Kaepernick Makes Silent Peace With NFL – And Wants To Play

Controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his former teammate Eric Reid have reached a legal settlement with the NFL, which they had accused of colluding to keep them out of the league.

Kaepernick, 31, who played for the San Francisco 49ers and took them to the Super Bowl after the 2012 season, has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season, when he began kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner” to protest police shootings of black men.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, the NFL and the players’ lawyers said that “the parties have decided to resolve the pending grievances” and that “there will be no further comment.”

Kaepernick filed a grievance under the league’s collective bargaining agreement in October 2017, months after failing to find a job, and his lawyers have been gathering evidence and testimony from owners and league executives to take to arbitration.

The new deal cuts off that process and the confidentiality agreement means that it will not be known whether the league admitted if there was any collusion.

After protesting while playing for the 49ers, Reid, 27, also went unsigned for a period before playing most of last season for the Carolina Panthers and he has now signed a new three-year deal with the team.

Kaepernick’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, said the quarterback “absolutely wants to play” and that he continues to stay in shape and is game fit.

South American World Cup Bid Reinforces Multi-Country Trend

Twenty years ago, having two countries hosting the FIFA World Cup was a ground-breaking development. Now, four South American countries are chasing the 2030 event, in competition with other possible multi-country combinations.

At the end of last week, Chile threw its participation into the South American bidding effort by Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Morocco has indicated that it plans to bid for the event again. That could happen together with Spain and Portugal (which would make 2030 the first tournament on two continents), or perhaps it will be with Algeria and Tunisia, and Egypt has made noises too.

Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia are considering a joint European bid, while UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has indicated that he prefers a single country bid.

England could step up in the direction, alone or with the other home nations. Discussions have taken place about sharing with the Republic of Ireland too, although Brexit talks might have soured some on that idea.

The trend for multi-country hosting of – or at least bidding for – major events is inevitably here to stay, according to veteran sports marketing advisor Tim Crow said.

The World Cup had joint hosts for the first time in 2002, taking place in Japan and South Korea. The 2026 edition will take place in Canada, Mexico and the USA.

“The reality is that many countries cannot afford to host the mega-events or handle them logistically on their own,” he told iSportconnect today. “With the World Cup continuing to expand, it’s a very, very big ask for one country to take on the hosting role by themselves.”

“That said, there are countries that go it alone. And that sets up a really interesting dynamic between very different models with very different narratives.”

In Crow’s view, one of the things to take away from what’s happening with the World Cup bidding is the message that it sends to the IOC.

“The fact is that FIFA and the IOC are very much in competition, for broadcasting rights, for sponsorship and so on,” he said.

The IOC has been struggling to find host cities, for the Winter Olympics especially. The joint bidding model might well be one that works for football, but not the Olympics.

In fact, the Games have never been hosted by more than one country. However, during the 1956 Summer Games in Melbourne, the equestrian events were held in Stockholm because of strict Australian quarantine laws.

Crow said that if the challenge for the Olympics is that the event is too big to afford for any single host, “maybe the answer is to think about getting smaller so that more countries and cities are able to host the Games.”

Formula 1 Shows Fastest Growth In Social Media

The Formula 1 pre-season gets underway today as the teams start tuning up for the opening race March 17 in Melbourne, and the sport seeks to keep strong momentum going, especially in the digital market.

F1 was the fastest growing major sport on social media with followers up 54% to 18.5 million during the last campaign. Video views soared 106% to 463 million over the season.

With television coverage reaching nearly 200 territories worldwide, the cumulative audience reached 1.76 billion viewers.

Each car on the track is mini production hub nowadays, generating 70 gigabytes of broadcast content per race weekend.

Attendance at the events also grew, rising by 8% to an average of 195,000 per race.

Also In The News…

Manchester United today announced a multi-year partnership with Hawaii-based sunglasses and eyewear brand Maui Jim. The company will supply the United first team, academy and women’s teams with glasses from their sun and optical ranges. Maui Jim eyewear will be available to fans in the Old Trafford Megastore from 26th February. They will also celebrate the partnership by launching a co-branded eyewear collection designed with fans in mind later this year.

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has urged UEFA to put the Champions League back on free TV, citing an 84% decline in audience with matches just available on Sky Deutschland and DAZN after ZDF failed to get a free-to-air window for some matches.

Former Wales international footballer Rhys Weston has joined the commercial team of the Sports Technology Awards Group. Gaming solutions developer BetConstruct has been added as the newest member of the group’s Global Partner network. The 2019 Yahoo Sports Technology Awards Ceremony will be held at the Roundhouse in London, on May 2. For more information click here.

Also In The News…

Manchester United today announced a multi-year partnership with Hawaii-based sunglasses and eyewear brand Maui Jim. The company will supply the United first team, academy and women’s teams with glasses from their sun and optical ranges. Maui Jim eyewear will be available to fans in the Old Trafford Megastore from 26th February. They will also celebrate the partnership by launching a co-branded eyewear collection designed with fans in mind later this year.

Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has urged UEFA to put the Champions League back on free TV, citing an 84% decline in audience with matches just available on Sky Deutschland and DAZN after ZDF failed to get a free-to-air window for some matches.

Former Wales international footballer Rhys Weston has joined the commercial team of the Sports Technology Awards Group. Gaming solutions developer BetConstruct has been added as the newest member of the group’s Global Partner network. The 2019 Yahoo Sports Technology Awards Ceremony will be held at the Roundhouse in London, on May 2. For more information click here.

SportPesa Becomes First Betting Brand As F1 Team Lead Sponsor

Kenyan bookmaker SportPesa has become the lead sponsor of the Racing Point in Formula 1 team.

The deal makes SportPesa the first title sponsor of an F1 team from the betting category, following the lifting restrictions on betting sponsorships and data rights beginning in the 2019 season.

SportPesa Director Adam Beighton said: “We are absolutely delighted to become part of the extended Formula One family. This partnership is very important to us because it diversifies us into new territories and allows us to reach new audiences across the globe.”

“Equally important is the platform it provides us which enables us to stay true to our mission; to build and develop grassroots and professional sport in the countries where we operate by bringing new opportunities to local communities.”

Racing Point Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer said: “SportPesa is a young, dynamic, growing company whose values align with our own vision to become a team capable of competing at the very front of the grid.”

“We are excited to have such an ambitious partner on board to help us deliver our team mission and look forward to working with them to bring the sport of Formula One closer to fans around the world. The car looks stunning with the addition of blue to the already iconic pink livery, which gives us a strong identity as we begin this exciting new era.”

PUMA Partnership With NBA Seals Return To Basketball

PUMA has become an official marketing partner of the National Basketball Association as the sportswear brand steps up its re-entry into the sport of basketball begun last year after an absence of two decades.

The German manufacturer will now be able to feature athletes in their respective NBA uniforms and team logos.  Additionally, the brand will be able to curate authentic and original content that will allow better story telling of the company and their athletes.

Adam Petrick, Global Director of Brand and Marketing at PUMA, said: “We are thrilled to partner with the NBA to bring PUMA to the next level in our re-entry to the basketball market. This partnership is a testament to the continued resurgence of PUMA within the basketball industry.”

Dan Rossomondo, NBA Senior VP, Media and Business Development, said:  “PUMA played an important part in the early footwear culture of the NBA. As PUMA expands its presence in the basketball market with new player relationships and a new line of basketball sneakers, becoming an official footwear partner of the league was a natural next step to help amplify the brand’s return to the category.”

PUMA re-entered the basketball market in 2018 with the launch of its first signature shoe – the Clyde Court Disrupt and recently unveiled its second basketball shoe, the Uproar Charlotte, ahead of NBA All-Star 2019.

PUMA’s worldwide sales were up by 17.6% to €4.648 billion

The priority of strengthening the North American market focused on re-entry into basketball with PUMA Basketball Creative Director Jay-Z

New signings last year included WNBA star Skylar Diggins-Smith, plus NBA players Terry Rozier (Boston), Rudy Gay (San Antonio), Danny Green (Toronto) and DeMarcus Cousins (Golden State), as well as NBA Draft picks Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Kevin Knox, Michael Porter Jr and Zhaire Smith.

Sales in the Americas were up by 16.9% to € 1.613 billion with double-digit growth in both North and Latin America.

It was good year for football too. Four of PUMA’s partnered national teams took part in the FIFA World Cup: Uruguay, Switzerland, Serbia and Senegal .

PUMA player Antoine Griezmann of France was FIFA Man of the Match in the final and Romelu Lukaku of Belgium was also among the leading scorers.

And PUMA-sponsored team Denmark won the Handball World Cup.

Sales in Asia/Pacific were up 28.8% to €1.235 billion, mainly driven by high growth in China and Korea.

London-Listed Group Sells Serie B Palermo

London-based Sport Capital Group (listed on NEX Exchange) has sold Palermo’s Serie B club to local ownership in Sicily.

The club issued a statement February 14 as follows:

“Daniela De Angeli and Rino Foschi announce that, last night and today, an agreement was reached for the change of ownership of Palermo Football Club SpA, which holds the shares of Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo.”

“The operation was deemed necessary following the well-known difficulties encountered by Sport Capital Group in their plans to relaunch US Città di Palermo and represents a preparatory step ahead of the arrival of a new major investor who is drawing up their industrial plan for the club.”

“In the meantime, two trusted individuals (Administrative Director Daniela De Angeli and Technical Director Rino Foschi) have been tasked with running the club, in a transparent and independent manner, while the transfer of ownership to the new investor takes place.”

“Rino Foschi, who will take the role of President of US Città di Palermo, is pleased to conclude the operation, which will provide the team with a welcome boost as it looks to meet its main objectives.”

De Angeli has held a senior role with the club since 2002, working closely with former club owner Maurizio Zamparini, who remains a board member.

Tennis And Football Dominate Suspicious Betting Activity

There were 267 cases of suspicious betting reported to the relevant authorities in 2018, according to international betting integrity body ESSA (Sports Betting Integrity) with 83 cases in the fourth quarter of the year.

Tennis (178) and football (52) constituted 86% of all alerts during the year. Geographically, Europe maintained its position as the primary location of sporting events on which alerts have been generated, totalling 148 (55%) in 2018, with Asia continuing to fill second spot with 48 alerts (18%).

The number of different sports on which alerts were report by ESSA increased from 11 in 2017 to 13 in 2018. The four-year period 2015-18 has now seen the association report 763 alerts across 15 different sports.

Khalid Ali, ESSA Secretary General, stated in the introduction to the report: “Tennis has been under the spotlight for a number of years now and there is no getting away from the fact that on average more than 65% of ESSA’s alerts have been on that sport.”

He said: “ESSA’s alerts remain an important barometer for gauging betting related corruption globally. Outside of tennis and football, we are beginning to see new threats emerging such as the increased number of alerts on eSports.”

He added: “Given the multi-jurisdictional nature of match-fixing, regulators around the world are now beginning to make it a requirement for operators to be part of an international monitoring system, which we fully support.”

Jon Russell, Global Head of Trading at Betway, is taking over as ESSA’s new Chair.

TV Growth: Half Of All Subs Will Be In China And India

The future of the video market is continuing to shift eastward. By 2023, China and India alone are expected to account for 50% of a total of over 1.2 billion global subscribers for multi-channel services, according to new forecasts.

The global multi-channel market generated $230.1 billion in video revenues in 2018, according to research group Kagan, and that is seen growing to $245.4 billion in 2023.

The global multi-channel market grew by 3.1% in 2018 with the growth rate expected to slow in the next five years as the number hits 1.21 billion in 2023.

China, India and the U.S. are currently the largest multi-channel markets, with a 57% share of the total.

Cable remains the dominant model. Internet-delivered television has knocked DTH satellite out of second place in 2018, accounting for 23.4% of the total market of 1.07 billion households.

Cord-cutting is most prevalent in North America as well as in oversaturated markets like Singapore and Hong Kong.