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The Digital Transformation Of Real Betis: Ticketing And Governance Via An App

It’s not only on the pitch that Real Betis has been making progress in recent years. At the same time as the Seville-based club has achieved strong league positions and experienced European campaigns, the club’s IT department has been introducing technology that creates better experiences for its fanbase while also boosting revenues.

The approach taken by the team is radical and careful at the same time. On the one hand, the way the club is being run is being overhauled so that key processes can be done digitally. On the other, traditional means of communication are still maintained to ensure that no fan is left behind. By managing this delicate process and achieving positive results across multiple departments, Real Betis has become a pioneer in LaLiga that other clubs are following.

“We’ve made things easier for the fans and in doing so we have transformed the club,” said IT Manager Antonio Jiménez López. “We’ve left behind the old footballing model, where everything involved physically going to offices and waiting in queues, and we’ve moved to a 100 percent online model.”

Boosted attendance
One of the most visible examples of the benefits of the new digital developments is with stadium attendance. “We’re absolutely mad about empty seats, we don’t want empty seats in our stadium,” explained Jiménez López, who noted that the IT department has achieved a 50% rise in average stadium attendance since the 2016/17 season. Its current average attendance of 48,000 is the fourth-highest in Spain, the club claims.

This has been achieved by allowing season ticket holders who can’t make it to a specific match to share their ticket with a friend or family member through the club’s official app, change the status of the ticket (from child to adult, for example), or to make the ticket available for resale. In this case, the club splits profits 50/50 with the ticket holder, with funds received the following month in their bank account.

With 50,000 registered season ticket holders, along with a waiting list of 7,000, Betis is one of the most faithfully followed clubs in Spain and numbers are increasing. The club claims that the majority of these already use the club’s official app and that adding a digital ticket service has proved extremely successful.

“We’ve significantly increased stadium attendance, which boosts the club’s economic results and also the international image of Real Betis,” added club communications director Julio Jiménez Heras. “The way the stadium looks during home matches is attractive and it makes people watching on TV want to experience our matches in person.”

Other ticketing matters now managed through the app include purchasing away matches or renewing season tickets. This avoids the need for fans to physically queue outside the stadium, while providing equal opportunities for fans who do not live close by. The club is also thinking of fans who are not comfortable with digital technology, providing a traditional phone line for followers who request it.

Paperless ticket entry
To complement its digital ticketing initiatives, Real Betis has updated its in-stadium technology to make it possible for fans to enter the ground without a paper ticket. Thanks to new readers at the turnstile, fans can now simply scan a QR code, drastically reducing the crowds that could occur before matches.

… To read the full article and subscribe to the LaLiga Global Fútbol Newsletter follow this link: https://newsletter.laliga.es/global-futbol/digital-transformation-real-betis-ticketing-governance-via-app/rrss

England Rugby Partners With Red Bull

England Rugby has announced a new multi-year partnership with Red Bull to become the official energy drink partner.

The agreement includes a mutual emphasis on developing grassroots sevens talent through the sevens series.

The partnership will see the men’s and women’s sevens teams supported during the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with both the senior men’s team and Red Roses also utilising Red Bull products and equipment at forthcoming tournaments including the Guinness Six Nations and Quilter Internationals. Red Bull Energy Drink will be provided to all senior teams for use during training and matchday.

The relationship will also see Red Bull activating at the London leg of the HSBC World Ruby Sevens Series, supporting the regional England Rugby Sevens Series event and the co-creation of the Red Bull Rugby Combine.

This exclusive new event will focus on identifying new talent for the England Rugby Sevens programme, drawing athletes from a wider sporting pool. Red Bull will be following this journey with a behind the scenes content series.

Simon Massie-Taylor, RFU Chief Commercial Officer, commented: “We’re excited to partner with Red Bull as the Official Energy Drink supplier to England Rugby and our Sevens teams. 2020 is set to be a huge year for sevens rugby with a raft of tournaments around the world including Japan this summer.

Red Bull’s products have been a regular feature in the world of rugby, so we look forward to having the brand officially on board as a partner and continue our journey as we grow and showcase this enjoyable and high octane sport.”

Dazn Secures Rights To Broadcast Wilder-Fury Rematch In Five Territories

DAZN, the largest, fastest growing global sport streaming service, announced today that it has acquired the rights to stream the eagerly anticipated rematch between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (42-0-1) and challenger Tyson Fury (29-0-1), in five of its markets.

The fight, taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on 22 February, will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN in Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy, and non-exclusively in Switzerland.

Jacopo Tonoli, Chief Commercial Officer of DAZN Group, said: “We are thrilled to bring this heavyweight clash to five of our markets. Both Wilder and Fury are exceptionally entertaining fighters and will put on a show to remember for our subscribers in Las Vegas on 22 February. DAZN is proud to bring boxing fans the best fights across all weight divisions as part of our flexible and accessible offering.”

The last encounter between the two heavyweights saw an epic duel lasting 12 rounds, with Wilder retaining his title following a draw decision. Fury was judged by many to have edged out Wilder technically, whilst Wilder used his explosive power to knock Fury down twice. In the anticipated rematch dubbed “Unfinished Business”, the question of who the real heavyweight champion is will finally be settled.

The fight adds to DAZN’s extensive boxing portfolio. In the past 12 months, DAZN has streamed some of the world’s biggest fights, including Anthony Joshua’s shock defeat and subsequent victory over Andy Ruiz Jr, Canelo Alvarez’s light-heavyweight victory of Sergey Kovalev, and Gennady Golovkin’s title winning bout against Sergiy Derevyanchenko. DAZN’s self-titled ‘Fight Season’ also featured clashes between YouTube superstars KSI-Logan Paul II and Jake Paul-AnEsonGib.

Eleven Sports Portugal Creates WhatsApp Service For Fans

ELEVEN SPORTS Portugal has created a new WhatsApp service to give fans faster access to their favourite sporting moments when they’re on the move.

Starting with Tuesday’s Champions League Round of 16 matches, ELEVEN will WhatsApp match updates, including goal clips, to any fans who subscribe to the service. The tool will be available for a host of premium live sport in Portugal, including LaLiga, Bundesliga and Ligue1, as well as the Champions League.

The new WhatsApp service is the latest in a series of innovations from ELEVEN SPORTS to bring fans their favourite sporting moments, wherever they want to consume them. Last year ELEVEN launched a new partnership with leading football app One Football to make matches available to fans through the app.

It tops off a positive year for ELEVEN Portugal’s social platforms, which grew by 138% in 2019.

Nuno Filipe Miranda, Director of Marketing and Communications, ELEVEN SPORTS Portugal, said:

“We want to make it as easy as possible to for our fans to watch their favourite sporting moments across all of our platforms. With more than 60% of the Portuguese population now on WhatsApp, it’s important that we’re there to bring our fans all the action, straight to their phones.”

IMG ARENA Secures Live NHL Game Streaming Rights For Sports Betting Platforms In Legalised U.S. Markets

IMG ARENA, a leading sports betting service and content hub, has secured rights to provide U.S. sports betting operators with live-streams of select out-of-market National Hockey League (NHL) games via the operators’ digital betting platforms available in legalized markets. This opportunity represents a further example of IMG ARENA’s live-streaming of NHL games for sports betting operators, which IMG ARENA has been offering in legalized European markets for several years.

Freddie Longe, EVP and MD of IMG ARENA, said, “The NHL is a highly-valued asset in our portfolio, and we are proud to expand this successful partnership to offer one of the largest U.S. sports to our growing customer base of sports books. This marks a major development in the U.S. betting rights landscape, and we look forward to driving further engagement for NHL fans.”

“We are excited about the expansion of our international relationship with IMG ARENA into the U.S.,” said Steve McArdle, NHL Executive Vice President of Digital Media and Strategic Planning. “The NHL has taken a progressive approach to sports betting, and this live game streaming opportunity with IMG ARENA provides another innovative touchpoint for fan engagement.”

Headquartered in London, IMG ARENA works with more than 460 leading sportsbook operators worldwide, providing always-on services including 24/7 live streaming and on-demand virtual sports products designed to evolve and inspire engagement by placing fans at the heart of the action. In 2019, more than 175 million hours of IMG ARENA content was watched by 56 million unique viewers around the globe. IMG ARENA’s clients include the ATP, UFC, the European and PGA Golf Tours, the FA Cup and Serie A.

Upcoming FT Business Of Football Summit To Explore Financial Future Of The Game

The Financial Times Business of Football event will be taking place once again on Thursday the 5th of March in London.

This event will renew its unique exploration into all of football’s key income streams, bringing together the biggest names in the industry to debate the financial future of the beautiful game.

Current speakers confirmed:

Andrea Agnelli (Chairman, Juventus FC)
Gary Neville (Former Manchester United, England defender, TV Broadcaster)
Carsten Cramer (Managing Director, Borussia Dortmund)
Albert Capellas (Former coordinator of Barcelona youth academy)
Bruce Buck (Chairman, Chelsea FC)
Kelly Simmons (Director of Women’s Professional Game, The FA)
Rainer Koch (First Vice President of the German FA)
Bob Ratcliffe (CEO, Ineos Football, Chairman OGC Nice)

Key themes of the summit will be:

The football season so far — a graphical analysis
The transformation of the media landscape
Financial Fair Play
Sponsorship – untangling the value propositions of brand alliances
How to produce the football stars of the future
The women’s game – what’s next?
The Dealmakers

Chiliz Signs Strategic Patnership With Lagadère Sports, Sets Focus On US And European Sports Market

Chiliz has today announced a new partnership with Lagardère Sports, a leading sports and entertainment marketing agency, to further propel cryptocurrency into mainstream sport.
The partnership will see Lagardère Sports working hand-in-hand with the Chiliz team to develop new partnerships for Socios.com, from their worldwide network of leading athletes, clubs, federations and sports leagues.
Lagardère’s network includes six French football clubs and 16 German football teams, including exclusive agreements with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Olympique Lyonnais, AS Saint Etienne and OGC Nice. They also represent a roster of MLB & NFL players such as Eric Fisher, Terrell Suggs & Kendall Fuller from Superbowl Champions the Kansas City Chiefs.
The agreement allows Lagardère Sports to offer sports rights holders across the world the opportunity to secure additional revenue streams and deepen fan engagement using innovative blockchain technology.
Lagardère Sports’ wants to become the leading agency on blockchain, and through this partnership, is the first sports marketing agency to position itself at the forefront of technological innovations and its desire to change the sports industry.
Alexandre Dreyfus, CEO of Chiliz & Socios.com: “We have been very clear in communicating our goal to onboard 50 IPs to the Socios.com app in 2020 and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with Lagardère Sports to help us achieve that target, targeting Lagardère’s extensive network of athletes, clubs, federations and sports leagues to build the future of fan engagement for rights holders across Europe and the US.”
Laurent Moretti, Lagardère Sports Chief Executive France: “We are proud to announce this strategic partnership with Socios.com. This agreement rewards our ability to project ourselves into the future and believe in the development of new technologies such as blockchain and crypto-currency. As a leading sports marketing agency, it is our duty to offer the best solutions to our clients and partners, and this partnership will contribute significantly to our vision.”

Eurovision Sport Extends Tour de France With A.S.O. And La Vuelta With Unipublic Until 2025

Eurovision Sport and Amaury Sport Organisation have revealed an extension to their media rights agreement for the Tour de France through to 2025. In addition, Eurovision Sport has extended its agreement with Unipublic, a subsidiary of A.S.O, for the Vuelta, again through to 2025.

The prestigious Tour de France will be available to audiences in 54 countries, with free-to-air coverage from EBU Member broadcasters in Belgium (RTBF and VRT), the Netherlands (NOS), Switzerland (SRF, RTS and RSI), United Kingdom and Ireland (ITV), Spain (RTVE), Portugal (RTP), Italy (RAI), Denmark (TV2), Norway (TV2), Luxembourg (RTL), Slovakia (RTVS) and Slovenia (RTVSLO).

All the excitement of the Vuelta will be covered free-to-air by EBU Members in Belgium (VRT), the Netherlands (NOS), Denmark (TV2) and Norway (TV2). Fans will be able to watch an increased number of broadcast hours, around 70 hours per edition.

Eurosport will continue to screen the Tour de France and La Vuelta across all screens throughout Europe.

The deal also covers other major races including, for the first time, several women’s races: La Course by Le Tour avec FDJ, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Flèche Wallonne women’s races from 2020 in the Tour de France agreement; and, in the Vuelta agreement, the Ceratizit Madrid Challenge by La Vuelta and Clásica San Sebastian women’s races from 2021. These additions affirm Eurovision Sport’s continued commitment to develop women’s cycling and offer the widest range of sports rights for EBU member broadcasters.

Eurovision Sport Executive Director Stefan Kürten said: “We’re very proud to renew our long-standing partnership with A.S.O and Unipublic. The Tour de France and La Vuelta are highlights of the annual cycling calendar, with a fanbase of millions, and we remain committed to enabling these iconic races to maintain and develop their unrivalled free-to-air exposure.”

Eurovision Sport Head of Cycling Frederic Sanz added: “Thanks to the ideal combination of EBU Members and Eurosport platforms, Eurovision Sport continues to showcase the best of cycling throughout Europe. We are in addition particularly happy to strengthen our commitment to women’s cycling and more generally to women’s sport with those races widely exposed throughout Europe.”

ASO Managing Director Yann le Moenner said: “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the EBU and its Members, which have always been committed to offer a large exposure for cycling all over Europe, through a perfect combination of generalist free-to-air channels and sport thematic channels. Thanks to the fast growth of EBU Members’ digital platforms, we will enlarge our audience to include the youngest generations which have a huge role to play for the development of the sport.

“Besides the broadcast of our iconic events, the EBU will be a great asset for the promotion and development of women’s cycling for which we intend to produce and distribute new events live starting 2020. Our long-standing relationship with the EBU will help to strengthen the relationship between the fans, the historical events they are waiting for every year, and the new races we are adding to the calendar.”

UEFA To Introduce VAR In The Europa League Immediately

Video assistant referees (VAR) will be deployed in the UEFA Europa League knockout phase, which kicks off on 20 February. The decision was taken by the UEFA Executive Committee last September, following the introduction of the system in several UEFA competitions in the 2018/19 campaign.

As far as this season’s UEFA Europa League is concerned, UEFA will use the system as from the round of 32. VAR analysis and training took place at UEFA’s winter course for top European referees in Mallorca in January, with the match officials, among other topics, also given an update on VAR procedures.

UEFA’s Referees Committee chairman Roberto Rosetti, committee colleagues and referees held intensive discussions about VAR at the UEFA course in Mallorca. Rosetti explains the purpose of VAR and the positive advantages of the system: “We believe that VAR is a crucial project for football,” he says, “and I am very glad that we will now also have VAR in the Europa League, as it will provide vital help for referees to take correct decisions in these important matches.”

“We’re very happy with the figures that we’ve seen in the UEFA Champions League group phase and playoffs – in 108 matches in total, 27 decisions have been corrected through the VAR system, which means that a decision has only been overturned every four matches – this shows the quality of the referees’ performances. In addition, we feel that the time taken to overturn a decision is important. So far this season, the average time for the correction of a decision has been 1 minute 30 seconds – 15 seconds less than last season.”

“However, I would emphasise once more that – in compliance with its protocol – VAR is only for clear and obvious mistakes, and not for controversial situations. Football needs good referees above all – match officials with a strong personality on the field of play, who take correct and courageous decisions.”

The VAR system will also be used at the upcoming European Qualifiers play-offs in March, and is already being deployed in this season’s UEFA Champions League (since the play-offs). In addition, it will be used at the UEFA Women’s Champions League final; UEFA EURO 2020 this summer; and next year’s UEFA Women’s EURO 2021.

Furthermore, the UEFA Executive Committee has decided to introduce VAR in the 2022 European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, pending FIFA’s final approval.

IMMAF Signs With Fighting Spirit In Media Rights Deal

The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) has signed a media rights agreement with Fighting Spirit for the worldwide sales of its broadcast programming.

IMMAF is the only legitimate global governing body for amateur MMA, working for Olympic recognition. With 100 nations as members and National Olympic Committee recognition in around 40 countries, IMMAF has a seven-year track record of organising nations MMA Championship tournaments with a rich back catalogue of programme material. IMMAF’s recent World Championships in 2019 featured over 400 matches over 5 days, while its Continental and World events continue to grow exponentially year-on-year.

Fighting Spirit is the leading agency of combat sports around the globe. Specialised both in delayed and live distribution, Fighting Spirit is a well-known established company in the field of international TV distribution.

IMMAF President, Kerrith Brown, said: “IMMAF is pleased to be signing with Fighting Spirit. Our MMA platform is growing in size, depth of talent and brand stature and ours is a young sport with high engagement among the millennial and Z generations. In 2020, we have committed to offering a calendar of broadcast material, with television packages available for our Asian Open Championships, European Open Championships, Under-18s Youth World Championships and World Championships. We invite broadcasters to benefit from showcasing world-class amateur mixed martial arts action from IMMAF.”

Fighting Spirit CEO, Laurent Pourrut, added: “Fighting Spirit is honoured to work with IMMAF. Our strategy will be to give the best worldwide exposure to IMMAF but also to see that IMMAF co-exists with professional promotions in terms of its TV exposure. Fighting Spirit distributes well-established MMA brands such as Professional Fighters League (PFL) and M-1. There are a lot of synergies.”