Atletico Madrid Start Esports Team Ahead Of eLaLiga Commencement

Atletico Madrid have unveiled their new Esports team at the Wanda Metropolitano.

They will compete in LaLiga’s official FIFA 20 Ultimate Team tournament – the eLaLiga. The project is the result of a collaboration agreement between Atletico Madrid and Movistar Riders, an eSports club created in 2017 by Telefónica and Riders, which competes in several of the most popular video games such as FIFA. Andoni Payo was presented as our player in the tournament.

The competition will be divided into two phases, the first of which will begin on Friday. Koke, who attended the event and presented Payo with a shirt, welcomed the virtual player to the club, saying: “Wearing this badge and this shirt is very important. Every Atlético fan will support you and I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Movistar Riders CEO Fernando Piquer shared his thoughts on the agreement: “We couldn’t be any happier and prouder of the three years we’ve worked with Atlético de Madrid. This will be a very nice competition organised by LaLiga. We’re going to give it our all to do as well as possible.”

On The Move: Latest Community Jobs Update

Mike Hopkins has joined Amazon Prime Video as Head of Entertainment.

Connie Heng will be Head of Media Rights for the Asian Football Confederation.

Phil Hayward is now LA Galaxy’s Director of Performance and Sport Science.

Kester Wilkinson has joined Extreme E as Events Manager, with Nina Dreier becoming Extreme-E’s Marketing Manager.

Joe Steel has become Head of Fan Engagement for The Hundred (ECB).

Tennium has signed Julien Cassaigne and Philippe Weiss, the former Senior Vice-President and Vice-President for Lagardère Sports.

Katy Richie is now England Netball’s Director of Development.

Chris Stone was announced as Executive Sports Editor for the LA Times.

Angela Hucles is now at the United Soccer League as Strategic Consultant.

On The Move: Latest Community Jobs Update

Mike Hopkins has joined Amazon Prime Video as Head of Entertainment.

Connie Heng will be Head of Media Rights for the Asian Football Confederation.

Phil Hayward is now LA Galaxy’s Director of Performance and Sport Science.

Kester Wilkinson has joined Extreme E as Events Manager, with Nina Dreier becoming Extreme-E’s Marketing Manager.

Joe Steel has become Head of Fan Engagement for The Hundred (ECB).

Tennium has signed Julien Cassaigne and Philippe Weiss, the former Senior Vice-President and Vice-President for Lagardère Sports.

Katy Richie is now England Netball’s Director of Development.

Chris Stone was announced as Executive Sports Editor for the LA Times.

Angela Hucles is now at the United Soccer League as Strategic Consultant.

FC Barcelona Sign Up With Blockchain Platform Chiliz

FC Barcelona has signed a new global partnership agreement with blockchain–based fan engagement platform for sports and entertainment Chiliz.

Barcelona become the latest team to sign up to the platform, following clubs such as Juventus FC and Paris Saint-Germain

The agreement will enable fans to interact with Barça in an innovative way through Chiliz’ fan voting and rewards platform Socios.com, where they will be able to participate in different surveys and polls about the everyday activities of the Club using digital assets called ‘Barça Fan Tokens’.

Fans around the world will be able to purchase ‘Barça Fan Tokens’ through an innovative process known as a Fan Token Offering (FTOTM). They will also be able to collect the digital currency Chiliz $CHZ and Barça Fan Tokens periodically for free, via Token Hunt, the platform’s augmented reality feature. $CHZ is listed on many of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges

This alliance, the first blockchain partnership to be signed by the Club, was made official at an event held at the Camp Nou Stadium attended by Josep Pont, Board of Directors Member and head of the Commercial Area of FC Barcelona, together with Alexandre Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer of Chiliz, who was presented with the new FC Barcelona 19/20 home jersey.

As well as giving fans the right to vote on different topics, the platform will reward fans for engaging with the Club. Fans will be rewarded for every different action taken on the platform, climbing up leaderboards and receiving reward points which can be exchanged for exclusive merchandise and unique once-in-a-lifetime experiences linked to Barça.

This agreement is part of FC Barcelona’s global expansion strategy. It reinforces its commitment to sourcing the best possible agreements in each category to help Barça to continue to lead the way not only on the field of play, but also in the field of partnerships and sports marketing. Furthermore, this new alliance boosts FC Barcelona’s commitment to looking to new digital channels and formats for connecting and generating engagement with their global audience.

Barça Fan Tokens (known as $BAR within the Socios.com app) will be available in Q2 2020. 40 million Barça Fan Token will be made available, with each of them costing €2 at the initial point of sale.

Josep Pont, FC Barcelona Board Member and Head of Commercial Area, said: “We are proud to welcome Socios.com to the Barça family as a new global partner. This agreement will give us the chance to set up innovative marketing and partnership activations with a clear focus on the digital realm to take the Club closer to our fans around the world. This agreement also forms part of FC Barcelona’s goal to become associated with leading brands that can help us consolidate our new commercial and digital strategy, with the development of new streams for the generation of resources helping to make us a benchmark both on and off the field.”

Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO & Founder of Socios.com & Chiliz, commented: “We are very excited to welcome FC Barcelona to Socios.com, and even more excited to start engaging with their massive fan base around the world. With over 300 million fans worldwide, Barça’s fandom spans countries as well as cultures. The Club is without a doubt the most renowned and the most supported football club in the world and we can’t wait to see their fans start to influence Club decisions. Adding FC Barcelona fans to the Socios.com global community takes us one step closer to our goal of mainstream adoption of blockchain. Every time a fan downloads the app, we are furthering education, and every time a fan buys a Fan Tokens, we are strengthening the use cases of this innovative technology.”

SportAccord 2020 In Beijing Postponed, Contingency Options Being Discussed

SportAccord has confirmed that the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020 will not take place in Beijing due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China. 

Raffaele Chiulli, President SportAccord, said: “In the past few weeks, we have been following the development of the epidemic closely. The Chinese Government has taken effective efforts, unprecedented measures and all possible resources to combat the epidemic. We do believe that the Chinese Government and people in China have the capabilities to have the final win of the war against the virus.” 

“SportAccord has developed a mutual and respectful working relationship with the Local Organising Committee, which has displayed outstanding professionalism at all times during the excellent preparations for SportAccord 2020 in Beijing. We had no doubt that our hosts would deliver an exceptional SportAccord and we are grateful to Beijing for the support and all the efforts it has made for preparing SportAccord 2020.” 

“SportAccord 2020 brings nearly 2,000 delegates together worldwide. In addition to that, a significant number of participating countries, organisations, companies and institutions to put on exhibitions during the event. Considering the epidemic in China and around the world and taking into account the various factors of such force majeure situation and through consultation with the SportAccord 2020 Local Organizing Committee, we have reached a difficult decision that SportAccord 2020 will not take place in Beijing. We will continue to collaborate with Beijing and China to promote the healthy development of the international sport community. We apologize for any inconvenience thus caused for International Sports Federations, registered partners, exhibitors and delegates concerned.” 

SportAccord is now exploring contingency options for relocating the World Sport & Business Summit 2020 so that it can still take place from 19-24 April 2020. 

Nis Hatt, Managing Director, SportAccord, said: “The Local Organizing Committee for SportAccord 2020 in Beijing has been a trusted partner during preparations for the event and has shown excellence throughout the entire planning process.” 

Partners, exhibitors and delegates who had registered to attend the event in Beijing will be contacted shortly with updates and further information regarding the next steps for SportAccord 2020. 

Follow developments and updates via Twitter @sportaccord or keep up to date via LinkedIn and Facebook. For media enquiries, email info@sportaccord.sport. 

LaLiga Reveals Improved Financial Stability Through Latest Squad Cost Limits

LaLiga has announced the latest squad cost limits of the clubs in LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank. Overall growth initiatives by the clubs means that sides in playing in LaLiga Santander have a combined budget of almost €3bn this season (up from around 2.7bn last season). 

In LaLiga SmartBank, the total is €228m (up from €196m). The limits of clubs in LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank can be seen above.

LaLiga sets squad cost limits through its unique approach to economic control, where three distinct groups (including independent financial analysts) review the finances of every club before mutually agreeing their squad cost limit. This controls the amount that can be spent on the first team squad (up to 25 players), the head coach, assistant coach and head physio.

The process was created to ensure clubs could only spend the money that they were generating and over recent seasons this has brought club debt in LaLiga to historically low levels (and shrinking). 

By way of further comparison, LaLiga also summarised league spending over recent transfer windows and compared them with Europe’s biggest leagues. These numbers reveal LaLiga has the greatest balance between incomes and outgoings, underlining its long-term stability. Clubs are achieving this by developing valuable talent within their academies and exporting players for profit, while also competing worldwide for the best available players.

 

 

1 Week To Go: iSportconnect Esports Masterclass

There is now just one week to go until the iSportconnect Esports Masterclass at Withersworldwide in London on the 20th of February.

We are massively looking forward to this event, which will provide fantastic insight into the world of Esports from a number of experts within the field.

Esports is one of the hottest topics within the world of sport currently and is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, with many sporting brands now employing their own Esports teams.

Areas to be discussed on the day include ‘Brands and the Esports Audience’, ‘Sports Entertainment Innovation’ and ‘Building Esports Partnerships’, among others.

Our speakers include Graham Wallace, Chief Executive Officer of Gfinity, Andrew Cooke, General Counsel at Fnatic, and Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports for Formula 1.

We will also be hearing from representatives of Riot Games, Betway, ESL, Blast Premier, Burton Kligerman Esports and Renault F1.

To register your interest in attending the 2020 iSportconnect Esports Masterclass, please contact Theresa Muller at theresa@isportconnect.com

With a maximum of 150 invite-only delegates, iSportconnect provides a media/agency free opportunity to network with influential senior-level sports business executives. We are famous for our intimate and relaxed environment, encouraging ideas exchange and helping to introduce you to the right new connections.

Invitation Policy: The Esports Masterclass is a complimentary event for iSportconnect members who are from governing bodies, sports teams, brands and broadcasters. There is no fee to become an iSportconnect member. No sports agencies, professional service providers & suppliers are allowed at our Masterclasses.

For limited partnership opportunities, please contact brandon@isportconnect.com

Sky Sports Regains Rights To IPL In UK For Three Years

Sky Sports has become the home of the VIVO Indian Premier League in the UK and Ireland after announcing a three-year deal to broadcast one of the world’s top T20 tournaments.

Customers will be able to watch all 60 of the matches exclusively live on Sky Sports.

The tournament sees the greatest players in the world join forces with local favourites including Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma; a total of 12 English players will be involved, including Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler.

Rob Webster, Sky Sports Managing Director said: “The VIVO IPL is a truly spectacular competition and one that grips you from start to finish. The tournament features the world’s best T20 players, all playing in-front of thousands of passionate fans across the India.

“Sky Sports’ cricket coverage – still trying to catch its breath from a stunning 2019 – goes from strength to strength for the year ahead. We’re thrilled to add the VIVO IPL to an already busy cricketing calendar for 2020 joining events such as the ICC Men’s and Women’s T20 World Cup’s from Australia.

“England’s international summer will feature visits from Australia, Pakistan, West Indies and Ireland, as well as domestic cricket which will be headlined by The Hundred.”

ELEVEN SPORTS Wins Belgian Pro League Rights, Requires Final Confirmation From Two Clubs

ELEVEN SPORTS have won the rights to broadcast Belgian domestic football for the next five years after winning the month-long process.

This is a transformative deal for both ELEVEN and the Belgian Pro League, as it is the first major league to sign a domestic deal with ELEVEN and will bring a great deal of money into the league, with the league’s CEO stating just last week that bids had “exceeded” a “symbolic bar”, supposed to be €100 million.

However, the deal is currently being held up by two teams within the Belgian Pro League, Antwerp and Gent.

The deal passed the first stage, winning a greater than two-thirds majority from the league after the final round of bidding.

But it has been held up from receiving complete confirmation, as the two protesting clubs are holding up the finalisation of the agreement, part of the second stage that sees each club within the league needing to accept the deal.

This is supposedly due to the large percentage of the rights that will be heading to the main five teams in Begium.

Eleven Sports are confident that the agreement that can be finalised soon with and are now in talks with both the league and the two clubs that are currently disputing the deal.

ELEVEN SPORTS said today: “We will sit down with the Pro League from today to discuss next steps and decide the best way forward to finalise our agreement. For the time being, we would like to thank the Pro League and clubs for the faith they have shown in our ambitious project for Belgian football.

Eleven Sports is committed to growing our offering around the world, to serve more fans with the sports they love in exciting and innovative ways. The opportunity to bring Belgian football to hundreds of thousands of dedicated local supporters will be an important milestone in that journey.”

Conversations will continue over the next couple of days as ELEVEN, the Belgian Pro League and the two club’s aim to find a solution.

UEFA And Conmebol Renew Memorandum Of Understanding

The UEFA Executive Committee and the CONMEBOL Council today met at the House of European Football in Nyon and signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to replace the agreement that was signed in 2012. This new MoU forms the basis for an enhanced collaboration in a variety of domains to foster the development and growth of football on both continents.

The MoU aims to provide assistance and support between UEFA and CONMEBOL and their respective member associations in establishing and implementing projects and activities relating to:

  • education, training, technical development and refereeing;
  • the promotion and development of grassroots, youth and women’s football;
  • the organisation of football competitions for men, women and youth, as well as futsal;
  • marketing, legal and social responsibility matters;
  • safety and security;
  • the promotion of ethical and good governance principles in football;

In order to advance cooperation on such projects, both governing bodies decided to create four joint committees to specifically focus on the following matters: competitions, development, women’s football and refereeing. Ad-hoc commissions could also be formed to discuss other areas of cooperation when necessary.

Speaking after the meeting, UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, said:

“UEFA and CONMEBOL have a long history and tradition together, notably through epic and thrilling competitions such as the Artemio Franchi Trophy and the Intercontinental Cup.

“Today’s agreement marks a first step in allowing UEFA and CONMEBOL to closely cooperate so that we can share expertise and knowledge for the development of the game on both continents.

“I would like to thank the CONMEBOL Council for coming to visit us and for the many good ideas they have brought to the table”.

CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez, added:

“We had been working months on this in order to have a very constructive and fruitful meeting today, and I am delighted that CONMEBOL and UEFA agreed to cooperate further on a variety of topics.

“Together we can do a lot for the development of football and I am very much looking forward to this enhanced collaboration. This is just the beginning!”.

Other agreements reached today by UEFA and CONMEBOL include:

Refereeing

UEFA and CONMEBOL agreed to implement a referees’ exchange programme which will see match officials from both organisations being appointed to oversee international matches on each other’s continent with a view to providing further experience to referees. This exchange programme could possibly see a team of UEFA match officials appointed for the group stage of the Copa America and a team of CONMEBOL match officials appointed for the group stage of UEFA EURO 2020. In addition, there will also be similar exchanges between the UEFA Champions League/Copa Libertadores and the UEFA Europa League/Copa Sudamericana.

Intercontinental matches

The possibility to stage European/South American intercontinental matches, for a variety of age groups and for both women’s and men’s, was discussed and will be further examined by a joint UEFA/CONMEBOL committee in the coming months.

Women’s Football

It was agreed to jointly work on development strategy for Women’s football in individual national associations, and to cooperate in the creation of commercial concepts and networks.

Coaching

A working group will be set up to evaluate minimum criteria in respective Coaching Convention regulations with a view to have future mutual recognition of coaching qualifications. Technical experts will be evaluating coaching courses implementation and the introduction of a Pro Licence student exchange programme allowing attendance at conferences or seminars and at tournaments as technical observers.

Development

It was agreed to work closely in the field of elite youth player development programmes – which aim at training and preparing elite players for professional careers at home and abroad; nurturing higher quality players for domestic clubs; developing players’ personalities; improving coaching and developing national scouting networks.