Member Insights: Baseball “Will Add To The Magic Of The Olympic Games”, Says World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Fraccari

It is now just six months until the baseball competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begins, with the sport returning to the games for the first time since 2008.

With this in mind, iSportconnect spoke to Riccardo Fraccari, President of the World Baseball Softball Confederation, about their new Baseball5 format, preparations for Tokyo 2020 and technological developments.

Tell us about the progress of the new Baseball Fives format, do you think it can bring baseball popularity in new countries that do not play the traditional sport?

Baseball5 is booming out of proportions and far behind our expectations. In less than 2 years we have evidence of implementation in 69 countries, which raises the adoption rate to 50%. Baseball5 is taking the funding principles of baseball and softball to new and unimaginable places like, Burundi, Myanmar, Palestine and Jordan just to mention a few. In the latest Executive Board meeting we approved the first Baseball5 World Cup, it will take place in Mexico next December and will feature mixed teams in U-15 and senior categories. Just recently Baseball5 was added to the programme of the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022.

How are preparations for Tokyo 2020 proceeding? The baseball and softball competitions will be very popular tickets…

From the technical aspect we are all set and ready to go. The test events went smoothly and both venues are world-class. For the softball tournament all the teams have already qualified, and the excitement is building up among the softball community. For the baseball tournament two seeds are still up for grabs, they will be contested on between the end of March and the beginning of April in the Americas and Last WBSC qualifiers.

Japan has true, passionate fans, the IOC, Tokyo 2020 and us we are all expecting not only to be among the highest ticket sales in figures but also very vivid and enthusiastic crowds that will add to the magic of the Olympic Games.

How about technology? Will the broadcast coverage feature any of the sort of graphics that we see in American baseball like the virtual strike zone? What do you think of these innovations?

No doubt that technology is increasingly playing a key role in presenting and delivering the sport product to the global audience. Although to this respect TV production is managed by OBS and each taker will have the opportunity to partly personalise the product. Be sure, you can expect surprises.

What can you tell us about your OTT development? How has the response been?

WBSC is now present on both mobile and internet with our Game Time platform. We are happy with the numbers collected during the Premier12, and especially with the retention after that event ended. This means that we delivered a user-friendly high-quality product. There is still work to be done, but we are confident that in 2020 we will keep the growth pace going.

Panini America And New Orleans Pelicans Sign Multi-Year Agreement

Panini America, the exclusive trading card manufacturer of the NBA, NBA Players and college basketball, has announced an exclusive multi-year partnership with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans that will feature real-time trading cards of the team’s biggest performances as well as in-arena activations and giveaways.

In addition, Panini will be part of an integrated “Rookie Spotlight” content series that profiles the Pelicans top rookies and their journey through their rookie season in New Orleans – including Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, Josh Gray, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Zylan Cheatham and Nicolò Melli.

The exclusive partnership was announced today and the first Panini Instant card honors last night’s NBA debut of rookie sensation Zion Williamson, whom Panini America signed to an exclusive autograph trading card agreement last summer.

The Williamson card will be available to order until Monday at paniniamerica.net and is the first of many special Pelicans cards that will be available through the Panini Instant platform during the 2019-20 NBA season, celebrating key Pelicans performances. The Pelicans also will be featured in all of Panini America’s exclusively licensed NBA trading card products and in the company’s NBA Dunk Digital Trading Card App – where fans can collect and interact with digital trading cards in various in app events.

“The New Orleans Pelicans are one of the most exciting young teams in the league and we’re proud to be able to partner with them in such a meaningful way,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America Vice President of Marketing. “The team has dynamic playmakers up and down the roster and nothing intrigues fans and collectors quite like superstar potential and a team that’s on the rise. Both of those perfectly summarize the Pelicans and will be another way for us to engage with fans with our trading cards.”

“We are always looking for innovative ways to enhance the overall experience for our fans,” said New Orleans Pelicans Senior Vice President of Sales Michael Stanfield. “We strive to be at the forefront of innovation and we are excited to be teaming up with the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company that will help create a product that can appeal to a worldwide audience.”

NBC Olympics And Snapchat Partner For Tokyo Olympics Content

NBC Olympics and Snap Inc. are partnering to connect Snapchatters in the U.S. to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by producing an abundance of customized content leading up to and during the Games, both companies announced today. This is the third consecutive Olympic partnership between NBC Olympics and Snap Inc., after previously collaborating on Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 to great success.

NBC Olympics will release more than 70 episodes across four daily Shows for Snapchat leading up to and during the Games, more than triple the amount of episodes compared to the 2018 Games.

For the first time, NBC Olympics will create two daily Highlights Shows for Snapchat, which will be updated in near real-time throughout the day with must-see moments from the day in Tokyo.

During the Games, two unscripted Shows will air two new episodes per day. Chasing Gold, which debuted during PyeongChang 2018, follows the journeys of Team USA athletes, including some of America’s biggest stars, as they prepare to compete for gold on the world’s biggest athletic stage. The second show is a new, daily recap showcasing the most memorable Olympic moments from that day curated specifically for the platform. Both unscripted shows will be produced by The NBCUniversal Digital Lab.

“We know the audience on Snap loves the Olympic Games,” said Gary Zenkel, President, NBC Olympics. “After two successful Olympics together, we’re excited to take the partnership to another level and produce even more content and coverage from the Tokyo Olympics tailored for Snapchatters, which also will directly benefit the many NBC Olympics advertisers who seek to engage further with this young and active demographic.”

As it has done for Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018, Snap will curate daily Our Stories during the Games and event coverage during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials from Olympic photo and video content generated by fans throughout the world and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics will be the exclusive seller of all this customized Show and Our story content, working closely with Snap, providing advertisers with yet another platform to connect with avid, young Olympic fans.

“We’re thrilled to build on our strong partnership and immense success with NBC Olympics to bring Snapchatters the biggest moments from Tokyo 2020,” said Sean Mills, Snap’s Head of Content. “Through our made-for-mobile Highlights, along with original Shows and Our Story Snaps, the Snapchat community will have a front-row seat to the Games.”

For the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games in 2018, NBC Olympics’ content on Snapchat reached more than 40 million unique users in the U.S., up over 25% from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Of those 40 million, 90% were under the age of 35. On average, 210 million people use Snapchat daily. In the U.S., Snapchat reaches 90% of all 13-24 year-olds and 75% of all 13-34 year-olds.

NBA To Return To Paris Once Again In 2021, Says Adam Silver

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has told reporters that the NBA’s Global Game in Europe will return to Paris in 2021.

Commissioner Silver told journalists, “We will play again in Paris next year.”

“We are in discussions with several teams, we have many requests because many teams are interested. Even if we have not yet planned this match, it is already arousing interest.”

This Friday night, the Charlotte Hornets will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the French capital, following the game’s change of location to Paris from London, where it had previously been hosted.

AWS And Guiness Six Nations To Bring New Data To Rugby

Amazon Web Services and the Guinness Six Nations have announced that they are introducing five new, real-time, rugby statistics to give fans deeper insights into on-field action than ever before.

The dynamic statistics powered by AWS, will take fans from their sofas and place them at the tactics board in the dressing room by revealing the nuances of each team’s plans, plays, attack, and defence for every game.

The five new statistics will join the seven launched during the 2019 Championship, which provided fans with insights into a range of key in-game events, including scrum analyses, play patterns, try origins, team trends, and more.

These statistics are generated by gathering live data from the games, streaming them into AWS to store and do analytics, and then delivering these insights back to the live broadcast for viewers in over 170 countries to enjoy.

In the 2020 Championship, fans will be able to view heat maps on where all the action is taking place on the pitch, metrics on rucking efficiency – helping to demystify one of the most complex areas of the game – as well as stats on balls won, impactful tackles, and crucial line breaks. This will help audiences understand which team has momentum at different stages of the game, how game plans evolve during a match, and areas of stress or opportunity for attack.

Working with Stats Perform, a data and analytics organisation, and the Amazon Machine Learning Solutions Lab, the Six Nations team built these new capabilities using Amazon SageMaker, a fully-managed service to build, train, and deploy machine learning models. Using advanced AWS cloud technologies, they are able to drive deeper analysis of data gathered during the game, providing fans with insights to better understand the split-second decisions made on the field.

The new 2020 statistics powered by AWS for the Guinness Six Nations Championship are:

Kick predictor – this stat employs advanced machine learning technology to show the probability of a kicker successfully scoring a penalty kick or try conversion (collectively, the “kick”). The calculation happens in real time, during a break in play while the kicker sets up to take a kick, and predicts whether a kick will be successful. It takes into account a number of real-time, in-game factors, such as the location (zone) of the kick in the field, the period of the game the kick is being taken, the current score, and if the kicking team is playing home or away. Additionally, it analyses other historical data, for example, the average success rate of the kicking player in the given field zone, during the Championship, and during the player’s entire career.

Visits to the 22 – the main aim of any team is to cross the try line and get the maximum amount of points out of an attacking opportunity. For some however, just keeping the scoreboard ticking over and accumulating points with penalties and drop goals is an equally valuable strategy. Whatever the plan of attack, visiting the 22-metre area in the opposition’s half is only worth it if you walk away with points. This stat will highlight the number of occasions a team has entered the opposition’s 22-metre area and how many points they have scored with the entries. The 22 entry will also be calculated for every phase of play, and not simply for crossing the 22m line on multiple occasions in a phase, with the aim of gaining deeper insight into how many opportunities a team creates, how long they stay in the attacking area, how many opportunities they convert, as well as how many opportunities are stopped by the defending team. This gives viewers deeper insight into how one team’s defensive strategy is superior to the opposition or equally, highlights another team’s attacking strategy and their differing game plan in this crucial area of the field.

Ruck and turnover locations – using data on ruck location and efficiency, a heat map of the pitch will highlight the action areas of each team. This will also visually establish where a team is stealing the ball or where a team is more or less effective on the field. This can provide vital insight to each team’s attacking strategy, unearthing key parts of the field they perceive to be a weakness to the opposition. Whereas previous stats only looked at the number and duration of rucks, this stat will bring deeper insight to the ruck and how it is used as a strategic tool for teams. TV broadcasters and commentators will also be able to explain and interpret the data to help fans understand where the game is being played and decipher the game plan of each of the coaching teams.

Dominant tackles – this stat outlines the defensive strength and structure of the teams. Dominant tackles put pressure on the attacking team as they lose field position and forward momentum, allowing the defending team opportunities to win the ball. They can also demoralise the opposition if they see their attacking line constantly being pushed backwards, which helps teams understand when they are winning the mental game as well as the physical game. By mapping out locations and percentage of dominant tackles, it’s possible to analyse the teams’ momentum at the gain line and whether they are going forward or backwards.

Power game (metres made and line breaks) – this stat determines the direct impact of a team dominating particular action areas, assessing its effectiveness at reaching and getting over the gain line, producing dominant tackles, and creating line breaks. The purpose of this stat is to show where a team is dominant, where a team is lacking, and potentially where the match is being won or lost.

“The introduction of the advanced statistics – powered by AWS – in the 2019 Guinness Six Nations Championship was just the start of how we are planning to change the game of rugby through advanced in-game analytics,” said Ben Morel, CEO, Six Nations Rugby. “This year will see the introduction of even more engaging and informative stats that bring fans even closer to the action. With these innovations, together with AWS, we are seeking to significantly enhance the viewing experience for all rugby fans by providing them with unique data-led insights.”

“We’re proud to help Six Nations place unparalleled technological innovation at the core of the rugby experience,” said Andy Isherwood, Vice President and Managing Director EMEA, AWS. “Rugby has always led the charge and embraced technology to positively evolve the game. For the first time, using advanced AWS technology, Six Nations fans will be able to see the probability of a successful conversion or penalty kick and many other game-changing insights, which will offer unprecedented understanding into the game they love. We are thrilled to continue working alongside one of the world’s most iconic sporting tournaments and to positively enhance the game for rugby fans around the world.”

Watched by fans from 170 countries, the Six Nations Championship is the oldest rugby championship in the world with origins dating back to 1882. The new statistics will be available from kick-off of Game One of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations Championship, which takes places on Saturday, February 1 when Wales and Italy play in Cardiff.

Facebook And PGA TOUR Announce Global Content Agreement

The PGA TOUR today announced an expansive agreement with Facebook to distribute daily highlight packages globally on Facebook Watch in 2020 starting at this week’s Farmers Insurance Open.

The PGA TOUR will publish daily round recaps and player-specific highlights from more than 30 events, including THE PLAYERS Championship and FedExCup Playoffs.

These expanded highlights will feature content from the TOUR’s core telecasts, along with content from PGA TOUR LIVE, the TOUR’s OTT service featuring more than 1,200 hours of exclusive Featured Groups coverage in 2020.

“We’re excited to expand our partnership with Facebook by delivering additional content for our fans,” said Chris Wandell, Vice President Media Business Development at the PGA TOUR. “This is in response to our fans’ appetite for additional coverage packaged in a way that is convenient for them to consume.”

The TOUR will create a robust and timely highlights experience for PGA TOUR fans around the world on Facebook Watch. Fans can stay up to date with the latest highlights by following the PGA TOUR Facebook Page. Content will be posted daily at the completion of each tournament round. As part of the agreement, the TOUR will also engage fans in its Facebook Group, The Gallery, with interactive elements such as Facebook Lives and Facebook Watch Parties.

“We’re thrilled to add PGA TOUR recaps to our growing portfolio of sports highlights on Facebook Watch,” said Sidhant Rao, Facebook Sports League Partnerships.” Through this content, as well as products such as Facebook Groups and Watch Party, the TOUR will be able to engage its fans in exciting new ways this year.”

In 2018, the PGA TOUR and Facebook teamed up to stream live coverage from THE PLAYERS Championship and several other PGA TOUR events leading into the 2018 FedExCup Playoffs.

Universal Named Title Sponsor Of 2020 ITTF Pan America Cup

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the Puerto Rico Table Tennis Federation (FPRTM) are proud to announce that Universal has been named title sponsor of the ITTF Pan America Cup for a second consecutive year.

Following the success of last year’s partnership, the Pan America Cup will continue to receive a significant boost off the court as well thanks to this agreement with Universal, helping to take the event to a new level commercially.

Gonzalo Barak, ITTF Pan America Marketing Manager, said: “We are delighted that Universal returns as the title sponsor of the Pan America Cup for the second year in a row. This kind of sponsorship has become more commonplace in the continent in recent times, which goes to show how Pan American events have been increasing in terms of media exposure and sport presentation.

“We look forward to continue our close collaboration with the Puerto Rico Table Tennis Federation, which has been doing an amazing job hosting ITTF competitions, and present a memorable event once again.”

Josely Vega Maldonado, President and CEO of Universal Group Inc., added: “For the past almost 40 years our organisation has distinguished itself by supporting projects that highlight and exalt the values ​​of the Puerto Rican people. This year, Universal reiterates its commitment to support our youth in their development to represent our country by showing the human and professional qualities of our young athletes, and we are honoured to present for the second consecutive year the Universal 2020 ITTF Pan America Cup.

“This event offers a great opportunity to enjoy the best table tennis in Pan America and the great values for which the players proudly fly their flags at international and Olympic events. Table tennis is enjoying an amazing boom in Puerto Rico and it is a privilege for Universal to be part of this great team and continue to be part of the Pan American table tennis family.”

How LaLiga’s Clubs Are Tackling Climate Change

The COP25 Climate Change Conference was held in Madrid from December 2nd to December 13th and was supported by LaLiga as part of the league’s efforts to promote sustainability. LaLiga promoted the work of the conference by launching a series of actions over the course of matchdays 15, 16 and 17 of the 2019/20 LaLiga Santander season, the weekends that coincided with the event.

From awareness-raising messages on stadium advertising boards in multiple languages to the placing of the COP25 emblem alongside the LaLiga logo, Spanish football fans in the stadiums and those watching TV broadcasts could see the league’s show of support for the conference and its cause.

This follows on from the Fair Play Social project that LaLiga and its charitable foundation have been working on over the past two years, incorporating social responsibility practices into the institution’s existing business management model. Already a total of 22 professional clubs have participated in this programme and teams are working towards the five keys to sustainability: awareness campaigns, efficient waste management systems, carbon footprint reductions and offsetting, partnerships with environmentally committed companies and responsible energy use.

Responsible club initiatives
The results of this can already be seen in various club initiatives. Real Betis, for example, has taken a major environmental step forward by announcing that it signed up to the United Nations’ Climate Neutral Now campaign. In doing so, the Andalusian club made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to offset the rest of the club’s emissions.

In Galicia, Celta Vigo has launched a new recycling initiative that separates waste at the club’s social headquarters, at the club’s Balaídos stadium and at the A Madroa training ground. Meanwhile, Real Sociedad fans are given biodegradable boxes to put the shells of the sunflower seeds that are typically eaten during Spanish football matches.

Real Zaragoza is offsetting its carbon footprint by making donations to reforestation projects in Nicaragua based on calculations of its carbon emissions from travelling, which are kept as low as possible due to its use of buses and trains for away matches in mainland Spain rather than using air travel.

Signing sustainable deals
Other examples from around Spain show that clubs are making forward-thinking partnerships to protect the environment. Deportivo La Coruña has signed a new sponsorship deal with Ecoalf, a firm that manufactures top-quality clothing from recycled materials, including the Galician club’s kit. As such, Deportivo is the first club on the planet to be kitted out with sustainable strips made from recycled ocean waste.

Athletic Club’s San Mamés Stadium, meanwhile, has become the first football ground in Europe to be awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.

The league itself has been agreeing partnerships, with LaLiga signing a deal with Ecovidrio, the charity organisation responsible for the recycling of glass waste in Spain. The two are now working together to promote a glass recycling campaign, continuing LaLiga’s vision for a more sustainable football industry and for a more environmentally friendly world in general.

iSportconnect Reveals Full Events Calendar For 2020

iSportconnect is extremely happy to be able to reveal our complete events calendar for 2020.

With 14 events planned it is set to be a fantastic year for iSportconnect and we cannot wait to welcome as many of you as possible to our events all around the world.

To begin 2020 we will be holding two events in February, our Hospitality Masterclass in Leeds on Wednesday the 5th of February and an Esports Masterclass on Thursday the 20th.

To follow this we will be hosting our Broadcast Masterclass in London on the 19th of March, before heading to Turkey for our Istanbul Summit.

Alongside Istanbul, we will also be holding the iSportconnect Ticketing and CRM Masterclass in May.

In June we will then host our Brands Masterclass in London, before heading out for the Helsinki Summit to finish the first half of the year.

To begin July we will then be back to London for the Host Cities Masterclass.

It will be a packed September as we host three events, our Regatta in Portsmouth, the Digital Media Masterclass in London and then back to Lausanne for our yearly summit in Switzerland.

October is set to be free before we return for two events in November, the Stadia Masterclass in Madrid and our Leadership Masterclass in London.

We will then finish our year off once again with the Dubai Summit in December.

Horse & Country and EQ Sports Net Join Forces to Raise the Bar on Equestrian Sports Streaming

Horse & Country TV (H&C), the leading international equestrian sports network, is pleased to announce its acquisition of the dominant US equestrian streaming provider, EQ Sports Net (EQSN). 

Fans of equestrian sports in the US and Canada will now have unprecedented access to top competition livestreams from home and abroad, as well as exclusive training and educational shows, entertainment and documentary series. Of 20 million regular riders worldwide, 5.6 million are in the US and Canada, where the equestrian sector (excluding racing), contributes $50 billion a year to US GDP.1 

Dedicated to producing the highest quality multi-camera sports programming, EQSN provides more than 100 days of live and on-demand coverage of some of the top competitions in North America, including the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, the Great Meadow International Three-Day Event, and the National Collegiate Equestrian Association Championships. 

In addition to live sports programming, EQSN subscribers will now also have access to H&C’s extensive library of more than 1,200 hours of quality equestrian content, and live streams from around the world. H&C currently brings viewers live coverage of events including the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping, the Longines Lumühlen Horse Trials, and the London International Horse Show from Olympia. 

H&C is available on more than 30 platforms worldwide, including web and mobile, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Amazon Prime Video in the UK and Germany, and a variety of pay-TV broadcast platforms in Europe. 

Heather Killen, CEO of H&C, said: “Teaming up with EQ Sportsnet represents an opportunity for H&C to deepen its commitment to the North American market, in conjunction with the best production outfit in the sport today. We believe that combining EQSN’s live sports coverage with H&C’s multi-platform digital OTT services and deep content resources will offer fans of the sport an experience unmatched by any other provider.” 

EQSN CEO and Co-founder, David Qualls, said of the merger: “Now our subscribers will be able to enjoy a 24/7 linear network in addition to top quality equestrian and lifestyle programming between live events. H&C’s international reach benefits our event organizer partners too, bringing their shows to new audiences in Europe and around the world. We look forward to working as part of the H&C team to expand our roster of shows and other specialty content.”