Lausanne To Host SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020

SportAccord has confirmed that Lausanne, the Olympic Capital will host the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020. Returning to the Canton of Vaud and the Home of International Sport, SportAccord will take place from 19-24 April 2020 at the Swiss Tech Convention Centre.

Now in its 18th edition, SportAccord President Raffaele Chiulli remarked: “We are delighted that Lausanne will be hosting SportAccord once again, as a major event in the international sporting calendar, Lausanne provides a favourable location for sport and business leaders to meet, given its strong commitment to sport and industry. 

When SportAccord was last in the Olympic Capital and Home of International Sport in 2016, visitors and delegates were welcomed with open arms and we are already feeling this again. We truly look forward to delivering another successful SportAccord in this dynamic city and within this short period of time.”

On becoming Host City to the next SportAccord, Mayor of Lausanne, Grégoire Junod commented: “As the Olympic Capital, Lausanne is proud to be hosting the 2020 SportAccord and looks forward to supporting the organisers in making this major event successful. Once again, it is with great pleasure that we open our doors to the international sports family.”

With State Councilor, Department of Economy, Innovation & Sport, Philippe Leuba commenting that: “After the Lausanne2020 Youth Olympic Games and before the World Hockey, Petanque and Road Cycling Championships, the Canton of Vaud is pleased to welcome, still in 2020, the largest sports convention in the world.”

Attending SportAccord enables delegates to network with sporting leaders at the highest levels, access an extensive conference programme, and experience the many opportunities on offer in one location, at the world’s leading global sports business event.

The conference programme will feature five streams – CityAccord, HealthAccord, LawAccord, MediaAccord, and the SportAccord Summit – with numerous influential speakers already lined up to offer unmissable insights into a variety of vital areas in sport.

Partners, exhibitors and delegates who have registered to attend the event in Beijing will be contacted shortly with registration re-opening for SportAccord 2020 in Lausanne as of Monday, 24 February. For general enquiries, please email info@sportaccord.sport.

Follow developments and updates via Twitter @sportaccord or keep up to date via LinkedIn and Facebook.

Bellator MMA Announces New Partnership With William Hill

Bellator MMA has today announced a new partnership with William Hill, as the bookmaker becomes the exclusive gambling partner for all of Bellator’s European Series events throughout 2020.

This is the first major sponsorship deal for the MMA promotion specifically focused on their European Fight Series and comes as Bellator enter the second year of their broadcast relationship with Channel 5.

Starting with Bellator Dublin: McCourt vs Ruis, which is taking place this Saturday, 22nd February, William Hill will be sponsoring the Channel 5 broadcast of the event and their logo will be visible on the canvas in the cage.

Bellator Dublin: McCourt vs. Ruis will air live on Channel 5 in the UK from 10 p.m. GMT on Saturday night and will feature a women’s featherweight matchup between Northern Ireland star Leah McCourt and Germany’s Judith Ruis as the main event.

David Green, Head of Bellator Europe, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with one of the biggest betting companies in the world as we continue to grow our brand and the sport of MMA in the UK and across Europe.”

He added: “We are making history tomorrow night when Leah McCourt and Judith Ruis become the first female fighters to headline a Bellator European Series card, and we look forward to an action packed year as we take Bellator events to new cities and new countries, and reach an ever growing number of fans both at our live shows and via our broadcasts.”

Liam McKee, Global Head of Media & Sponsorship at William Hill, said; “MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and so a partnership with a major promotion like Bellator made perfect sense to us. The viewing figures for Bellator’s European Series on Channel 5 and the audience share they are achieving is incredibly strong and so we are delighted to be partnering with them across all of their European shows this year.”

In 2019, Bellator MMA hosted six European Fight Series events including in London, Dublin, Newcastle, Birmingham and Milan, with an increased number of events planned for this year. Earlier this week, the promotion announced they will be returning to London with an event on May 16 at The SSE Arena, Wembley, where former England Rugby international James Haskell is confirmed to be making his hotly anticipated MMA debut.

On The Move: The Latest Sports Business Community Jobs Update

Joanna Adams will move to UK Athletics as CEO, while Nic Coward will take the role of Chairman.

At Premiership Rugby, Zoë Clapp has been appointed to the post of Chief Marketing Officer, while Mark Brittain takes up the role of Chief Commercial Officer.

Anthony Bannerjee has become Head of Strategic Marketing Development at Manchester United.

Richard Craig-Mcfeely is now Industry Lead, Media and Entertainment for Amazon Web Services.

Lawrence McNeight has been appointed Financial Controller for Manchester City FC.

Adam Zussman is the new President of Epic Games.

Tony Davison has joined Northampton Saints as Commercial Director.

AS Monaco have named Markus Breglec as their new Chief Marketing Officer and Tyson Henly as Chief Commercial Officer.

Matt Strachan was named as Commercial Director for AlphaTauri F1 Team.

Adrian Staiti will become Managing Director, APAC at Lagadère Sports.

Cindy Parlow-Cone has been re-elected as US Soccer’s Vice President.

Alexey Morozov is new President of Kontinental Hockey League.

George McGeeney is the new COO for US Lacrosse.

Alex Slade was appointed General Counsel for Arena Racing Company.

Mehul Kapadia will become COO of Motorsport Network.

Claude Ruibal is a new Board Member for Horse and Country TV.

V-ZUG Revealed As Official Sponsor of 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

V-ZUG, the Swiss household appliance manufacturer, will be an Official Sponsor at the 2020 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in an agreement brokered by Infront, the International Ice Hockey Federation‘s (IIHF) exclusive media and marketing partner.

The sponsorship includes V-ZUG’s presence on rink-boards, press conference backdrops and a wide range of advertising assets at the venues in Zurich and Lausanne. The manufacturer will also have the right to use the official logo and mascot for promotional purposes as well as organising fan activities at both arenas.

Christoph Mauer, Infront Senior Director Winter Sports said: “This agreement with V-ZUG means we can add another big Swiss brand to the sponsorship portfolio of this year’s IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The brand stands for quality and precision, aligning perfectly with the tournament’s values as well as what we want to achieve at the event.”

Attila Castiglioni, V-ZUG Director Service and Marketing Department said: “As a Swiss company with a long tradition we are proud to support the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Switzerland. Ice hockey represents the same values that are important to us as a company as well: discipline, commitment, passion for detail and precision.”

iSportconnect’s Esports Masterclass Wrap-Up

iSportconnect’s Esports masterclass today provided a fantastic platform for industry leaders who specialise in Esports to share their knowledge and enjoy a wonderful day of learning and networking at Withersworldwide in London.

The Esports Masterclass took a deeper look at several subjects in order to provide our delegates with a much greater understanding of this new world of sports business.

We opened the Esports Masterclass with a panel discussing the difficulty of providing sporting venues for Esports events, with panellists Charlie Allen from ESL, Nikita Buffee of Allied Esports and Gfinity’s Mike Dickman.

iSportconnect’s Jay Stuart then conducted a feature interview with Graham Wallace, CEO of Gfinity, discussing how the major Esports company is evolving.

A brief networking break took place ahead of our second panel on ‘Building Esports Partnerships’. We heard from Leo Matlock of Blast Premier, Renault Sport Racing’s Guillaume Vergnas and Withersworldwide’s Iain Cockburn, with the panel moderated by Ian Smith.

After lunch we kicked off the third session with professional NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman, founder of Burton Kligerman Esports, who was interviewed by Goodform’s Joe Kyle to explain his venture into the Esports sector.

Our third panel then surrounded entertainment and innovation, with Craig Edmondson of Zwift, McLaren Racing’s Leeston Bryant and Matthew Ivey from Tata Communications providing their views, moderated by Marcus Meyer.

More networking then took place ahead of the final panel of the 2020 Esports Masterclass, covering brands and the Esports audience.

On this panel was Formula 1’s Julian Tan, Alban Dechelotte of Riot Games and Adam Savinson from Betway Esports, moderated by Remer Rietkerk.

To close today’s proceedings we had an extremely interesting interview with General Counsel of Fnatic, Andrew Cooke, which was carried out by Dominic Quantrill of The Quantrill Partnership.

All in all it was a brilliant day. Many thanks to all at Withersworldwide for hosting us and to our excellent speakers for their time. We can’t wait to see you all again soon!

 

Member Insights: Running The Biggest Esports Stadium In North America, Jay Stuart Speaks To Matt Wilson

iSportconnect’s Jay Stuart recently spoke to Matt Wilson, Vice President of the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Matt is one of the key figures managing Esports Stadium Arlington, a 100,000 sq foot dedicated Esports facility which is the biggest in North America and talked to Jay Stuart about how the stadium was created,

So Matt, how did the creation of the stadium come about?

Timing is everything. Basically the University of Texas has an Esports team and they won a national championship, and none of us really understood what that meant but it started the conversation. The city started asking me questions about what we’re doing in Esports, so we started investigating what Esports was and what it could mean for Arlington. Simultaneously we were working on a hotel project with the Tisch family. Through their school of business they did a white paper for us, what Esports is and what the future might be.

At the same time, Neil Leibman, co-owner of the Texas Rangers, had bought as Esports team and was looking for a home for the team. We had a site visit, he came to our convention center, and the next thing we know our facility switches to this Esports stadium. We completely renovated it. Not everybody has a facility that can transition that way, but for us it made a lot of sense, we felt like the investment in the future of this sport was worth making that commitment.

So who utilises the facility, how does that work? Who are the entities you deal with and what is the relationship like?

The stadium has got an arena component, an exhibition component, all the production facilities you’d ever need. So the beauty of it is if you’re running an Esports event you can come into our facility, literally have a 30 minute setup, not having to worry about bringing in your own tech companies, we have everything you need for us to broadcast, everything is set and ready for you to go.

We’ve hosted everything from Counter-Strike, ECS, Rocket League, collegiate championships, we’ve had the Esports awards, basically the Oscars of Esports. It’s a global audience. For us that’s the most important thing, we couldn’t go out and buy the kind of advertising and the connections to the Esports world like what we had with the awards because it is a global audience, expected between 7-9 million viewers and we know where those people are from, it helps us target our efforts after that. So it helps us understand what our market is.

You’ve had experience in the traditional sports world, is there a difference in the audience at Esports events and what they might consume or purchase at an event?

It’s a little different. It’s an emerging market. I think people are just now understanding the travel aspect of it because for a long time Esports was very underground. It was not something where people openly said ‘Hey, I’m a big Esports enthusiast’. What we’ve found is there’s no demographics to Esports but it’s an emerging travel market. For Esports we’re still trying to figure out how we get people out of their living room into the stadium. So it’s a challenge but something we’re really excited about because we can be leaders in how to convert that person from ‘I’m watching this at my house’ to ‘I want to be there for a live event.

A huge learning piece for me was the first event that we held, ECS, the Counter-Strike World Championships, people show up and they bring posters and have the chants and they do all the things that we’re used to in soccer, football and traditional sports. So as that continues to grow and as the market matures that travel aspect will only grow and that’s one of the reasons we’ve invested in what we’ve invested in.

French Rugby Federation Appoints IMG As Global Licensing Representative

The French Rugby Federation (Fédération Française de Rugby), the governing body for rugby union in France, has appointed IMG to be its exclusive global licensing representative in a multi-year deal extending through 2024.

The partnership will see IMG devise a licensing programme using the recently rebranded France Rugby logo and identity. IMG will aim to maximise global opportunities for supporters to engage with the French rugby teams, grow the existing business and extend into new categories through fan merchandise, sporting accessories and iconic rugby related products for men, women and children.

Bernard Laporte, President, FFR, commented: “We are pleased to be working with IMG to develop an ambitious licensing programme for FFR during the next four years. For decades now, our research has shown that French citizens believe rugby embodies strong values of solidarity, conviviality and respect. With France hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023, there is a strong opportunity for us to extend our product offering for rugby fans both domestically and internationally.”

Mickael Andreo, Vice President of Licensing, IMG, added: “The Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, the first ever held in Asia, was an outstanding success. The sport is currently in a great place, and with France now preparing to host the competition in 2023, we feel very privileged to work with the FFR – one of the most prestigious and respected National teams in the world. We believe there is a lot to build and are looking forward to taking this opportunity to the market.”

Rugby is one of the most popular sports in France, with 23 million people aged 15 and older following the sport. During the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, 19 million French fans followed their national team’s progress and, on average, France national team games attract more than five million TV viewers.

The deal strengthens IMG’s position in the rugby sector, with the agency having recently delivered a record-breaking licensing programme for Rugby World Cup 2019 and continuing its licensing efforts for the 2023 tournament in France.

Premiership Rugby Appoints New Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Commercial Officer

Premiership Rugby has announced two new appointments to its executive leadership team to support its mission to be the best and most competitive league in the world. Zoë Clapp has been appointed to the post of Chief Marketing Officer, while Mark Brittain takes up the role of Chief Commercial Officer. Both will join Premiership Rugby on 24 February 2020, reporting to Darren Childs, Chief Executive, to help lead the growth of the organisation following investment by CVC Capital Partners.

Zoë Clapp, who joins from her prior position as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at BBC Studios company UKTV, will be responsible for marketing and brand, events, communications, social and digital products. As CMO of Premiership Rugby, her goal will be to grow the popularity, reach and social impact of the sport, working closely with the league’s clubs and players. Her first tasks will include leading a full brand and creative review, investing in new insight systems and capability, and growing a world-class in-house marketing and online team.

Mark Brittain joins Premiership Rugby from Sports Rights Management, where he has held the position of Chief Executive since 2018. Throughout his career, Mark has been responsible for commercial strategy and revenue for some of the biggest formats and most iconic names in sports, entertainment and talent, including Andy Murray, X Factor and American Idol during previous senior roles at Syco and XIX Entertainment. In his new position, he will lead Premiership Rugby’s commercial strategy as the business seeks to grow the value of its rights and explore new markets and partnerships. Mark will be the lead on global commercial rights discussions relating to media and content, sponsorship and brand partnerships, merchandising and licensing and any other commercial opportunities.

Darren Childs, Premiership Rugby’s CEO, said: “I am pleased to announce the addition of two exceptionally talented and experienced executives to our senior team. As we set out on ambitious plans to grow the sport of club rugby, Zoë and Mark will play key roles in building our brand, reaching new audiences, and delivering commercial growth.”

Zoë Clapp said: “Sport has the power to entertain fans, transform lives and create moments that shape culture. Whether working with the league’s world-class players to reach new audiences or driving rugby’s vital inclusivity agenda, there are fantastic opportunities for Premiership Rugby to become yet more popular and successful in the years ahead.”

Mark Brittain said: “Premiership Rugby is already one of the most exciting and competitive leagues and the sport is well placed for an ambitious transformation in the years ahead. I’m looking forward to working with our valued existing partners as well as exploring new opportunities to unlock value from our content and commercial rights.”

Leading CS:GO Teams And ESL Seal Historic Agreement

A groundbreaking new agreement between leading CS:GO teams, ESL and DreamHack will govern the setup of Pro League and share of revenues and profits from ESL’s Pro Tour competitions. The teams, representing the top level of professional CS:GO, will also become majority stakeholders in the league with a long-term slot for participation. By partnering with the leading CS:GO teams, the new agreement further establishes the ESL Pro Tour as one of the most valuable properties in the global business of esports.

The new agreement – informally dubbed ‘The Louvre Agreement’ – was signed by Astralis, Complexity, Evil Geniuses, ENCE, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, G2 Esports, Mousesports, Natus Vincere, Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Liquid, Team Vitality, 100 Thieves and ESL following a meeting in Paris in January 2020. Between them, the signatories of the agreement have won 28 ESL and DreamHack Masters-level competitions and two Intel® Grand Slams in the last four years and represent all of the top 10 ranked teams in the world.

The agreement establishes a deep partnership between ESL, DreamHack and the partner teams, and introduces:

  • ESL Pro League being transformed into a new league with a single global division starting in its 11th season
  • Teams are majority stakeholders in the league and have a key role in its strategic decision-making process
  • Revenue share for teams and players from ESL’s Pro Tour competitions, including ESL One Cologne powered by Intel® and Intel® Extreme Masters Katowice.

‘An industry-defining agreement’

“Over the past year and a half, we have been working to establish a framework to create a sustainable future for the CS:GO ecosystem. The new entity will utilize our combined strengths to pave the best path forward for everyone, from teams and TO’s to fans and players,” said Victor Goossens, Founder and Co-CEO, Team Liquid. “We consider this a monumental agreement and an important step forward for all of esports.”

Anders Horsholt, co-CEO of Astralis Group said: “It has been a long-time ambition for us to be a part of and contribute to a more structured CS:GO scene, giving players, teams and tournament organizers a stronger foundation. This industry-defining agreement is hugely significant in the history of our game, and we’re proud to be part of it.”

“This agreement is a huge step forward for us on the path to sustainability in Counter-Strike. This league will provide the highest level of competitive play with the best teams in the world, which is always where Fnatic should be. ESL supported professional Counter-Strike since the very beginning and we’re excited to continue pushing CS:GO into the future together.” – Patrik “cArn” Sattermon, Chief Gaming Officer of Fnatic.

“‘The Louvre Agreement,’ as we have grown fond of calling it, is a clear vote of confidence by the best teams in the world and their players to create the most valuable products. It will build a platform to create stability and growth, without sacrificing the ability for new teams and players to climb to the top,” said Sebastian Weishaar, Chief Product Officer, ESL.

The agreement elevates signatory teams to key stakeholders in the CS:GO ecosystem and introduces revenue shares for all ESL Pro Tour competitions for the first time. It will further professionalize CS:GO esports by improving team representation, introducing standardized regulations, and revenue sharing for teams and their players.

A new and transformed league built around partner teams

The agreement will transform ESL Pro League, the world’s longest-running professional league for CS:GO, into a 24-team competition with a single global division, moving away from the previous regionalized model.

The founding teams will retain a long-term slot in the league similar to other sports, with remaining teams qualifying on the basis of their world ranking or directly through the Mountain Dew League, the ESL Pro League’s gateway competition.

Partner teams to earn share of ESL Pro Tour revenues and profits

The ESL Pro Tour comprises ESL and DreamHack CS:GO competitions, including ESL Pro League, DreamHack Masters, ESL One and the IEM. In 2019, these competitions were watched by fans for an estimated 127 million hours and boasted a combined prize pool of more than $4.5 million on top of the $1,000,000 Intel® Grand Slam.

The agreement will mean partner teams earn a share of revenues from all competitions in the ESL Pro Tour – including marque tournaments such as IEM Katowice and ESL One Cologne. It will bring structure to the current CS:GO esports ecosystem, establishing the basis on which teams compete in ESL’s competitions.

The agreement also covers member invitations to ESL Pro Tour tournaments, competition standards, player influence, team obligations at tournaments and sets up core guidelines for future joint business endeavors.

More information on the agreement can be found at the official ESL Pro Tour website.