On The Move: The Latest Weekly Job Appointments

On The Move: Here are the latest job changes from the world of sports business this week.

Ian Flanagan is new CEO at Munster Rugby

Lana Haddad has moved up to Chief Operating Officer at the IOC

Heather Dower was promoted to Marketing Director at ESL

Ross Wilson has become Sporting Director at Rangers

Stephen Cook is the new Director of Content at IMG

Michelle Chai has moved to COO for the Olympic Council of Malaysia

Harry Phillips is now Head of UK and Ire Brand Marketing at Paddy Power

Richard Scudamore will now be a Special Advisor to the Australian A-League

Martin Bain has become CEO of Football Sports Development Limited

Jean-Christophe Petit is the new Director of Media Rights at FIFA

If you want your job change to feature next Thursday, send a message to ben@isportconnect.com

IMG To Produce UEFA’s Preview Shows For EURO 2020

IMG has been commissioned by UEFA to produce 12 preview shows ahead of UEFA EURO 2020.

Nairn Salter, Executive Producer, IMG Productions, said: “UEFA EURO 2020 is the pinnacle of national team football in Europe and the series will be vibrant, youthful and informal in order to captivate the imagination of fans and viewers ahead of the tournament. 

“There will be a strong emphasis on high production values, with expertly-shot material complemented by stylish graphics throughout. It’s an exciting project ahead of what promises to be an outstanding event, showcasing some of the best stadiums and backdrops across Europe.”

iSportconnect Insights: Sports Industry Not Using Technology Effectively, Say Experts

Sports business professionals believe their industry is not using technology effectively, according to Goodform and iSportconnect’s latest Insights survey.

One of the most startling statistics to emerge from this new report is that only 31% of people within the industry believe that tech is being used effectively to enhance fan experiences.

However, in contrast, 59% of people from the world of sport believe it is being used beneficially to improve athlete performance.

iSportconnect partnered with Goodform for Insights with the vision of sharing views and knowledge from some of the biggest names in the sports industry around the iSportconnect community.

Goodform surveyed nearly 150 professionals from the world of sports business on the biggest challenges faced digitally.

The aim of this latest report, titled ‘Big Data and Analytics,’ is to understand consumer behaviour and current trends surrounding the digital world.

Another notable statistic to come from Insights is that a fifth of people within the sports business industry see piracy and the illegal use of rights as a factor in influencing the value of media rights.

But, of those who participated, 71% declared customised content as the most important factor for driving next-level fan engagement going forward, showing the need for better use of technological advancements.

“We know that the business of sports is a hotbed of innovation in the tech area, but the new Insights reports highlights that the business can still be doing more with the new tools that are being made available,” said iSportconnect COO Ray James. “We are all on a learning curve in these exciting times.”

For more information or to download the full report please contact Alexandra Kyrke-Smith, Strategy Director, Goodform: alexandra.kyrke-smith@goodformgroup.co.uk

If you would like to take part in the next iSportconnect Insights Survey please follow this link: https://goodformgroup.researchfeedback.net/s/isportconnect3 

Formula One To Make Miami Debut In 2021

Formula One racing will happen in Miami for the first time in the 2021 season, continuing their expansion into the United States market.

A joint statement was issued by Sean Bratches, Managing Director Commercial Operations at Formula 1 and Tom Garfinkel, Vice Chairman and CEO, Hard Rock stadium.

The statement said: “We are thrilled to announce that Formula One and Hard Rock Stadium have reached an agreement in principle to host the first-ever Formula One Miami Grand Prix at Hard Rock Stadium. With an estimated annual impact of more than $400m and 35,000 room nights, the Formula One Miami Grand Prix will be an economic juggernaut for South Florida each and every year.

“We are deeply grateful to our fans, elected officials and the local tourism industry for their patience and support throughout this process. We look forward to bringing the greatest racing spectacle on the planet for the first time to one of the world’s most iconic and glamorous regions.”

 

Olympic Icon Nadia Comăneci To Speak at Regional SportAccord Pan America 2019

Olympic gymnastics legend Nadia Comăneci has been confirmed as a keynote speaker at this year’s inaugural Regional SportAccord Pan America in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in December. 

Comăneci became an international superstar in 1976 when, aged just 14, she became the first athlete to score a perfect 10 at the Olympic Games on her way to a haul of three gold medals in Montreal.

“I am tremendously excited to be taking part in the inaugural Regional SportAccord Pan America in Florida this December,” Comăneci says. “This is a golden opportunity for the sports sector from across the Americas to come together, exchange ideas and collaborate on the biggest issues affecting the events that we love. 

“I am pleased to see that the protection of athletes and social responsibility are among the conference programme’s major themes and I look forward to sharing my own experiences of being a young athlete propelled on to the world stage. I want to talk about what federations and rights-holders can do to ensure the wellbeing of athletes.”

Raffaele Chiulli, President, SportAccord says: “We are honoured to welcome Nadia – one of the most celebrated athletes in the history of sport – to Regional SportAccord Pan America. Her ‘perfect 10’ in Montreal remains one of the Olympic Games’ most iconic moments more than four decades on.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino Warns Organisation May Impose Extra Sanctions For Racism

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has sent a strict warning to the football world that the organisation may choose to inflict worldwide punishments for racism incidents.

A statement from FIFA stating that due to updating the FIFA Disciplinary Code in June this year, they ‘may extend worldwide any sanctions that a Confederation or Member Association imposes for racist incidents’, using the events of this past week in the EURO 2020 qualifier between Bulgaria and England.

‘FIFA therefore expects to be informed as soon as practicable regarding the relevant decisions of the UEFA disciplinary bodies in relation to this particular case,’ it also asserted.

“So many times we say there is no place for racism in football, but nonetheless we still face challenges to tackle this problem in our sport, as we do in society. We will need the support of public authorities to help us identify and punish the culprits but we probably also need to think more broadly on what we can do to fix this.  When we proposed the three step procedure in 2009 when I was at UEFA, and then made the Regulations even tougher a few years later, we could not have imagined that so shortly thereafter we would again be having to think of how to combat this obnoxious disease that seems to be getting even worse in some parts of the world.”, said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

He added, “I call on all football governing bodies to join us and think together of new, stronger and more effective ways to eradicate racism in football.  As a starting point, I suggest that all competition organizers enact Regulations which envisage life bans from stadiums for those who are found guilty of racist behaviour at a football match. FIFA can then enforce such bans at a worldwide level.”

La Liga TV Launches In The UK

Premier Sports and LaLiga have entered a new phase of their multi-year broadcast agreement in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with the 24/7 English-language channel LaLigaTV available via the Premier Player OTT streaming service. 

LaLiga is to become the first football league to have a 24/7 dedicated channel in either the UK or Ireland carrying all live games, following LaLigaTV’s launch via Sky TV platform during the coming months.

Melcior Soler, Audiovisual Director at LaLiga said: “We’re pleased to be entering the next phase of our strategic broadcast agreement with Premier Sports. For a fraction of the price of other football subscription offerings, viewers in the UK and Ireland can enjoy ‘all LaLiga, all the time’ via LaLigaTV.”

Richard Sweeney, CEO of Premier Sports said: “We are delighted and proud to announce the 24/7 dedicated LaLigaTV HD channel launches today on the Premier Player. Football fans can now enjoy every moment on the go or cast to their TV’s at the touch of a button.”

£7.5m Investment Announced By British Gymnastics

British Gymnastics have revealed there will be £7.5milllion of funding provided to the sport ahead of 2020.

Jane Allen, British Gymnastics CEO, said: “We know that the clubs get inundated, and [the Olympics] is a real draw card into the clubs. It inspires our staff, the clubs, and it’s a real injection into the sport and we’ve been trying to capitalising on that since 2012.

“Every club has a waiting list, we have a million children waiting to get into clubs throughout the UK. Sport England has invested over £800,000 in the facility in Lilleshall – which is now over 40 years old – and the whole gym is being refurbed and will open in January. The athletes won’t believe what they see.”

Of the 7.5million, two million will be provided by British Gymnastics themselves with other funding coming from investors and stakeholders.

Dubai Speaker Spotlight: Manu Sawhney

Manu Sawhney is the Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council and oversaw this summer’s Cricket World Cup, he will be speaking at iSportconnect’s Dubai Summit on the 5th of December.
Bio

Manu Sawhney became the fifth Chief Executive of the ICC on the 1st of April 2019, succeeding David Richardson who had held the role since June 2012. He leads the ICC, delivering the global growth strategy for the game in partnership with members and driving the future commercial direction of the sport.

Mr Sawhney is the former CEO of Singapore Sports Hub and Managing Director of ESPN Star Sports, with 22 years of commercial experience in both sport and broadcasting in senior leadership roles.

He was with ESPN Star Sports for seventeen years and during his tenure as Managing Director was responsible for scaling up the business and doubling annual revenues, whilst delivering an innovative content and digital growth strategy and building strong partnerships with stakeholders across 24 countries in Asia. Additionally, he led the global broadcast partnership deal with the ICC that ran from 2007-2015.

He is also a non-executive director and member of the Audit Committee of Manchester United Ltd. He is married to Rachna and has a son, Arjun and a daughter, Gaurika.

Also speaking at the event will be Alexander Brown and Brett Gosper

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.

To register your interest in attending the 2019 iSportconnect Dubai Summit, please contact Joe Condon at joe@isportconnect.com

Invitation Policy: The Dubai Summit 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.

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

ICC Increase Prize Money For Women’s Events

The ICC have announced there will be a 2.6 million dollar prize money boost form women’s cricket events.

The increase follows a rise in the revenue generated by the sport, a proportion of which is assigned to prize money.

Australia will host next year’s Women’s World T20, where the tournament winners will now receive one million dollars and the runners up $500,000, this is five times the prize money from the last World T20 in 2018.

Overall the prize pot for 2020 will be boosted 320% in comparison to the 2018 event and will see all teams receiving help to benefit the quality of the sport.

It has also been decided that an U19 Women’s World Cup will be created to mirror the men’s game, with the first event taking place in Bangladesh in 2021 and every two years after that.

ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said: “We have already stated our long-term commitment to reach parity across men’s and women’s cricket as part of a broader plan to grow and develop the women’s game.

“We want to build a long-term sustainable foundation for women’s cricket and that is about more than just prize money. It is about building a product that fans want to watch, that kids want to take up, that sponsors and broadcasters want to be part of. Creating a Women’s U19 event also improves the pathway available to young cricketers and ensures they have the same opportunities as their male counterparts.

“This is a journey we started in earnest in 2017 and next year it’s our ambition to fill the MCG on International Women’s Day for the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 which would be a world record for a women’s sporting event. This significant increase in prize money and the introduction of a Women’s U19 event is part of a much larger effort to grow the women’s game around the world.”