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PUMA Reaches Long-Term Deal With LaLiga

PUMA has entered into a long-term agreement with LaLiga to become the league’s official technical partner. Starting from the 2019/20 season, PUMA will produce the official match ball and other products for all games in LaLiga Santander and La Liga 1|2|3.

With a total audience of 2.7 billion viewers in more than 183 countries annually and more than 80 million followers on social media, the LaLiga partnership will enable PUMA to significantly expand on-pitch visibility and strengthen its position as a leading global football brand.

PUMA is adding LaLiga to a strong roster of PUMA football players, including some of the best players in LaLiga: Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak, Luis Suárez, Samuel Umtiti, Santi Cazorla, Marc Bartra, and Giovani Lo Celso. The start of the 2019/20 La Liga season will also see PUMA begin sponsorship of two new clubs: Girona FC and Valencia CF.

PUMA’s values of being brave, confident, determined and joyful, fit perfectly with those of LaLiga: teamwork, overcoming, equality, respect and tolerance, fair play and authenticity. The two companies share an international vision, a passion for having the best producto and transforming society through the universal values of sport and football in particular.

“We are extremely proud to have partnered with one of the best, if not the best, football leagues in the world,” said Johan Adamsson, PUMA’s Director of Sports Marketing. “The ball is the most essential element in football, and this sponsorship is the epitome of performance. LaLiga has some of the best teams and players in the world and this partnership is another step in our efforts to achieve ‘No Football without PUMA’, ensuring an even stronger global reach for our brand. ”

Juan Carlos Díaz, LaLiga’s Marketing and Commercial Director, added: “It is an honor for an historical sports brand like PUMA, that represents great teams, important sportsmen and recognised artists, to want to associate with the best league in the world and contribute all its technical quality to our ball, which is such an important element of our competition. We are convinced that this agreement will be very fruitful for both companies and will allow us to continue facing our future challenges.”

TF1 Group Channels Will Show All Rugby World Cup Matches

French broadcasting group TF1 will show all 48 matches of the 2019 Rugby World Cup on free-TV.

The entire tournament from September 20-November 2 is being made available on free-TV for the first time, with matches on the main TF1 network (the French market leader), TMC and TFX.

TF1 acquired exclusive rights to the competition in March 2018. In in the past, it shared the French market coverage with pay-TV company Canal+.

TF1 has enjoyed success with the Rugby World Cup in the past, most notably in 2011, when New Zealand’s home victory over France in the final drew 17.8 million viewers with an amazing market share of 87%.

Spanish Court Slaps Hefty Fine On Prisa In Old TV Rights Dispute

A Spanish court has ruled that the Prisa group must pay €51 million to Mediapro for damages in a long-running dispute over Spanish football rights.

The Audiencia Provincial de Madrid said Prisa, former owner of Canal Plus, acted illegally in blocking Mediapro’s access to the signals of matches for free-TV and international distribution in 2007.

Prisa, which owns leading daily newspaper El País, was in a contractual dispute with Mediapro at the time.

In a statement, Mediapro said: “The sentence reconfirms the good name of Mediapro in what became known as ‘the football war’ and the illegality of Prisa’s claims, which, after almost ten years of litigation, have been penalised by the Courts time and time again.”

Toronto Wolfpack – First Transatlantic Team – Prolongs AFEX Relationship

The Toronto Wolfpack club of the Rugby Football League has renewed its partnership with global payment and risk management solutions specialist AFEX.

AFEX has been involved with the Wolfpack from the team’s inaugural season and will continue as the Official Foreign Exchange Partner in 2019.

The partnership sees AFEX managing all foreign currency exchange between the UK and Canada throughout the season ̶ a necessity for the world’s first transatlantic sporting team.

Martin Vickers, Toronto Wolfpack UK Business Development Manager, said: “Toronto Wolfpack are in a unique position in world sport and AFEX provides us with peace of mind when it comes to currency transactions. Their support and expertise is of huge value to our team and their fast, reliable transactions keeps our operations running smoothly and problem-free.

“Promoting transatlantic trade lies at the core of our values and that desire is strongly shared by AFEX. We are thrilled to have them on board for the 2019 Season.”

Disney Aims To Hit 12 Million ESPN+ Subs In Five Years

ESPN+, Walt Disney Co’s sports video streaming service, could attract between 8 million and 12 million paying subscribers by the end of the fiscal 2024 year, the company said yesterday.

Disney’s forecast for significant growth in paying customers in the next few years was disclosed in a presentation of its streaming video strategy to Wall Street.

Reuters reports:

Operating losses for ESPN+ are expected to be $650 million annually in both fiscal 2019 and 2020, Disney’s chief financial officer, Christine McCarthy, said during an investor day webcast presentation. But the service, which launched one year ago, should reach profitability by 2023, she said.

“I view this positively because I think that they need to illustrate the subscriber growth to validate the investment. They’re putting out some very strong number guides to the market,” said Patrice Cucinello, a director at Fitch Ratings. “They’re going guns blazing at direct consumer.”

As cable and traditional media companies lose subscribers to the likes of Netflix Inc, they are building new streaming video businesses that appeal directly to consumers.

Disney launched ESPN+ a year ago as a way to test its streaming services and distribute additional sports content directly to fans, for a monthly or yearly fee.

Since then, ESPN+ has drawn millions of subscribers, inked sports rights deals, and seen its mobile app rise in popularity. Disney is also moving forward with its larger plans for Disney+, which will stream its trove of new and classic blockbuster movies.

As for current paying sports fans, Disney said the number was currently over 2 million, or roughly what it disclosed in February.

Disney’s own estimates about ESPN+ growth seemed slightly higher than analysts, though its time frame was longer.

Morgan Stanley analysts expect 2.7 million people to be paying for ESPN+ access by the end of fiscal 2019 and 3.9 million by the end of fiscal 2020. By 2022, it could have 6.7 million, Morgan Stanley said.

USOC Innovation Chief Will Open Sports Technology Awards

The United States Olympic Committee’s Director of Sport Technology and Innovation will deliver the keynote address at the 2019 Yahoo Sports Technology Awards ceremony.

Dr Phil Cheetham will open the event taking place on May 2^nd at 6.30 pm at the Roundhouse in Camden, London.

His speech, entitled ‘Silicon Valley Giants Are a Serious Force in Sports Technology,’ will share how the USOC has partnered with executives from leading tech brands to create an investment fund, and how this approach could be the future force shaping the sector.

Cheetham was an Olympian in gymnastics and has been a leading innovator in biomechanics. His role at the USOC is to develop technology to help optimize Team USA athletes’ performance and recovery and help allocate funds donated by the USOC’s Technology and Innovation Advisory Board.

As well as being the leading global celebration of tech-led innovations in sport, the Yahoo Sports Technology Awards, part of the Sports Technology Awards Group, is also a valued forum for insights and networking, and the ceremony opening address is a key part of this.

Rebecca Hopkins, CEO of the Sports Technology Awards Group, said: “Technology can reasonably claim to be the biggest factor changing sports over the past 10 years, now tech-giant investment looks set to be the next major influence on industry development and market disruption.”

“Silicon Valley engagement is something of a Holy Grail for many sports executives so understanding how to harness the technical and financial power of technology’s biggest brands is fascinating. Sports leaders and visionaries will be excellently served by the insights Phil has to share.”

Cheetham added: “I’m a long-standing, passionate advocate of technology’s role in helping athletes, so it is exciting to take this to the next level. The executives at the top of Silicon Valley have unrivalled tech knowledge and this, combined with access to their level of funding, will be immensely beneficial for both business and sport. I am looking forward to sharing these insights with my peers at the Awards.”

LaLiga Gives Seville Derby Big Global Push

The historic rivalry between Sevilla FC and its cross-city rival Real Betis means that El Gran Derbi – to be played this coming Saturday – has a famous reputation and generates great interest across the world.

LaLiga and the two clubs are holding a range of activities in a number of global markets to promote Saturday’s match at Sevilla’s Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium.

Promotion of the match kicked off on April 9^th with an event in New York that discussed the importance of El Gran Derbi and the efforts being made by the clubs and LaLiga to achieve growth in the United States.

Club representatives including Ramon Loarte, Sevilla’s Director of Marketing, and Ramon Alarcon, Betis’s General Manager of Business, were in attendance, along with a number of American opinion leaders. The activity was organised by LaLiga North America, a joint-venture by LaLiga and Relevent Sports.

On the day of the match, three concurrent ‘viewing parties’ will take place across the Americas in Bogota (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Mexico City. The event in Bogota is being organised in conjunction with the Spanish Embassy in Colombia, attended by a number of top Colombian officials.

In Sao Paulo, a viewing of the game will be held for over 100 fans, with a selection of traditional Andalusian tapas on offer.

The event in Mexico will consist of Betis and Sevilla supporters’ clubs meeting up to watch El Gran Derbi in a Mexico City restaurant. The Peña Sevillista Sí o Sí and the Peña Bética Insurgentes supporters’ clubs will take part in this event in the Mexican capital.

“The events we are holding in different parts of the world form part of LaLiga’s international development strategy with the objective of growing football globally. El Gran Derbi is one of the biggest matches of the season, which is why we want to get closer and closer to our fans around the world so they can enjoy the occasion,” said Oscar Mayo, LaLiga’s Director of International Development.

“LaLiga’s derbies are hugely important for the international development of the competition. We’re making the most of the emotion, passion and rivalry in these games to continue promoting the international growth of the clubs and the competition,” Mayo said.

Due to the global significance of this game, LaLiga has deployed its best audiovisual technology at the match to create the best possible spectacle for watching fans. Match production will be provided in 4K-HDR via 22 cameras, including an aerial camera.

In addition, the Replays360 system will be available with five Super Slow Motion cameras capturing every single detail. Meanwhile, live 3D graphics will be used, as well as the Lawo Kick System to provide the most accurate on-the-pitch sounds.

This audiovisual deployment will allow El Gran Derbi to be enjoyed via the international feed distributed in 183 countries around the world through 93 television broadcasters.

Lancashire Teams With Rewards4Cricket

Lancashire Cricket has teamed up with Rewards4Cricket, a rewards programme dedicated to cricket fans, ahead of the 2019 season as the Club continues to strengthen fan engagement and benefit programmes for Members and supporters of the Red Rose.

The Rewards4Cricket programme, operated by the UK’s largest operator of sports-based rewards programmes (Rewards4), is initially focused on providing new ways to reward supporters for their loyalty when purchasing tickets and Memberships at Emirates Old Trafford.

With over 4,500 retail and high street partners, the Rewards4Cricket programme enables loyal cricket fans and supporters to collect points on their everyday spending and redeem these against the cost of Memberships, match day tickets, and merchandise in Lancashire’s Official Store.

The Club and Rewards4Cricket will work together to grow a database of engaged fans from the wider community in the North West by providing the opportunity to win some great cricket experiences as well as saving money when watching Lancashire or England at Emirates Old Trafford.

Jonathon Nuttall, Lancashire Cricket’s Head of Ticketing & Digital Systems, said: “Our Members and supporters are at the heart of everything we do. Their loyalty to the Club over the years has been incredible and we always strive to reward that commitment by providing them with the best possible experience.

“Creating a rewards and loyalty scheme for our supporters has been a priority since engaging with our new ticketing supplier, SecuTix. It made perfect sense for us to partner with Rewards4Cricket, the UK’s market leader in sports rewards, through their integrated system.”

“We’re delighted to be working with Rewards4Cricket to introduce an award-winning platform which will offer our fans fantastic rewards and an opportunity to make great savings on their international, domestic and Vitality Blast tickets, Lancashire Memberships as well as the Kia Super League. We are also looking forward to welcoming new cricket fans to the Club from the wider Rewards4Cricket membership base.”

The Red Rose joins other counties including Durham, Hampshire, Worcestershire, Glamorgan and Warwickshire who currently work with Rewards4Cricket.

Tom Cowgill, Director and Co-Founder of Rewards4Cricket, said: “Our Rewards4Cricket membership is growing rapidly and partnering with Lancashire Cricket not only enables us to welcome and reward their Members and supporters but also provides our existing members with another great redemption opportunity.

“We’ve managed to secure a unique position in providing unprecedented ways to reward fan engagement and county cricket clubs are recognising that they can benefit from this. Rewarding devoted fans by turning everyday spending into savings is proving to be a compelling concept for many, especially when it can be achieved at no cost to the club or county.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming Lancashire supporters to the Rewards4Cricket programme and helping them to use their points to buy tickets and Memberships, so they can enjoy even more unforgettable experiences at Emirates Old Trafford.”

Pepsi Replaces Coke At Indy 500

PepsiCo, Inc. and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced a multi-year partnership Thursday making Pepsi and MTN DEW become the Official Soda Beverages of the home of the Indianapolis 500.

Pepsi replaces long-time IMS partner Coke as the exclusive partner at the 400,000-capacity venue.

Pepsi’s brand Aquafina will also become the Official Water of IMS starting with the 2019 season.

PepsiCo products will be served exclusively at concession stands and in suites throughout starting with the INDYCAR Grand Prix on May 11 and 103^rd Indy 500 takes place on May 26.

“PepsiCo products are a perfect complement to events at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Pepsi’s market activation and consumer focus make for an exciting partnership,” said IMS President J. Douglas Boles.

“The PepsiCo line of beverages are enjoyed worldwide and is an excellent match for the global reach of elite events at IMS.”