Here are some of the big deals from this week in the world of sport:
Tottenham + HSBC
West Ham + Bundled eSports
Jockey Club + Alzheimer’s Society
Eurosport + Twitter
Formula One + Hard Rock Stadium
Bayern Munich + Stryking
Axe + League of Legends
Vinfast + F1 Vietnam GP 2020
Nike + TraceMe
ERT + Basketball Champions League
Seven League + RWC
City Football Group + Cisco
Scottish Premiership + Infront
Manchester United + Marriott Hotels
Bayern Munich – Vejo
Europe’s largest permanent esports venue is set to built in Stockholm by Swedish Company ‘Space’.
The site will be 7,500 metres squared and contain 500 gaming stations, as well as containing an 800-seat auditorium.
Space founder and Head of Esports for Universal Music Group, Gustav Käll, said: “In online culture, people are interested in gaming, music, and content creation. They are the three biggest pillars in terms of what the youth enjoy. We want to bring that under one roof.”
Anna König Jerlmyr, mayor of Stockholm, added: “Space Stockholm, with its unique location at the heart of Sweden’s capital, is poised to become a cultural landmark – not only for the city, but for the entire country. It promises a bright future for Sergels Torg by creating a modern, progressive hub for digital culture.”
Financial losses from the NBA and China’s recent issue are ‘substantial’ says Commissioner Adam Silver.
It has been far from ideal preparation for the new season, with Silver and co having to deal with the ramifications that came after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted supporting freedom for Hong Kong.
The commissioner told the Time 100 Health Summit: “The losses have already been substantial. Our games are not back on the air in China as we speak, and we’ll see what happens next. I don’t know where we go from here. The financial consequences have been and may continue to be fairly dramatic.”
“We made clear that we were being asked to fire him, by the Chinese government, by the parties we dealt with, government and business. We said there’s no chance that’s happening. There’s no chance we’ll even discipline him.”
The Turkish Basketball League has a new title sponsor in global financial company, ING.
ING have agreed a three-year deal with the league, having previously been a main sponsor.
Infront brokered the deal, with their Managing Director, Ender Uslu, saying: “ING is a globally-recognised brand that has consistently aligned itself alongside some of basketball’s top properties. The company has already seen the value that the Turkish Basketball Super League can offer as a Main Sponsor and I’m delighted to continue working with them in their new expanded role within the competition.”
This summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France reached 1.12 billion viewers, either on TV at home, on digital platforms or out-of-home.
The final was seen live by over 260 million viewers, and the average live match audience more than doubled from the 2015 edition.
An estimated 481.5 million people accessed coverage of France 2019 on digital platforms, equivalent to 43 per cent of the total audience reach. The digital audience, which overlaps with the linear TV audience, was up considerably on the estimated 86.0 million in 2015.
Manchester City and City Football Group have agreed a new multi-year partnership with Cisco.
This is Cisco’s first major partnership with a football organisation, which also covers New York City FC, Melbourne City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Sichuan Jiuniu FC and the women’s teams in Manchester and Melbourne.
City Football Group will utilise Cisco’s networking and other key technologies to enhance the operations of each club and strengthen connectivity across the Group as a whole.
“We are delighted to announce this new partnership with Cisco which will span four continents across the City Football Group network,” said Damian Willoughby, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at City Football Group.
“CFG is an organisation built on people and we are excited to embrace Cisco’s technologies to better connect our clubs, players and fans across the world. ”
Brian Eaton, Director of Global Sports Marketing at Cisco, added: “In City Football Group we found a global organisation that is relentless in its pursuit of excellence and taps into people’s passions in a way that few other things can.”
Rugby League World Cup 2021 has announced that Seven League, the digital sports consultancy has won the strategic gaming and eSports tender for the tournament.
Seven League have won the appointment in the hope of driving forward the digital element that will be behind the entire 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
Jonathan Neill, Commercial Director at RLWC2021 commented: “We want to explore the positive role that gaming and esports may play alongside the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments at RLWC2021 in meeting our overall objectives.”
Richard Ayers, Founder and CEO at Seven League, commented: “I’m thrilled that RLWC2021 has chosen Seven League to explore the ways in which the tournament can connect with fans and communities through gaming and esports. We look forward to using our extensive experience of working with both ‘traditional’ sports clients and esports/gaming clients at this important intersection between the two worlds.
LaLiga have submitted a formal request to the RFEF for a match to be played in the United States between Atletico Madrid and Villareal.
The match is scheduled to take place on the sixth of December and has the backing of both teams and is part of LaLiga’s continued strategy for international growth.
The objective of this action is to maintain the international growth of football for the benefit of clubs, players, fans, Spanish football and the global image of Spain.
LaLiga President Javier Tebas said: “This match will be another boost to the internationalisation strategy of LaLiga, which is providing great results for all our member clubs and SADs. We hope that this time we can carry out this positive action for everyone, as other leagues like the NFL or the NBA do when they stage matches overseas.”
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 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.”