Extreme E Launches New Brand Identity

Extreme E has revealed an adventurous and impactful brand identity as the ground-breaking eco-conscious motor racing championship continues to take shape.

Featuring electric SUVs racing head-to-head in some of the world’s most remote and extreme environments, Extreme E will showcase E-SUV innovation and performance, while raising awareness of the global threat of climate change and inspiring action.

Extreme E’s competitors will battle across five formidable locations – the Himalayas, Arctic, Amazon Rainforest, Sahara Desert and an Indian Ocean island – when the first season gets underway in early 2021. The series is committed to sustainability and will play its part in the restoration of the areas in which it races.

Alejandro Agag, Founder & CEO of Formula E – operating partner of Extreme E – said: “Sport creates a passionate following like nothing else, and Extreme E will use its motorsport platform as an opportunity to raise awareness of critical environmental issues.

“Extreme E is our race to save the planet. From melting ice caps and glaciers, to deforestation and desertification, Extreme E will provide a crucial storytelling platform about the threat and impact of climate change in each location in which we race, and as we lay out the foundations of this brand new sport, it was crucial to design a brand presence which supports this bold mission.”

‘X’ is a symbol of hazard and caution recognised worldwide, signifying issues that lie ahead – this warning sign acts as the heart of the Extreme E logo and offers a window into the areas of the planet that are under threat. It is positioned between two ‘Es’, representing ‘Extreme’ and ‘Electric’.

‘Extreme E’s new logo. The brand’s feature colours include green and black, symbolising a contrast of climate threat against hope and a feeling of collective responsibility for the planet’s future.

The brand’s feature colours include green and black, symbolising a contrast of climate threat against hope and a feeling of collective responsibility for the planet’s future.

The brand identity also provides an expression for each of Extreme E’s five locations, which visually represent each of these unique environments. Whilst ensuring the brand lives and breathes within a digital world, with a strong focus on the execution within a broadcast storytelling.

The brand agency behind the design, Interstate Creative Partners, has worked with Extreme E since the series was first launched in early January.

Nick Downes, Managing Partner, Interstate Creative Partners, explains: “The Extreme E brand is the product of young people caring, actually getting angry about the environment they live in and the long-term damage they see affecting the human race and everything around it.

“This unique motorsport platform comes packed with the entertainment, adventure and strong purpose. ‘The Race For The Planet’ is not just an aspirational sporting position, but also outlines society’s race against time to slow down climate effect and bring about solutions for sustainable change.”

U.S. Women’s Jersey Is Nike’s Top Soccer Seller

Nike has said the home jersey of the U.S. women’s national soccer team is a record-breaking seller on the company’s own retail site.

“The USA Women’s Home jersey is now the number one soccer jersey, men’s or women’s, ever sold on Nike.com in one season,” said Nike President and CEO Mark Parker.

Reuter reports:

The USA women’s jersey sells for $90 on the Nike website.

The Americans will play against England in a semi-final match this evening in Lyon.

Two-thirds of the teams at the start of the tournament wore Nike kits.

Co-captain Megan Rapinoe faced public criticism from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of her team’s quarter-final clash with France for saying she would not attend a customary White House visit if her team won.

Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded by inviting the squad over Twitter to visit the House of Representatives, while Democratic presidential candidate and Senator Kamala Harris followed up with an invitation to tour the Senate.

 

Surfing: “We Use Professional Tour For Olympic Qualification”

The sport of surfing will ride into its first Olympics in Tokyo next year with its place on the Games programme in 2024 also now secure following approval for inclusion in the Paris Games during the IOC Session last week. Robert Fasulo, Executive Director of the International Surfing Association, updates iSportconnect TV on the sport, and ISA Vice President Barbara Kendall, winner of Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals in board sailing, adds perspective on the progress of women in sports leadership.

The ISA World Surfing Games will take place in September this year as one of the main qualifying events for the Tokyo Games. Top pros will also qualify via the World Surf League Championship Tour.

Serie A Plans First Overseas Office In New York

Italy’s Serie A is getting ready to open it first overseas office in New York.

The plan was confirmed at the league meeting yesterday in Milan.

Serie A Managing Director Luigi De Siervo will travel to New York to identify potential staff (the plan is to start with three people) and find premises for the office, according to Calcio e Finanza.

The overseas expansion is part of a strategic plan to transform Serie A from an association that organizes a competition into a sports media company.

The aim is also open offices in locations such as London, Shanghai and Doha.

Here Are The Finalists In LaLiga’s Startup Competition

The Startup Competition 2019 from The Original Inspiration Centre by LaLiga supported by GSIC has chosen the 10 winners of the first stage of the competition.

This initial phase saw a total of 279 companies from 55 different countries and five continents take part.

The competition, organised by LaLiga and the Global Sports Innovation Centre powered by Microsoft, is part of the global agreement signed by LaLiga and Microsoft in 2016. The initiative seeks to boost digital talent and ideas by promoting disruptive solutions that can help LaLiga and its clubs continue to grow in the field of innovation and technology, acting as a gateway into the sports and entertainment world for new companies around the world.

All solutions submitted for consideration had to be based on the following fundamental aspects: Media (OTT, Broadcasting, Digital Content, and so on); Fan Engagement (Fan Profiling, Social Media, eSports, etc.); Smart Venue (Security, Ticketing, Cashless Payment, etc.); Performance (Analytics, Injury Prevention, Health, etc.); and others such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Below are the projects chosen for each area by a panel drawn from LaLiga, GSIC and Microsoft representatives:

  • Smart Venue:
  1. A project presented by an Australian company offering solutions in the fields of access control, cashless payments and user experience. Can also in the future develop solutions which will facilitate the purchase of official merchandise and prevent piracy.
  2. An app developed in the United Kingdom which helps capture fans’ most exciting moments inside a stadium. Can help generate high-quality and viral content for clubs across LaLiga.
  • Performance:
  1. A solution developed in Spain which helps to analyse the cause of injuries and, above all, how to avoid them. Facilitates the work of backroom staff across LaLiga and helps reduce the number of injuries suffered by LaLiga players.
  2. Another Spanish initiative which can recreate a 3D body model with a scanner to direct medical supervisions and track the progress of each player.
  • Media:
  1. A Spanish-developed product that allows for instant movement between different cameras to improve the fan experience, with the added ability to connect with different events simultaneously.
  2. An application developed in the United States which offers different commenting options for live games. Can facilitate the adaptation of LaLiga-developed content for broadcast in different countries.
  • Fan engagement:
  1. A solution developed by a UK-based company which connects users and allows them to interact during match broadcasts. Can help to improve LaLiga’s television broadcasts, connecting fans from across the world.
  2. A Spanish application which gives fans the chance to have digital autograph collections certified by blockchain technology, in addition to offering a marketplace where users can buy, sell and exchange memorabilia. Can strengthen the club-fan relationship for every club at both a national and international level.
  3. A U.S.-developed application which helps fans travelling in another country to find fellow fans of their club and watch the game at a venue in the city they’re in. No matter the place, fans will always be able to share and exchange their football experiences.
  4. A Spanish solution which analyses user behaviour and habits through the use of artificial intelligence and data analysis to make content recommendations. Can help generate more user-specific content, improving fan experience as a result.

Iris Cordoba, Managing Director at GSIC powered by Microsoft, said: “Thanks to The Startup Competition 2019, ten innovative companies will have the opportunity to explore synergies on an individual level with LaLiga and in group with other winners, and, as a result, initiate pilot schemes within one of the most important sports organisations in the world. At GSIC powered by Microsoft we will help them at this stage through our growth acceleration program and by incorporating them into our ecosystem, boosting the integration of these solutions into LaLiga’s strategy.”

Minerva Santana, LaLiga’s Innovation Director, said: “We are convinced that we have picked the perfect startups to improve the LaLiga fan experience and boost our clubs’ technological growth. From this point on we’ll be working hand-in-hand with them in order to maximise the potential of these pioneering projects.”

The ten chosen teams will prepare through July and August for the immersion week, which will take place in September. In this final phase of the competition the ten selected startups will arrive in Madrid to prepare their final presentations at the World Football Summit (24-25 September). This preparation stage, which will extend until December, will help them to better understand the organisation and familiarise themselves with the areas in which their pilot projects will be developed.

During the period the ten startups will start the growth acceleration program with GSIC powered by Microsoft featuring mentoring sessions, contact with investors and high-level directors at both LaLiga and GSIC powered by Microsoft, digital transformation certification and the chance to access the Microsoft for Startups program. In addition, pilot projects approved by LaLiga will begin development during this time.

The ten finalist start-ups will also be able to enjoy free GSIC membership for six months with all the services and benefits the centre provides its ecosystem: networking, participation in activities aimed at innovation and applied research, B2B contacts, media coverage and international events, among others.

 

Dutch Withdraw America’s Cup Challenge

The 2021 America’s Cup regatta suffered another blow with a syndicate from the Netherlands withdrawing their challenge today, citing a lack of time to raise funds for their campaign.

The withdrawal of the DutchSail syndicate from the 36th America’s Cup presented by Prada follows that of a challenge from Malta in late May.

However, the other late challenger from the Long Beach Yacht Club- Stars + Stripes Team  USA yesterday confirmed their ongoing commitment in a press statement.

The Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore, Camille Daniels said: “Long Beach Yacht Club is committed to making the start line at the first America’s Cup World Series Event in Cagliari, Italy, our membership is excited and we are all working hard to achieve our goal of bringing the America’s Cup to Long Beach”

Mike Buckley, Co-Founder and Skipper of Stars + Stripes USA said, “We appreciate the continued support of LBYC and its membership, and the assistance of Emirates Team New Zealand and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, over the past few months as we have reorganized our team. We continue to make progress with corporate partners, and believe we will have what it takes to be competitive in Auckland.”

As part of their commitment Stars + Stripes Team USA will have to complete the entry fee payment process before they will be eligible to race. They have already paid their initial payment but as a late entry challenger under the Protocol  they also have a liability to pay a US$1million late entry fee due in instalments by 1 October 2019.

Stars & Stripes were one of three late challengers, along with Malta and the Dutch, for sport’s oldest trophy, but have had to fend off suggestions since April it may withdraw.

Four challenging syndicates — from Britain, Italy and two from the United States — remain in contention to challenge holders Team New Zealand at the 2021 regatta in Auckland.

The photo shows work in progress on the America’s Cup base in Auckland.

 

 

Bach Follows Up 134th IOC Session With G20 Speech

IOC President Thomas Bach addressed leaders of the world today at the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, following a momentous 134th Session in Lausanne last week (you can see highlights on iSportconnect TV). “The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be not only the greatest sporting event in the world, they will also be an inspiration for sustainable growth,” he said. “This approach is a perfect reflection of the IOC reforms to make sustainability central to all our activities. We walk the talk.”

Bach asked the political leaders of the world for their support for the IOC’s mission: “We can accomplish this mission only if we stay out of any political dispute. This means we have to be politically neutral. But this is not enough. We depend on your, the world leaders’, support for our mission and our neutrality.”

The participants at the G20 Summit are leaders from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). Additionally, there were leaders of invited guest countries and representatives of invited guest international organisations.

Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee President Yoshiro Mori joined the IOC President in the luncheon room with the G20 leaders.

 

Amazon Sports Chief: “We’re Still Learning & Experimenting”

When Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos was spotted schmoozing in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s booth during the Super Bowl in February, the media world exploded with anticipation about Amazon’s imminent domination of sports media.

But two years after first dabbling in live sports streaming, Amazon has yet to settle on a strategy as it continues to experiment and analyze consumer behaviour, Marie Donoghue, Vice President of Global Sports Video, told Reuters.

“We’re literally at day one in sports, so we’re learning and experimenting,” Donoghue said in New York this week in her first interview after she took over the sports media division of the world’s largest online retailer last fall.

The arrival of Donoghue, a nearly twenty-year veteran of Walt Disney Co’s ESPN cable network and who was responsible for shows including the ‘30 for 30’ series and ‘OJ: Made in America,’ signalled a new level of seriousness to Amazon’s pursuit of live sports.

While the real impact of her arrival remains to be seen, that hasn’t stopped chatter of a big tech takeover of live sports as Amazon, Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc, and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube’s threaten to loosen TV’s grip on one of the last remaining reasons to pay for live television.

Tech companies and start-up digital platforms – like DAZN, which in October agreed to pay boxing champion Canelo Alvarez a minimum of $365 million for five years, the richest contract in sports history – are also seen driving up the cost of media rights when major contracts start coming up for renewal in 2021.

Will Amazon lead the pack in pursuing streaming rights for live sports? “We don’t talk about specific rights … as a matter of course, but also because we’re just not sure yet,” Donoghue said.

Since 2017, Amazon has snapped up digital rights to some of England’s Premier League soccer matches, U.S. Open Tennis Championships in the UK and three seasons of Thursday Night Football, among others.

Donoghue said the current focus is on how to enable Amazon Prime subscribers to control nearly every component of their viewing experience, including how, when and where they watch.

As a streaming service, “we don’t have to serve the same content in the same way to everybody,” she said.

To figure out which sports products are successful and what to offer next, Amazon is analyzing market research and its own viewership data, as well as consumers’ use of its X-Ray tool for digging into details about shows.

It also co-streams Thursday Night Football on its Twitch video game streaming platform, which has an interactive extension that lets viewers predict game developments, including who they think will win.

“We’re watching all of that,” Donoghue said. “We want to use live sports to drive value for Prime customers.”

 

Women’s World Cup Lives Up To TV Expectations

U.S. network Fox Sports hit a peak of 8.24 million TV viewers for Friday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal between Team USA and France.

The Americans’ 2-1 victory was the most-watched soccer match on English-language U.S. television since last summer’s Men’s World Cup final.

The audience was up 7 percent from the U.S.-China quarterfinal in 2015, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

On Fox OTT, the match drew an average minute audience of 211,000, making it the most-streamed Women’s World Cup match of all time in the U.S.

Across Fox’s digital and social media platforms, World Cup content drew 13 million views and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Now live feed on Twitter posted 1.05 million viewers, more than double the previous record.

In the UK, England’s 3-0 quarterfinal win against Norway drew a record-breaking 7.6 million viewers on BBC, the third time the Lionesses have broken viewing records in as many weeks.

Prior to this summer, the record TV audience for women’s soccer in the U.K. had been the four million who watched England face the Netherlands in the Euro 2017 semi-finals.

BBC said total viewership for the 2019 tournament has already surpassed 22.2 million, well in excess of the 12.4 million record set in 2015 during the Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Audiences have also been high in France, Germany (beaten in the quarter-finals), France and other markets. Read more here.

Clipper Race Brings WTC Logistics & Chartco On Board

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has today revealed two British brands that will be partnering with its 2019-20 edition.

WTC Logistics will be making its debut as Logistics Partner with a Team entry too, and ChartCo is returning as Official Supplier and in doing so, has extended the partnership into its second decade.

WTC Logistics, which has offices across the UK, USA and China, is a forward-thinking Import and Export Consolidator and Full-Load Carrier, who operates via air, sea and road.

It has been announced that its team entry, WTC Logistics, will be led by British Skipper Mark Burkes.

On leading the WTC Logistics team, Mark said,  “I am very excited to work with WTC Logistics, a Team Partner whose business is all about making things happen all over the world. I can’t wait to see our boat be branded. It’s going to look fantastic and the crew will be proud to represent WTC Logistics as we race around the globe.”

For its inaugural campaign with the Clipper Race, WTC Logistics will ensure that the four containers, packed with supplies, tools, and equipment, reach each of the stopovers ahead of the fleet’s arrival.

A race in itself, the year-long movement of containers to destinations in six different continents would not be possible without WTC Logistics’ extensive knowledge in project, supply chain management and its hands-on management structure.

Operations Director Anthony Clarke said: “WTC Logistics is very proud to have been chosen as the appointed logistics provider to such an iconic and prestigious event as the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

“Working with the Clipper Race enables us to showcase our in depth knowledge and expertise as one of the leading project management logistics companies. And it will allow us to utilise our 20 offices and worldwide partners to deliver such a historic race. We are excited with this new challenge in our WTC history and are looking forward to working with the Clipper Race team and global partners in what will be another exciting chapter in the lives of all taking part in this inspiring event. To dream is to do.”

Global forerunner in digital navigation and voyage compliance ChartCo returns for its sixth consecutive edition as Official Nautical Chart Services Supplier.

ChartCo’s market-leading navigation solutions meet the needs of the most demanding navigational passages. During the 11-month 40,000 nautical mile Clipper Race circumnavigation ChartCo will support the eleven strong fleet of Clipper 70s with global paper charts, piloting books and technical publications, as well as experienced compliance services.

Martin Taylor, CEO of ChartCo, on the announcement said: “We’re very excited to continue our role as official supplier in the Clipper 2019-20 Round the World Yacht Race. To partner once again with this fantastic event, where ordinary people take on the extraordinary challenge of sailing around the world. It’s a true test of endurance for participants, and we’re proud to help keep them safe along the way.”

ChartCo strives to help ensure that their users global compliance, navigation, safety and environmental needs are met; Transforming the industry by simplifying life for those onboard.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Clipper Race Founder and Chairman, said: “Our long standing partnership with ChartCo demonstrates that its industry-leading products and services continue to evolve and meet the demands and development of a global yacht race on the scale such as the Clipper Race.”