Mastercard Announce Deal With G2 Esports

G2 Esports and Mastercard have announced a new collaboration ahead of the upcoming League of Legends World Championship Finals.

This new strategic partnership to bring entertaining experiences, exclusive access, and fan engagement activations to the League of Legends community.

Mastercard will also collaborate on creating behind-the-scenes content to bring the #G2ARMY even closer to their favorite players.

G2 Esports CEO, Carlos ‘ocelote’ Rodriguez, says: “League of Legends has given G2 incredible priceless moments as winners at the Mid-season Invitational and bringing home both the Spring and Summer LEC Championship titles. We are excited now to return the favor and give the loyal #G2ARMY priceless moments through exclusive experiences and behind-the-scenes content thanks to our partnership with Mastercard.”

Jeannette Lindo, SVP Marketing and Communications Europe, Mastercard, commented: “As G2 prepares to face off at the monumental League of Legends World Championship Finals, we are excited to provide the League of Legends community exclusive Mastercard experiences that bring fans closer to the teams and players they admire.

“By partnering with G2 Esports we will be able to deepen our engagement with the esports passion and build upon our vision of bringing powerful content and priceless experiences to fans.”

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opens Telecommunications Tender

A tender has been released by the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games in order to secure telecommunications services for the event.

The value of the contract is set at £10.4 million, with a deadline for companies to put forward their services set for the 25th of November.

This is a crucial tender for the event,  with an expected announcement on the winning bid in the process expected in the early months of 2020.

More information can be found here – https://commonwealthgames.finditinbirmingham.com/opportunities/telecommunication-services-for-the-birmingham-2022-commonwealth-games

Paris Saint Germain Announce Record Revenue

Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain have reported record revenue for the 2018/19 fiscal year.

The French Champions announced €637.8 million, which is a near 20 percent increase from last year’s result, which sat at €541.7 million.

This amount has been boosted greatly by two major deals the club signed this year. They were their new shirt sponsorship deal with Accor and a renewal of their current deal with Nike, which now stretches until 2032.

Bringing in such a huge amount of revenue just further establishes PSG as one of the biggest powerhouses amongst European football, closing in on the numbers that are produced by the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona on a yearly basis.

Ford And Oakland Raiders Agree Allegiant Stadium Partnership

Desert Ford Dealers have announced their founding partnership with Allegiant Stadium and the Raiders to become the Official Vehicle of Raider Nation when the Silver and Black debut in Las Vegas in 2020.

Raiders President Marc Badain said: “The Raiders are proud to welcome the Las Vegas Ford dealers as the newest Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium. We are excited to add another world-wide brand to the Raider family and for the annual activation and tailgating experiences this partnership will provide to our fans.”

As the official vehicle of the Raider Nation and Founding Partner of Allegiant Stadium, Ford will have a presence throughout the stadium year-round which includes pregame tailgate activations and naming rights on the north gate entry.

“Ford has a long-standing relationship with the National Football League and we are thrilled to continue that partnership with the Raiders as they make Las Vegas their home,” Gary Ackerman of Gaudin Ford added. “As the official vehicle of the Raider Nation, we are proud that members of the team and executive staff will take to the streets of Las Vegas in a Ford vehicle.”

On The Move: Latest Community Job Updates

Maikel Oettle has left his role as Vice-President of strategic partnerships at IMG to become AC Milan’s Head of Sponsorship Sales.

Lou Garate will be the Global Head of Sponsorship Sales at Twitch.

Kahlen Macaulay is Snap Inc’s Manager of International Sports Partnerships, he was previously Senior Manager, Digital Partnerships at the IOC.

Maik Matischak, who has left his role as Senior Director Communications – EMEA for the NBA, is now Head of European Sports and Partnerships at The Story Mob.

Sue Storey has taken up her position as CEO for Volleyball England.

Danny Lynch has become Head of Communications at the Irish Football Association.

Jose Garnes is the new Head of Content at SailGP, after being Senior Digital Producer at Sunset+Vine.

Karim Lahleh will be Marketing Rights Delivery Manager at FIFA.

Tim Dignard has become Coca Cola’s Global Sponsorship Manager – Olympics.

David Morgenbesser is now Servus TV’s Head of Sports Rights and Content Distribution.

Danny Paiser has joined IMG as VP Strategic Partnerships – Football.

Robert Faulkner is European Athletics new Head of Communications.

Pedro Belaunzarán is new Sponsorship Director of Mad Lions Esports Team.

Hugo Sharman has been announced as new Chief Executive of Stream AMG.

If you are changing jobs and want to be featured in next Thursday’s On The Move, please contact ben@isportconnect.com

LaLiga And Renfe To Allow Passengers To Stream Fixtures

Spanish rail company Renfe will now offer free streaming of LaLiga fixtures to all of their passengers.

This is the first initiative of its kind and the sponsorship agreement which makes Renfe the ‘Official Transport’ of LaLiga for the 2019/20 season.

Supporters will be able to watch the live matches via the PlayRenfe entertainment system. It shows all matches from both the LaLiga Santander and LaLiga SmartBank competitions, as well as European club competitions.

Juan Carlos Díaz, director of sponsorship and sales at LaLiga, said: “It’s exciting to broadcast our global competition in such a unique way. The partnership with Renfe helps add a new and exciting dimension to Spanish train journeys and helps more football fans to discover LaLiga.”

Manuel Sempere, director of marketing at Renfe, said: “We want to push the boundaries of innovation in our sector and with LaLiga we have a partner that shares this approach. The response from our passengers to having live football available has been fantastic. For the transport sector as a whole, we hope that this agreement sets a trend that others will follow in the years to come.”

NFL, Nike And Fanatics Make Partnership Worldwide

Nike, the NFL and Fanatics have agreed to extend their US deal worldwide.

As per the terms of the deal, Nike will remain the exclusive supplier of on-field and side-line apparel for NFL teams, while Fanatics will manufacture all Nike NFL gear sold at retail.

Fanatics now have exclusive consumer product licensing rights to manufacture and distribute all Nike NFL adult products worldwide, and this new long-term global deal is an enhancement to the ground-breaking US deal signed in 2018.

Commenting on the deal, Damani Leech, COO of International for the NFL, said: “We’re excited to expand our relationship with Nike and Fanatics, and with it a cutting-edge model for licensed merchandise to benefit fans and retailers around the world.

“Now our growing fanbase in cities such as London and Shanghai will have the same quick access to the widest selection of the latest merchandise as their counterparts here in the United States.”

“This innovative partnership with the NFL and Nike is based on the premise that all three organizations are committed to providing fans with the best possible experience, quality and choice of officially licensed merchandise,” added Steve Davis, President of Fanatics International. “This expanded global deal, coupled with our vertical commerce model will allow us to reach more fans and retailers across the globe than ever before, with a greater assortment of merchandise which is consistently stocked and replenished.”

Lagadère To Fight CAF Decision To Cancel Sponsorship

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have decided to permanently end their billion-dollar agreement nine years before its planned conclusion.

Lagadère had signed a 12-year agreement with CAF in 2016, but the federation have now ceased the deal, which had seen the agency cover CAF’s media and sponsorship sales rights globally until 2028.

CAF have cancelled the deal after an investigation started in 2017 by Comesa (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) Competition Commission (CCC) surrounding alleged anti-competitive agreements between stakeholders and CAF.

Lagadère released a statement on the announcement, saying: “Lagardère strongly contests this decision, which, in its view, is unlawful, unreasonable and unjustified.

“Lagardère maintains that there is no reason – including the ongoing investigation by the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), which has yet to issue its decision – to cancel the agreement at this stage.

“Lagardère deeply regrets this situation and has asked the CAF to adopt a more reasonable position and honour its commitments.

“Failing this, Lagardère will take any and all action to defend its interests and obtain compensation for any harm it may suffer.”

Italian Football’s Supercoppa Returns To Saudi Arabia

Italian Football’s Supercoppa will go to Saudi Arabia for a second consecutive season in Decemeber.

Lazio and Juventus will face off for the title, which pits the winner of Serie A and the Coppa Italia against one another, on the 22nd of December.

The match will be hosted at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, after Lega Serie A agreed a deal in 2018 to host three of the next five fixtures in the country.

Juventus and Lazio had been urged to boycott the match by Italian Broadcaster Rai, citing human rights concerns, however the match has now been confirmed.

 

IOC And Airbnb Reportedly Agree On Nine-Year Deal

The Sports Business Journal reports that the International Olympic Committee and Airbnb are set to reveal a new worldwide sponsorship deal.

This deal would be for nine years and run until the end of the Los Angeles games in 2028.

They would be introduced into the IOC’s TOP programme and become the 14th partner to be confirmed into that elite group of IOC sponsorship.