Two boxers cracked the Top 10 of athletes with the most global social media interactions in May, according to sponsorship analytics and evaluation platform Hookit (watch the video on iSportconnect TV).
Britain’s Anthony Joshua and Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez made the list, as did MMA star Conor McGregor.
But football still dominates, with six of the Top 10, including Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona in first place.
With the MotoGP season roaring into the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya this coming weekend, Francisco Lettieri, Commercial Director of Spain’s leading motorsport venue, shares his insights in this exclusive interview with iSportconnect TV.
See what he has to say about the big motorcycling event, the economic impact of F1 on the region, F1’s future in Barcelona, and more.
Game Six of the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals on Sunday was the top programme on U.S. television.
The 5-1 victory of the Boston Bruins forcing a deciding seventh game against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday pulled 6.12 million viewers from 8-11 pm on NBC.
The ice hockey game beat Celebrity Family Feud on ABC and the Tony Awards on CBS.
iSportconnect is delighted to announce that Richard Berry of Williams Racing and Robert Alberino of the San Francisco 49ers will be speaking at our 2019 Digital Masterclass will be held on Wednesday 26th June in London.
The Masterclass will look at the world of digital to reach and engage with fans throughout the event lifecycle, hearing from expert speakers sharing their experiences of communicating with their target audiences. With the actual field of play action making up such a small window of fan engagement, how do you keep the conversation with fans going outside of the live event experience? Given the rapid development of new technologies and channels available to speak to fans, how do brands keep up? Are your strategies to keep up with the changes robust and nimble enough while staying effective and relevant in an ‘always-on’ and competitive fan environment?
The Masterclass will also look at how the individuals within the sports universe are taking the power of social media and digital channels to speak about causes and issues affecting the world of sport, and for the very first time, we have Olympic medalists sharing their experiences and insights on their abilities to influence the very core of sport through digital.
The latest speaker lineup includes the following:
Richard began his career in the media industry working for ITV and ESPN before joining a startup in the growing sports research industry. After this was sold to what is now Nielsen Sports, he had a short spell with IMG, which led to the Honda F1 team in 2008, where he remained for 5 years, including the World Championship winning Brawn GP. After leaving the Mercedes F1 team in 2012, he then spent three years in football, working in various roles for Manchester City FC, Glasgow Rangers FC and the Premier League. From the Premier League, Richard joined the Williams F1 team as Commercial Director, where he oversees all commercial activity and the focus on new revenue streams, including digital and direct to fan.
A veteran of 25 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), Robert is currently in his seventh season as the Vice President and Executive Producer for the San Francisco 49ers. A storyteller at heart, Robert created the team’s in-house production division, 49ers Studios and oversees all production, events, content creation, still imagery and gameday entertainment while having a large hand in marketing, creative design and social/new media for the franchise. A 62-time Emmy Award winner, Rob also spent 3 years with the Kansas City Chiefs, 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles and was a Filmmaker for NFL Films. In 2012, Alberino was bestowed an honorary enlistment in the United States Army as a Specialist and currently holds the rank of Sergeant. He continues to pay forward the honor by working alongside all branches of the US military on a daily basis. Alberino graduated from Duquesne University in 1992. He and his wife, Lisa, have three children, Jordan (who works for the Minnesota Vikings!) (23), Angelina (16) and Stella GiGi (10).
Hosted by leading Global Sports Communications expert, Ben Nichols (of Ben Nichols Communications), the Masterclass will feature 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 Digital Masterclass, please contact Chloe McCombie at info@isportconnect.com
Invitation Policy: The Digital Masterclass 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 Hugo Millns at info@isportconnect.com
Golden State Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens, who shoved the Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors during a Finals game on Wednesday, has been fined $500,000 and banned from games for a year, the Warriors and the NBA said on Thursday.
Lowry tumbled into the front row of the crowd in Oakland while diving for a loose ball during the fourth quarter and Stevens, who was sitting courtside, used one hand to push the player as he was getting back on his feet.
Reuters reports:
Guard Lowry later said that Stevens also “said a couple vulgar words” to him. Stevens, 60, was escorted out of the game and Lowry called for him to be banned from all future NBA games.
“Investor Mark Stevens has been banned from attending NBA games and Warriors team activities for one year and has been fined $500,000 for pushing and directing obscene language toward the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry,” the NBA and the team said in a statement.
Stevens late Thursday issued a formal apology saying he was embarrassed by his “lapse in judgment” and said he accepted the punishment.
“What I did was wrong and there is no excuse for it,” he said.
“Mr. Lowry deserves better, and I have reached out today in an attempt to directly apologize to him and other members of the Raptors and Warriors organizations. I’m grateful to those who accepted my calls.
“The behaviour I demonstrated last night does not reflect the person I am or have been throughout my life. I made a mistake and I’m truly sorry. I need to be better and look forward to making it right.”
The Warriors earlier in the day issued their own apology to Lowry.
“Mr. Stevens’ behaviour last night did not reflect the high standards that we hope to exemplify as an organization,” the Warriors said in a statement.
“We’re extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct.
“There is no place for such interaction between fans — or anyone — and players at an NBA game.”
Stevens, who joined the Warriors’ ownership team in 2013, is a billionaire venture capitalist who was a partner with Sequoia Capital until 2012 and is now a managing partner of S-Cubed Capital.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr echoed the team’s statement.
“I will also personally apologize to Kyle and to the Raptors. That’s unacceptable,” he told reporters.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James took to Instagram to call for the league to take swift action against Stevens prior to the announcement of the fine and the ban.
“There’s absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL,” James said.
“He himself being a fan but more importantly PART-OWNER of the Warriors knew exactly what he was doing which was so uncalled for,” he said.
James ended his lengthy post with the hashtags #ProtectThePlayers and #PrivilegeAintWelcomeHere.
Game Four will be held in Oakland tonight, with the Raptors leading the best-of-seven series 2-1.
You can watch what happened here.
The eighth Women’s World Cup kicks off in Paris this evening with 950,00 tickets sold for the tournament, and projections of a worldwide TV audience more than a thousand times greater.
France will meet South Korea at the sold-out Parc des Princes in the opening game.
Six groups of four teams are vying for the 16 places in the knockout phase, on the road to the final on 7 July in Lyon.
The £24 million to be shared by the participating teams in 2019 is double the amount of 2015, but a long way short of the £315 million pot at the 2018’s men’s World Cup.
The last Women’s World Cup, won the USA, pulled 750 million viewers worldwide, and FIFA is predicting this year’s event will reach an audience of 1 billion.
In recent weeks, hundreds of branded videos with content related to the Women’s World Cup have been published online, racking up a combined total of 72 million views across all social media platforms, according to video measurement company Tubular.
With big-budget ads from the likes of Nike and quality short-form productions by FIFA sponsors including Qatar Airways and Visa, marketers have been accumulating millions of interactions.
Have a look at ‘Dream Further’ by Nike, featuring stars including Lieke Martens (Holland), Chinese midfielder Wang Shuang (China) and Crystal Dunn (USA).
On Twitter, the video has racked up more than 19 million views since it was first posted to Nike’s official account last Saturday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOVkEHADCg4
Australia’s professional women soccer players will be given the same base pay as men in a one-year extension to a collective bargaining agreement.
Players in Australia’s W-League will have their annual minimum remuneration hiked 33 percent to A$16,344 ($11,400), with their base hourly rate matching the men’s A-League, Football Federation Australia and the players union said today.
Reuters reports:
“We’re very proud that we have been able to anchor the minimum conditions for W-League players to those of A-League players,” Professional Footballers Australia CEO John Didulica said in a statement.
“It’s a moment in time that the players should be proud of.”
The deal will reduce the gender pay gap in Australian football but male players stand to earn significantly more due to their greater time on the pitch.
The W-League’s regular season ran for 14 weeks in 2018/19, just over half the length of the A-League’s 27 rounds.
The announcement comes days after the PFA launched a campaign demanding global governing body FIFA increase prize money at the upcoming women’s World Cup to reduce the glaring gap with the men’s tournament.
Gender pay disparity in football was put in the spotlight in March when the U.S. women’s team sued their national federation for alleged gender discrimination three months before their World Cup title defense.
Australia has become a global leader in championing better pay and conditions for female athletes in recent years, after having largely neglected women’s sport for decades.
Australia’s contracted women cricketers were given the same base hourly pay rate as men in a five-year collective bargaining agreement struck in 2017, although, like women footballers, they have far fewer opportunities to earn.
FifPro, the international body for professional players, has said FIFA is poised to begin fresh negotiations to close the gender pay gap.
In a statement, FIFPro said: “FIFA has agreed to our request to start negotiating new conditions for women’s national team players after the 2019 Women’s World Cup.”
IOC President Thomas Bach opened the debate about the future of the Olympic Games at the fifth Sport Future Rendez-Vous on Wednesday in Lausanne with some frank observations about the mission of the Games and troubling trends in today’s world.
Organised jointly by ThinkSport and the University of Lausanne (UNIL), the sold-out event attracted more than 200 people from the academic world, sport organisations, United Nations institutions, NGOs, media and the business sector.
President Bach delivered a global overview about the IOC’s vision for the future of the Olympic Games driving the organisation’s reform programme Olympic Agenda 2020, developed under his leadership.
Aimed at strengthening the societal relevance and the uniqueness of the Olympic Games in a fast-changing world, Olympic Agenda 2020 is built on the three pillars of sustainability, credibility and youth.
Bach outlined strategies and results achieved in all of these areas and concluded:
“Olympic Agenda 2020 has brought important results. Half of the world’s population is following the Olympic Games and we have witnessed the important impact of the Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018 in the world.”
He continued: “However, for the future we have to realise that we are against the Zeitgeist at the moment. We have a Zeitgeist changing from a healthy patriotism, one we appreciate in sport, to a nationalism which we don’t want to see in sport.”
“We see a Zeitgeist where societies are becoming more and more divisive – as well as relations between nations. International institutions are increasingly ignored.“
“These tendencies are contrary to our mission – which is to unite the world without any form of discrimination and in solidarity, enabling the world to join the Olympic Movement.”
“In sport we are all equal and if we achieve this universality, the Olympic Games can be a great symbol of humanity. This remains our ultimate goal.”
Tough Mudder’s sales team leveraged Hookit data as a tool in the partnership sales process as a way to provide insightful analytics of predicted sponsorship ROI to its potential brand partners.
Data from sports sponsorship analytics and evaluation platform Hookit helped Tough Mudder secure deals with more than a half-dozen new commercial partners.
By tailoring the pitch to what each brand was already talking about, Tough Mudder could demonstrate that it would be a world-class partner for the sponsor, helping that organization achieve their sponsorship objectives.
Tough Mudder was able to convert the data into new deals with brands such as Chipotle, Nexcare, ACE, Every Man Jack, Navy Federal Credit Union and others.
Tough Mudder is uniquely positioned as both a brand sponsoring athletes and influencers as well as an event property bringing on other brands as sponsors.
In order to stay as the best-in-class partner, Tough Mudder sought to identify ways to drive more value for current and prospective sponsors.
Using the Research tool within the Hookit platform, Tough Mudder was able to identify potential sponsors and show how their organization could:
“Hookit is a key tool in the sponsorship sales process, allowing us to bring on new sponsors and increasing our sponsorship revenue,” said Tony Kim, Business Development@Tough Mudder.
Football Index is delighted to announce an agreement with Nottingham Forest Football Club as the new front-of-shirt partner, in what represents the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in both the brand’s and the club’s history.
By becoming Forest’s shirt sponsor, Football Index will now proudly display its logo on the front of the club’s first-team and adult replica shirts from the beginning of the 2019-20 Championship season.
Football Index is a revolutionary gambling platform and the world’s first football stock market. The platform allows traders to buy and sell shares in over 3,000 professional footballers with real money – offering football fans a chance to bet on the future success of football players, rather than gambling on the short-lived outcome of football matches.
The platform operates with all the characteristics of a stock market, with traders buying units of footballers (known as “shares”), building their football portfolios and trying to sell at a profit. The model presents a responsible and sustainable alternative to regular betting whilst enabling fans to profit from their football knowledge.
Football Index’s partnership with Nottingham Forest builds on its presence in the professional game following the platform’s previous kit deal with Bristol Rovers.
The agreement represents another sign of Forest’s growing commercial stature within the UK and is the start of an exciting partnership with one of football’s newest platforms.
Neil Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of BetIndex Ltd, Football Index’s parent company (at left in photo above), said: “We’re thrilled to have Football Index front and centre on the new Nottingham Forest kit – a club steeped in history with an expansive and proud fanbase. We’re very excited to see this partnership build awareness of the Football Index brand across an engaged football audience for 2019/20 season.
“This landmark partnership marks a significant milestone in the brand’s journey and illustrates the ambitions we hold for the platform. We look forward to working with the team at Forest to deliver a successful sponsorship that truly benefits all stakeholders – from the fans to Football Index’s loyal customers.”
Nottingham Forest Football Club’s Chief Commercial Officer, David Cook, said: “The club are delighted to announce this new partnership with a growing and exciting brand. Like Nottingham Forest, Football Index has a pioneering spirit built in their DNA and the brand fit has shone through during our various discussions.
“Across the partnership we look forward to offering our fans some great benefits and incentives whilst providing a strong platform for Football Index to achieve their marketing objectives. As a club, we are delighted that we have been able to secure the biggest shirt sponsorship in our history and it shows Football Index’s commitment and belief in Nottingham Forest.”