Premiership Rugby: “Listen To The Players And The Clubs”

The stakeholders of professional rugby union in England have worked hard to develop a calendar and structure for competition that taking into account the physical demands of the sport on its players.

Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director of Premiership Rugby and a former pro player himself (Sale Sharks), is in the middle of the continuing debates on balancing the interests of players and commercial interests as the money coming into rugby grows.

With the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Union Players Association, the Premiership has worked out a structure that guarantees rest weeks and minimum off-seasons for the players as well as limiting the number of games.

Looking at the idea of a World League in rugby, he said that world rugby “can’t be fixed” by the international governing body and the national unions alone. The players and the clubs need to be engaged too.

The new investment by private equity firm CVC in the Premiership opens up great opportunities, he said. Rugby union is only 20 years old as a professional sport. Over that time there has been significant private investment. The investment by CVC will make it possible to take the sport to the next level.

Juventus Win Sets Sky Italia Viewing Record

The UEFA Champions League match between Juventus and Atlético Madrid on Tuesday evening set an all-time viewing record for a club football match for Sky Italia.

The Italian team’s 3-0 win pulled 1.872 million viewers on Sky Sports 1 with a 7.1% viewing share. The match was also simulcast on other Sky channels and overall had 2.938 million viewers with an 11.1% share.

The total viewers for the match on Sky actually made it the second most watched programme on Italian TV on Tuesday, terrestrial free-to-air channels included. It was the third biggest audience ever for Sky, behind two Italian national team matches.

In The Netherlands, the same match on Veronica was number six of the day, with 1.150 million viewers and a 21.4 % share.

WWE Tops One Billion (!) Fans On Social Media

WWE today announced it has surpassed one billion fans through its global social media platforms, further confirming its position as one of the most-followed brands in the world.

Check out the video below for more details on that amazing number.

The wrestling brand’s flagship Facebook page has more fans than the NFL, NBA, Marvel, Nike and UFC, and WWE Superstar John Cena is the most followed active American athlete on Facebook with more than 44 million likes.

On Instagram, WWE’s fastest-growing platform, @WWE has more followers than FIFA World Cup, ESPN, HBO and NHL.

On Twitter, @WWE has more followers than MLB, Disney, Amazon and Pepsi.

WWE is the top sports channel on YouTube, ahead of the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, ESPN and NASCAR with more than 40 million subscribers and 30 billion views.

WWE’s YouTube channel is also the second most-viewed channel in the world behind only T-Series, India’s largest music label and movie studio.

WWE’s 15 social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, Qzone, Toutiao, WeChat, V+, Weibo, YouKu, Periscope, Pinterest, Foursquare and Tumblr.

Nike Showcases Women’s Football Push

Nike has launched the team uniforms for 14 national squads ahead of this year’s Women’s World Cup in France and signed a three-year promotion deal with UEFA Women’s Football, part of its growing focus on women’s sport.

The United States, Canada, France, England and Australia were among the teams whose kits were released at an event in Paris, attended by 28 of the world’s top female footballers.

The Women’s World Cup will be held from June 7 to July 7.

Reuters reported:

In the second quarter of the 2019 financial year, women’s footwear and apparel alone counted for nearly a quarter of Nike’s total revenue and it has said the women’s footwear and apparel market is now 1.5 times bigger than that for men.

Wall Street brokerage Bernstein calculates women’s sporting gear pulled in $7 billion for Nike last year.

Nike’s announcement of a partnership with UEFA comes three months after Visa signed a seven-year deal with European soccer’s governing body to sponsor the women’s game at all levels.

In a related development, Adidas announced that the players it sponsors on the team that wins the Women’s World Cup this year will receive the same performance bonus payments as their male counterparts.

The announcement followed news that the U.S. women’s national soccer team is suing their federation with allegations of gender discrimination, where all 28 members of the squad were named as plaintiffs in federal court.

Eric Liedtke, Head of Global Brands at Adidas, said in statement:  “Today we are announcing that all Adidas athletes on the winning 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup team will receive the same performance bonus payout as their male peers.”

“We believe in inspiring and enabling the next generation of female athletes, creators and leaders through breaking barriers.”

 

IAAF Will Trim Diamond League Format

The IAAF will cut back the Diamond League circuit in 2020 as the one-day competitions aim for a more consistent, fast moving format.

Meetings in the Diamond League, which begins its 10th season in May, will be reduced from 14 to 12 competitions, plus a final under concepts approved by the IAAF Council in Doha yesterday.

The number of disciplines will also be cut from 32 to 24 with 12 each for men and women and the longest event will be 3,000 meters.

There will also be a new focus on events held outside stadiums, where fans can be closer to the action.

Reuters reported that there was no indication which meeting would be dropped or what disciplines would be eliminated.

An examination at the end of this season will assess the quality of each meeting with the aim of focusing on the best 12 meetings plus a final with all 24 disciplines, the IAAF said.

The Diamond League currently features nine races for men and women and seven field events: high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw and javelin throw.

Not all events are held at each meeting.

The circuit, the IAAF’s top competition outside the Olympics and World Championships, currently has two end-of-season finals, with Zurich hosting one-half of the disciplines and Brussels the other.

“The market very much told us at the moment the current two finals should be replaced by one thrilling night of athletics,” said IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon, who co-chaired a year-long review of the circuit.

New All-England Club Chairman Will Come In At The End Of The Year

Ian Hewitt will become chairman of The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which hosts the annual Wimbledon tennis event, at the end of this year.

The AELTC has said that Hewitt, who joined the club’s committee in 2002, will succeed Chairman Philip Brook in December this year after being appointed vice chairman on Saturday.

Brook has been the club chairman of the AELTC for nine years and was involved in expanding the size of its grounds by the acquisition of the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf Club in December last year.

He said in a statement: “Ian’s combination of business acumen and considerable experience serving on the AELTC Committee and as Chair of the Wimbledon Foundation ensures that he will provide the AELTC with strong leadership for the coming years.”

“For now, we look ahead to continuing our planning for a successful Championships in 2019 and a seamless handover in December 2019.”

LaLiga App Gets Beneath The Surface Of Football Pitches

A well-maintained football pitch does not just offer a high-quality game but helps protect matters such as player safety and audio-visual spectacle. Playing surfaces are of such high importance to LaLiga that it has taken the unusual step of employing its own grounds quality manager, who is working with the clubs to keep their pitches in the best condition.

Pedro Fernandez-Bolaños is a former golf greenkeeper who has also worked as deputy grounds manager at Real Madrid. He believes his new role is proof of LaLiga’s commitment to improving football by focusing on the finer details of the game.

Commenting on the position of grounds quality manager, he said: “The position is a logical consequence of LaLiga’s desire to have football played on a top-quality surface. We maintain direct contact with the clubs to promote cooperation and create a colourful and attractive competition for the fans.”

The role helps clubs to keep player safety and visual spectacle as top priorities. A well-managed pitch can reduce the risk of player injury, as Fernandez-Bolaños explains: “You have to find the balance between a heavy field, which would put pressure on players’ muscles, and an excessively hard one, which causes joints to suffer.”

“It is necessary to avoid slips or having the studs get caught when a player turns or changes direction and this will ensure better security for the player.”

The LaLiga Television Broadcast Regulations not only require clubs to provide a playing field that is safe for the players and behaves in a uniform way, but one that is in the best possible visual state for TV broadcasts. For this reason, aspects such as the hardness and resistance of the turf, and the uniformity of colour on the grass, are emphasized.

This presents a deeply technical job for both Pedro and the ground staff of LaLiga. But with a new application, the task has now become a lot easier.

By using the new Greenkeeper app, clubs in LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 1l2l3 will receive detailed reports on the condition of the pitch in their home stadiums, replacing a paper report that previously had to be completed.

Club ground staff can use the app to register all necessary details on the playing field, from the local weather forecast, the last time the surface was used, how hard the ground is and the irrigation programmes being used.

Prior to the introduction of the application, clubs would need to submit paper reports on these details for each fixture in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey. The new digital format not only makes the job faster but makes the data easier to share between club staff and LaLiga.

This will quickly lead to positive results, according to Fernandez-Bolaños who commented: “Aside from the convenience for users, the main feature of the app is the creation of data that can be analysed by the business intelligence and analytics department to discover trends and be alerted if there are any changes.”

With so much new information being generated, Pedro will be able to keep improving the quality of playing surfaces across Spain, supporting LaLiga’s work to deliver the best experience for players and viewers alike.

This article appears in LaLIga’s Global Fútbol newsletter. You can read more here.

 

WarnerMedia Taps MGM Exec To Head Bleacher Report Content

Sam Toles is the new chief content officer of Bleacher Report, WarnerMedia’s digital sports division.

Toles leaves MGM to join Bleacher Report under newly appointed CEO Howard Mittman, who is taking over from departing co-founder Dave Finocchio.

Based in B/R’s New York office, Toles will head content teams for all the brand’s platforms and programming, including the Bleacher Report website, app, and social channels including basketball-focused House of Highlights and animated NBA parody series Game of Zones.

Bleacher Report was founded in 2005 and acquired by Turner in 2012. Under a sweeping reorganisation of WarnerMedia announced by parent AT&T last week, Bleacher Report is now overseen by former CNN President Jeff Zucker, now chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports, a group comprising CNN, Turner Sports, Bleacher Report, and AT&T’s regional sports networks.

Variety reporter Todd Spangler provides more details as follows:

Toles, a 20-year veteran of the entertainment biz, joins Bleacher Report following Turner Sports’ announcement to develop sports-gambling content from a B/R-branded studio in the Caesars Palace Las Vegas sports book.

Bleacher Report, which targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, also recently expanded the B/R Football brand and its coverage of UEFA Champions League.

“Sam is going to help us amplify Bleacher Report’s voice and develop a disciplined system through which we can create new, compelling content and support our amazing talent pool of creators,” Mittman said in announcing Toles’ hire.

Toles commented, “There is no company positioned as well as Bleacher Report to capture and captivate young audiences hungering for a fresh perspective on the sports and culture they crave.”

Most recently, Toles served as MGM’s senior VP of digital and new platforms, leading the studio’s efforts around digital-native content development and distribution.

That included developing an original programming strategy for MGM’s direct-to-consumer platforms, including Stargate Command, as well as inking the first original programming slate for Walmart’s Vudu, which includes a digital series based on 1980s comedy Mr Men.

Prior to MGM, Toles was SVP and general manager of Vimeo’s Entertainment Group where he led programming for the video-sharing platform and launched its first slate of original programming including High Maintenance (subsequently picked up by HBO), the Emmy-nominated Garfunkel and Oats: Trying to be Special and Oscar-nominated animated short Pear Cider and Cigarettes.

Toles began his career in theatrical marketing at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., followed by home entertainment marketing roles at Paramount Pictures and Rhino. He then joined FremantleMedia as VP of business development overseeing media licensing and also served as VP of content strategy for Gaiam, where he led content strategy for the company’s subscription VOD service, Gaia.

 

Alonso Helps Boost Viewing Of Endurance Championship

Viewing figures for the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) show a cumulative audience of 255 million for the first five races of the 2018-19 season, up 115 million from last season.

Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain has been was a key driver of increased popularity during the first half of the 14-month season.

A new agreement with Spanish broadcaster DMAX ensured WEC could gain maximum exposure for Alonso’s involvement this year, with the cumulative audience in the country growing six-fold on the 2017-18 season to over 138 million.

The success of Alonso’s team, Toyota Gazoo Racing, also boosted coverage in Japan, with the cumulative audience increasing to 11.72 million. The popularity in Japan of another F1 world champion, Jenson Button, contributed to this trend.

In addition, all five races received more consistent coverage in the USA with Motor Trend (formerly Velocity) delivering over 60 hours of programming across the five races.

FIA WEC Chief Exec Gérard Neveu said: “The growth in viewing figures across traditional broadcast and digital platforms is extremely encouraging, particularly in an increasingly crowded and ever-changing motorsport market.”

“It is reassuring to see the engagement that fans around the world have with endurance racing, and the positive impact this has for our championship’s partners. Our work, of course, continues unceasingly and we face the remainder of the Super Season with huge optimism.”

In late 2018, Infront renewed its exclusive media rights partnership with WEC.

The 2018/19 WEC Super Season continues with the 1000 Miles of Sebring in the USA on 15 March 15.

Egyptian Bank Expands Liverpool Association With Salah Deal

Egyptian footballer Mo Salah of Liverpool FC, currently the number two goal-scorer in the Premier League this season, has become a brand ambassador of AlexBank (Bank of Alexandria), one of Egypt’s largest banks

A subsidiary of Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo, AlexBank, with 210 branches across Egypt, has been the official card partner of Liverpool FC in the country since 2017.

AlexBank CEO and Managing Dante Campioni said: “The partnership aims to help AlexBank’s customers engage with and become closer to their ever- popular champion Mohamed Salah.”