rules with ties in the standings broken by regular-season points percentage.

After the round-robins and the qualifying round, the conference-based playoffs will be continue in the two hub cities. Each of the winners of the qualifying round will advance to face one of the round-robin teams in the first round. The Return to Play Committee is discussing whether those first-round series will be set through seeding or by bracket.

The Return to Play Committee also has yet to decide the length of the first-round and second-round series, and whether the second-round series will be determined through seeding or by bracket.

The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will each be a best-of-7 series. Commissioner Bettman told NBCSN there is a slim possibility the final three series can be played in the home arenas of the teams that reach those rounds, but that would require a substantial change in the outlook of the pandemic. It’s most likely all games will be played in the hub cities without fans in attendance.

“It depends on what the world looks like,” the Commissioner said. “If you made me guess today, I think we’ll be in one of the two hub cities or conceivably a third city. But if things change dramatically and we have the ability to go back to the home markets, (the League will). We anticipate playing this without fans, but if at some point things change, then obviously we’d reevaluate.”

The Commissioner told NBCSN that it’s not required that the Eastern Conference teams have to play in an Eastern hub city and the Western Conference teams have to play in a Western hub city.

The two hub cities that are selected will depend on the circumstances in that city. For example, though Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver are among the cities being considered, the current edict in Canada requiring those who enter the country to be quarantined for 14 days would probably preclude one of those cities from being selected.

“We are talking to the Canadian government about it, but if we get done with training camp and we want to go to a Canadian city and to do that we have to quarantine for another 14 days, that isn’t going to work,” Commissioner Bettman said.

Training camps could open in mid-July as part of Phase 3 of the Return to Play Plan, and Commissioner Bettman said the NHL believes the qualifying and first two rounds of the playoffs can be completed in a little more than a month.

“Obviously, these are extraordinary and unprecedented times,” he said. “Any plan for the resumption of play, by definition, cannot be perfect. And I am certain that, depending on which team you root for or which team you cover, you can find some element of this package that you might prefer to be done differently.

“But we believe we have constructed an overall plan that includes all teams that, as a practical matter, might have had a chance of qualifying for the playoffs when the season was paused. And this plan will produce a worthy Stanley Cup champion who will have run the postseason gauntlet that is unique to the NHL.”

Premier League Takes Training Return To Stage Two As It Edges Closer To Resumption

The Premier League have released a statement announcing that they will enter the second stage of the possible return to action, with new training measures for players being allowed.

Germany’s Bundesliga have already resumed their season, while LaLiga in Spain is set to begin in the first half of June, leaving the Premier League and Serie A as the two major leagues not to be cancelled that are still awaiting confirmation of a resumption.

The statement said:

Premier League Shareholders today voted unanimously to resume contact training, marking another step towards restarting the Premier League season, when safe to do so.

Squads are now able to train as a group and engage in tackling while minimising any unnecessary close contact.

The Premier League’s priority is the health and wellbeing of all participants. Strict medical protocols are in place to ensure the training ground is the safest environment possible and players and staff will continue to be tested for COVID-19 twice a week.

Stage Two of the Return to Training protocol has been agreed following consultation with clubs, players, managers, the PFA, LMA and the Government. Discussions are ongoing as work continues towards resuming the season, when conditions allow.

3D Digital Venue Offer Free Consultation About New Post-Covid Solution To All Sports Teams, Stadiums And Arenas

Following on from the release of their Social Distancing Venue Simulation, 3D Digital Venue have revealed that they will be offering free consultation calls to any sporting teams, stadiums and arenas as they look to help implement the return of spectators to venues following the Covid-19 period with their Venue Business Intelligence solution.

The team at 3D Digital Venue have created this brand new service to be used by stadiums in order to help gradually reintegrate fans back into venues while still complying with social distancing regulations.

Watch 3D Digital Venue Explain How The Solution Works

Owing to the current pandemic, the Sports and Cultural events sector has suffered greatly, however it must now think about recovery strategies for when events are allowed to resume, while respecting health measures. 3D Digital Venue have developed the Venue Business Intelligence service in order to achieve maximum efficiency when seating their clients, maintaining the safety distances recommended by health institutions.

This solution offers a way to maximise the amount of people who can be in the stadium when taking into account the tickets sold and number of people within those groups and factoring in the metrics of the seating plan.

To receive your free consultation call, please complete this form.

 

 

LiveScore Partners With StreamAMG To Offer Live Football Streaming

LiveScore, a world-leading sports scores app, has partnered with sports OTT specialists StreamAMG to offer live football streaming on its website and app for the first time. Fans will be able to enjoy live matches and on demand content from major clubs and media outlets on the service, which promises to form a major new sports streaming platform.

With a global audience of over 56 million active users, the sports media company is the go-to destination for fast and reliable sports coverage across 200 territories. Covering hundreds of leagues and competitions across five major sports, this latest development builds on LiveScore’s reputation for providing its users with the most comprehensive match updates with existing features including live commentary, ball-tracking and in-play statistics. Last year the company also announced its first global sponsorship, becoming LaLiga’s official scoring partner in a three-year deal.

StreamAMG, a recognised leader in sports streaming, is working closely with LiveScore to develop a capable, flexible and future-proof video service fully integrated into the LiveScore app and website. Promising a first-class experience for viewers, LiveScore’s OTT service will make full use of the award-winning CloudMatrix automated content distribution platform and specialist sports fixture system, as well as the core MediaPlatform OVP to orchestrate live and on demand video delivery.

Rob Brown, Head of LiveScore TV at LiveScore Group, commented: “We’re delighted to announce our partnership with StreamAMG. Their extensive experience in sports streaming technology and our shared ambition for video innovation make them a perfect fit for LiveScore. We’re looking forward to working closely with the team on the development of our soon-to-launch live streaming service which we hope will prove hugely popular with users.”

Hugo Sharman, Chief Executive Officer at StreamAMG added: “LiveScore will emerge as a major player in the streaming of live sports content. This platform has huge potential and we’re delighted to have agreed this long-term partnership.”

About StreamAMG: Stream Advanced Media Group provides online video solutions for media owners who insist on reliability, flexibility and scale. StreamAMG partners with organisations across sports, media and betting to build and implement fantastic user experiences. StreamAMG is recognised as a leader in video technology, live streaming and sports OTT, delivering over 30 million hours of live content and over 8,000 events per year.

About LiveScore: Founded in 1998, LiveScore is a global sports media and live scores company with a monthly audience of over 56 million active users across 200 territories. LiveScore delivers premium content and engaging products that enhance the experience of fans across five major sports – football, cricket, tennis, basketball and hockey. LiveScore is also proud to be the Official Global Scoring Partner of La Liga Santander.

Euroleague Forced To Cancel Remainder Of 2019-20 Season

The Euroleague Commercial Assets Shareholders Executive Board met remotely on Monday, May 25, for the fourth time since the season was suspended on March 12 due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic.

Following the decision taken on March 12 to temporarily suspend all Euroleague Basketball competitions, the league, clubs, players and all stakeholders have maintained their willingness and continuous efforts to resume the competitions.

Having explored every possible option, the Executive Board has made the decision to cancel the 2019-20 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup, as well as the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament and EuroLeague Academy due to the following considerations:

  • The health and safety of our athletes, fans, staff, partners and local communities remains our top priority
  • The varied evolution of COVID-19 in different EuroLeague and EuroCup territories does not guarantee that all teams can hold their training camp and prepare for official games under the same conditions
  • The above has resulted in local authorities imposing differing restrictions on the movements of their citizens, with no guarantees that all teams can travel to and from the designated location
  • A reduced training camp schedule compared to the previously approved three weeks minimum would cause an increased injury risk for players
  • For reasons of sporting integrity, all competition system modifications including a reduced number of teams were discarded
  • Despite elaborating an exhaustive medical protocol for the competitions, the medical protocols currently being implemented by public health authorities require a period of self-isolation for any player, coach or referee that tests positive for COVID-19. Therefore, during the past two and a half months the necessary guarantee that the competitions could be completed regularly in July has not been obtained
  • Our decision not to modify self-imposed deadlines – late May for taking a final decision and late July to finish the competitions – in order to avoid changing and impacting the 2020-21 calendar, including domestic league games as well as national team games in summer 2021

In keeping with our continued values of sports integrity and fairness, the Executive Board decided not to recognise any team as the champion for the 2019-20 EuroLeague, nor the EuroCup.

Euroleague Basketball thanks the many cities and regions that have shown their commitment to basketball in recent weeks, including volunteering to host the remaining EuroLeague and EuroCup games with maximum health, safety and operational guarantees, including in several cases, full government support. These candidates have put forth enormous effort and displayed great determination to ensure that every detail was in place to hold a safe and successful end of season.

Statement from Euroleague Basketball President & CEO Jordi Bertomeu:

“Without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we have had to take in our 20-year history. Due to reasons beyond our control, we have been forced to cut short the most successful and exciting season in European basketball history. This comes after two and a half months in which all the league’s stakeholders maintained their determination and exhausted every possible avenue in trying to deliver a complete and uniquely special season to our fans, whose passion is the driving force for all our efforts. That is our commitment and our passion every single season, and so falling short due to forces beyond anyone’s control is what saddens us most. Nonetheless, record-breaking data showing how much our fans enjoyed the games to date gives us more energy than ever to start planning for an even better 2020-21 season.

“I am especially proud of how the EuroLeague and EuroCup communities have remained united in incredibly tough times. Proud of our clubs and their ownership for the courage in their decisions and for their generous contributions to their communities in such difficult times. Proud of our commercial partners, who have shown their continued commitment to and belief in our brand and what it represents. Proud of our players, coaches and referees who have been supportive and understanding throughout. Proud of our fans, who have remained close to us and have constantly expressed how much they wanted the competitions to come back. This is an extraordinary community, and we are privileged to be a part of it.

“Obviously, we had many motivations to resume the 2019-20 season, but in such an exceptional situation, we have to put people’s health first and ahead of any other interest: our players, our coaches, our referees, our clubs, their staff, our league staff, our broadcasters, and all of their families. By doing so, we stay true to our beliefs and what we stand for.

“In the coming months we only have one mission: to do everything in our power to help our communities come back stronger, and to build the best version of ourselves – on and off the court – for when we can be reunited with the fans. This is not an end, but rather a new beginning.”

Euroleague Basketball thanks all clubs and players for the incredible and unparalleled spectacle they have put on the floor during the 2019-20 season. All league stakeholders want to express their special gratitude to all the fans who continuously and tirelessly support their clubs and the league. Once again, this season the fans have set all-time records, and their support encourages players, coaches, referees, league and club managers to continue to offer the best of the best in elite competitive basketball. Among the 2019-20 EuroLeague season data highlights*:

  • 15% growth in fan interest across EuroLeague markets, with a positive trend in each one. France, Israel, Turkey, Spain and Germany registered the highest growth rates
  • 15% growth in TV audience, with impressive rises in France, Italy, Israel and Germany
  • Double-digit growth in digital platforms, including followers, reach, video views and engagement, as well as in unique users, pageviews and sessions on euroleague.net
  • 12% growth in attendance and 75% of average arena occupancy

All decisions taken by the Executive Board will be presented at the ECA Shareholders Meeting for formal approval.

Pro Tennis Returns As TNM Partners Launch Grand Slam Tennis Tours MatchPlay 120

In a first of its kind partnership, Genius Sports Group and Topnotch Management (TNM) today announced the launch of the Grand Slam Tennis Tours MatchPlay 120 series, a brand new tournament featuring players ranked inside the ATP and WTA top 300.

Beginning May 26th 2020, this series will provide fans, players, media publishers and sportsbook operators with over 120 live tennis matches across a six-week period. Showcasing players drawn from the Top 100 world rankings highlighting many household tennis names such as 2020 Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren, 4-time ATP Tour title-winner Stevie Johnson, WTA Tour title-winner Lauren Davis and others, the series will spotlight players from the Grand Slams and other major ATP and WTA events.

Genius Sports Group will deliver a host of live betting markets on the new MatchPlay 120 series as well as fast, high-quality video streams to sportsbook operators through its GeniusLive technology. Powered by AI, the GeniusLive automated camera and production system will capture the action courtside, eliminating any need for camera crews.

The series is being run by leading tennis agency, Topnotch Management, which manages numerous ATP and WTA athletes, as well as events on the ATP Challenger Tour. TNM will operate multiple court locations around the US and work closely with Genius Sports Group and Grand Slam Tennis Tours to deliver interactive Match Centers for fans, combining live streams, daily schedules and orders of play, scores, leaderboard information, and more.

 “This is an ambitious solution to the current situation and it’s a project that counts as a win on multiple fronts”, explains TNM Event Director, Kyle Ross. “All groups involved here have demonstrated exceptional agility and we’re really proud, first of all, to provide job opportunities for professional players at a time when there’s been a lot of attention on the challenges they face. Additionally, the series brings tennis fans around the world a reliable schedule of tennis matches between high-level players, and partnering with Genius Sports provides a great opportunity for us to engage the sportsbook audience and ultimately power the launch of the series.”

Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports Group, commented: “The launch of the MatchPlay 120 series is exciting news for the world of tennis and sports fans everywhere.  Over a six-week period, GeniusLive, our unique streaming technology, will broadcast over 200 hours of premium tennis for our media partners and sportsbook customers.  Given the current environment, it is uplifting to see the use of new technologies come to the fore that enable tennis fans everywhere to watch their favourite sport live again.”

The Grand Slam Tennis Tours MatchPlay 120 series stands out in its commitment to delivering six weeks of programming, the high quality of the player field it will feature, and the full best-of-three set match format. Importantly, the event also promises to engage with players in the crucial 100-300 ranking zone, who have received a lot of recent attention with regards to plans for a Player Relief Fund.

Significant considerations have been made regarding covid-19, and beyond not having any fans and minimal on-site footprints, the event will adhere to local guidance and apply significant safety protocols with regards to matchplay.

MotoGP™ To Partner CKH IOD For eSports Championship

Dorna Sports is delighted to announce a new three-year partnership with CKH Innovations Opportunities Development (CKH IOD), part of one of the world’s leading global mobile telecommunications and data services operators and a pioneer of mobile broadband technology. The agreement sees two of the leading 3 Group brand companies – 3 Austria and WINDTRE – become partners of the MotoGP™ eSport Championship from 2020 to 2022 – with the potential for other 3 Group companies to follow.

Since inception, the MotoGP™ eSport Championship has accrued more than 64 million video views online, 247 million impressions and over eight million engagements. Combining that with 20 Online Challenges and seven on-site events, the Championship has established itself as one of the biggest players in the gaming landscape.

In 2020, the 22 best gamers have now qualified to move through to the Draft Selection – the draft in which MotoGP™ teams can choose the gamer who will represent them throughout the Global Series onsite at events. Every corner of the planet is represented in the draft this season – from Indonesia to Brazil, Australia to the UK, Italy to Taiwan and many more.

WINDTRE will also be the main and title sponsor of the all-new Rising Stars Series, naming it the WINDTRE Rising Stars Series. Adding an eSport arm to Dorna Sports’ incredible portfolio of talent promotion programmes, the WINDTRE Rising Stars Series comprises four online challenges in which gamers qualify for three online races: one race for the 11 best gamers from the Americas, one pitting the best of European and African players against each other and one for the top racers from Asia and Oceania. An incredible opportunity, the three winners each secure a place in the 2021 MotoGP™ eSport Championship draft.

Joe Parker, CKH IOD CEO: “We are very glad to start this global MotoGP Gaming & eSports cooperation with Dorna as a new step in this exciting and top growing digital products category.  The partnership will give us the opportunity to show our customers how the Three Group’s high speed networks will support them in enjoying the best, seamless and immersive gaming and entertainment experiences.”

Gianluca Corti, Chief Commercial Officer, WINDTRE: “We are happy to cooperate with Dorna to enable a new, exciting entertainment activity like eSports on two wheels, with a community of active players and viewers that continues to grow. A ‘high-speed’ competition that needs high-quality connections and that will experience an exponential development with the arrival of 5G. For this reason, the new single brand WINDTRE, with its 5G ready ‘Top Quality Network’, is a right partner to successfully face this challenge.”

Pau Serracanta, Managing Director, Dorna Sports: “We’re very happy to be able to announce this agreement with an international company such as CKH IOD, who have a huge presence in so many markets. The MotoGP eSport Championship is already growing at an amazing rate and this agreement will only help us to grow even more.”

Private Equity Firm CVC Acquire 28 Percent Share Of PRO14 Rugby

The Board of the Guinness PRO14 has completed a significant strategic partnership investment from CVC Capital Partners Fund VII (“CVC Fund VII”) that will allow the league to work towards its full potential – for the benefit of fans, players, clubs and unions in these key rugby nations over the years ahead.

Under this agreement, CVC Fund VII will acquire a 28 per cent share of PRO14 Rugby from Celtic Rugby DAC, the Unions will retain the 72 per cent majority share.

The partnership commitment will allow both PRO14 Rugby and the Irish, Italian, Scottish & Welsh rugby unions to continue to invest in the sport, both professional and amateur, to achieve its potential over the long term.

A portion of the investment will also be held centrally at PRO14 Rugby, for the Board to invest in further capabilities for the business and in upgrading league operations in line with its growth ambitions.

As part of this agreement, the Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR), will also become a member of Celtic Rugby DAC, and receive a share of the investment.

Martin Anayi, CEO, will continue to lead the management team at PRO14 Rugby, working closely with CVC and the unions on execution of the commercial plan. The unions will also remain independently responsible for the sporting and regulatory elements of the league, via the Sporting & Regulatory Committee.

In the past four years, the Guinness PRO14 has performed well both on and off the field; doubling distributions to clubs and facilitating record investment back into the sport from the league. This has been recognised by CVC, who share PRO14 Rugby’s vision for the long-term potential of the league. CVC was selected by PRO14 Rugby and the unions as their partner due to the extensive experience of prior CVC funds investing in multiple sports businesses, such as Formula 1, Moto GP and Premiership Rugby.

Dominic McKay, Chairman of Celtic Rugby DAC and Chief Operating Officer of Scottish Rugby, said: “I am delighted that we have managed to welcome CVC into the Guinness PRO14 as our partner. As a Board, we have been ambitious in our outlook and have significantly developed the league in recent years. One of our key goals was to secure a strategic partner to help accelerate our plans and CVC bring a wealth of experience and great expertise in this regard.

“Sport, like all of society is dealing with major challenges currently that we could not have imagined just a few months ago, and it is testament to the strength of our partnership with CVC that they have committed to the game of rugby in a such a significant way.

“Their enthusiasm and commitment is a welcome vote of confidence in the future of the sport and the Guinness PRO14 as an international competition. Completing this partnership with CVC is testament to the hard work invested by many people who have focused to deliver a bright vision for PRO14 and enable it to realise its commercial value in the global sports market.

“We are also delighted that the FIR has now joined Celtic Rugby DAC as a shareholder after 10 years of participation in the league. Alongside my PRO14 Board colleagues at the Irish, Italian, Welsh and South African rugby unions I would like to warmly welcome CVC to the Guinness PRO14.”

Martin Anayi, CEO of PRO14 Rugby, said: “CVC’s show of faith has been impressive and is in keeping with their proven track record of success when it comes to sports investment, including Formula 1, Moto GP and Premiership Rugby. This partnership allows all of our stakeholders to plan for a sustainable period of growth, which will benefit the fans, the players and the game.

“We are very pleased to partner with CVC, who saw us as an ambitious, fast paced and innovative organisation, situated across a number of core rugby nations that can deliver an increasing impact.

“We have been clear that we believe the Guinness PRO14 is a world-class club league, that is still in its growth phase and we are confident that it will become a major standard bearer in our sport. We are excited that CVC clearly shares that ambition and we look forward to working with them to deliver on the league’s promise in the years ahead.”

Sports Industry Leaders Come Together For Talking Sport

While the coronavirus crisis has been devastating for most in the sports industry, some sectors have grown during this period, a panel of global leading experts revealed during the first episode of ‘Talking Sport’, a weekly webinar co-organised by Eleven Sports and World Football Summit and that kicked off on Thursday with nearly 500 participants.

Peter Hutton, Director of Global Sports Partnership at Facebook, revealed that branded content has increased by 41% on Facebook and 122% on Instagram while Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, confirmed that companies in the eSports business have experienced triple-digit growth during recent weeks.

Hutton and Reichert joined Eleven Sports Group CEO Luis Vicente and Ricardo Fort, VP of Global Sports & Entertainment Partnerships of Coca-Cola in a session titled ‘Sport’s Great Comeback – Fighting Back From COVID-19’ that was moderated by Dominic Quantrill, founder of The Quantrill Partnership, and hosted by Sky Sports presenter and WFS Series host David Garrido. 

Speakers shared their insights and opinions on how the sports industry will be reshaped by the crisis and the challenges and opportunities they foresee. Contributions from all four panellists highlighted here:

Luis Vicente, on the need to “give more” to the fans and users:

“If I’m a fan today, and especially if I’m a young fan, I’ll start to look and think how can I really get the reward for all this time that I’m giving when there are actually so many things competing for it. I think this is one of the massive issues that we still have to solve in the traditional sports industry. We need to give much more to the users.

“I think the gaming industry model will be a massive influence for the traditional sports industry. I really believe that micro-transactions and micro-subscriptions will be much more key for the future of traditional sports. Digital micro-transactions in pay-per-view will also be essential and advertising will become a much more robust business. I also believe that we’ll come to a point where people will actually exchange data for the content they want to consume and that data can be a transactional item on a market that is much more consistent and more free.”

Ricardo Fort, on sponsorship strategies with no on-site activations:

“I think there is a misperception of the value of the on-site activations for the overall investments that the sponsors are making. Regardless of the size of the events, no matter how big it is, the vast majority of fans and consumers that are interacting with that content are not on-site. So, the mentality for the larger brands has always been ‘let’s focus on everybody else and that’s the importance of the content that we can acquire in our partnerships’.

“Of course, it is very important to have proper execution and a great live event experience because that drives the relationship of fans with brands and events, but just from a number’s standpoint, the out-of-venue audience has always been very important.”

Peter Hutton, on branded content and its effectiveness during the coronavirus crisis:

“I think branded content is one of the big parts of the story and branded content is way up over this period, up 41% on Facebook and 122% on Instagram. I think it is because sponsors increasingly are looking for that digital inventory that they can target at their audience. It’s a perfect combination of using the emotional pull of sports’ intellectual property with the ability to target audiences.

“That’s one of the reasons why branded content works. But generally, you’ve got to look at this period as accelerating a lot of different trends. One of the trends I’d say is that you need to be where your audience is and where the audience you want is consuming content, whether that be on Twitch or on Instagram or on Facebook or wherever.”

Ralf Reichert, on how gaming has exploded during the coronavirus crisis:

“For a traditional sports organisation, you need to have a gaming strategy because you need to have a game. And the games are actually the big profit part of this crisis. Gaming has exploded. Most gaming companies have grown 100%, 200% or 300%. We do amateur tournaments and they have grown five times compared to one year ago, while the viewership for eSports tournaments has grown three times compared to one year ago. So, gaming is the big beneficiary of this.”

If you missed this week’s ‘Talking Sport’, click HERE to watch the full episode. If you want to register to take part in Episode 2 titled ‘A Pivot to Digital – Enhancing Fan Engagement Strategies in Football’, click HERE.