LaLiga Shuts Down Brazilian Pirates

LaLiga has closed down three IPTV platforms showing pirated content in Brazil, another big success in the Spanish league’s global battle against audiovisual piracy.

The trio of websites that commercialised these illegal services attracted over 1.5 million visits a month and had over 8,000 illegal subscribers.

As a result of the collaboration with LtaHub, LaLiga’s partner legal office in Brazil, the offenders were contacted and ordered to permanently remove the LaLiga-owned audiovisual content, cease all illegal activity, hand over all devices involved in their operations and transfer the domain names.

The offenders also made a commitment not to carry out any further infringements and collaborate in efforts to identity related illegal platforms.

LtaHub CEO Ygor Valerio said: “Digital content piracy represents the most harmful form of unfair competition, claiming the fruits of the hard work put in by the millions who work in the football industry throughout the world. The closure of these three platforms, which had a significant following and massive potential to do damage, proves not only how important the fight against piracy is for LaLiga, but the fact that this crime has no place in Latin America.”

The latest LaLiga-led case takes its place alongside other recent operations carried out in Brazil, which saw four other highly popular streaming websites dismantled and permanently closed. These platforms registered over 43 million visits each month and nearly 14 unique users per month.

“As a part of the entertainment industry, LaLiga is doing its bit to put a stop to this scourge, which not only affects football, but thousands of people who work in the industry,” said Melcior Soler, the Director of LaLiga’s Audiovisual Department.

“Audiovisual piracy is a crime, it endangers the future of the game, the league and the sport as a whole. What’s more, many people are directly or indirectly dependent on the industry. That’s why we’re firmly committed to continuing to lead the battle against piracy.”

LaLiga has made significant investments, both in terms of human and technical resources, to deal with the issue of audiovisual piracy. In Spain alone, requests have been made to close 31 pirate websites, with the closure of 17 of these platforms successfully carried out.

AEG-SMG Merger Creates Global Facilities Giant

The merger of Anschutz Entertainment’s AEG Facilities division with SMG will produce a new behemoth managing an estimated an estimated 310 venues around the world, including The O2 in London and Soldier’s Field in Chicago.

AEG Facilities and Canadian private equity firm Onex, which is SMG’s parent company, will each own 50% of new company ASM Global upon completion of the merger. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Bob Newman, President of AEG Facilities president, will be the first CEO of ASM Global, based in Los Angeles (home of AEG).

Most the new company’s venues will come from SMG’s portfolio of over 240 buildings, including Soldier Field, the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The company also manages the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the Colorado Convention Center in Denver and the the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center in California.

Major sports venues managed by AEG Facilities include the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Target Center in Minneapolis and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

AEG-managed convention venues include the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, the Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan and the Los Angeles Convention Center.

FIFA Gaming: “Virtual Sport Is Just Beginning”

For the first time, the FIFA eClub World Cup, the biggest team competition for players of the super-popular FIFA video game (released annually by EA Sports) was won by an endemic e-sports team rather than the e-gaming offshoot of a football club.

In the final yesterday at Sky Studios in London, KING eSports, managed by Düsseldorf-based ESB Marketing Netzwerk, defeated the duo from Dijon Football Côte-d’Or to take the $40,000 first prize

A new wrinkle in this year’s event was that it featured a 2-versus-2 format as well as the usual 1-versus-1, taking this sort of console gaming a little step closer to the non-sports esports sector, which has larger teams competing in real time.

To the untrained eye, the action of the FIFA e-game, as seen on a big screen, when it’s being played by top players like these, already looks a like a “real” football game.

But it’s early days yet, according to Christian Volk, FIFA Head of Digital Marketing (eSports, Fan Engagement & Digital Marketing Services). FIFA actually views competitions like this as a virtual extension of real football (he likes the term “V-sports”).

He said that within a few years the virtual game will be indistinguishable from the real thing. “That’s when things will start to get really interesting,” he said.

For FIFA, the potential of esports is massive thanks to a massive natural audience that already understands the product, he said.

If you don’t already know the League of Legends or Counterstrike games, you might not understand what’s going on when you see the esports based on those games. In contrast, everybody understands football (“that can mean a much, much larger audience”).

iSportconnect caught up with Christian at the FIFA eClub World Cup event yesterday. Check out what he had to say in this exclusive interview.

Take note that we will be holding an iSportconnect esports Masterclass during the summer.

Overwatch League Kicks Off Season With Coke

The esports Overwatch League (OWL), which kicks off the new season on February 14, has added Coca-Cola as a multi-year sponsor, joining other top brands including Toyota, T-Mobile, HP, and Intel.

In addition, Blizzard Entertainment has named Coca-Cola the official global beverage sponsor for the broader Overwatch esports ecosystem, including Overwatch Contenders, Open Division, Tespa (in North America), the Overwatch World Cup, and BlizzCon.

Coca-Cola will get exclusivity with the 20 OWL teams and will have pouring rights at league games and the Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles.

The Overwatch League is the first major global professional esports league with city-based teams across Asia, Europe, and North America.

Team owners include several investors from traditional pro sports. The Kraft Group, owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, brought the first OWL franchise

The regular season starting this week is scheduled to run through August 2019. Each team will play a total of 28 games during the regular season. The total prize pool for the season is $5 million (up from $3.5 million in season one).

Activision Blizzard Esports Leagues is responsible for the development and operation of the group’s professional gaming properties including the OWL and the Call of Duty World League, and the commercialization of the entire Blizzard esports portfolio.

Launch Of New American Football League Cracks Ratings

The first game of the new Alliance of American Football on CBS pulled 2.91 million viewers on Saturday (9 pm-11 pm), following 3.18 million for the pre-game show.

The action from two primetime games (Orlando Apollos vs. Atlanta Legends, and San Antonio Commanders vs. San Diego Fleet) averaged a 0.9 rating and 4% share in the 18-49 demographic.

The audience was a bit bigger than ABC got for the NBA game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets with a 0.7 rating / 3% share and 2.38 million from 8:30 pm – 11 pm. The NBA pre-game show attracted 2.03 million.

A re-run of America’s Got Talent on NBC lead primetime viewing with 3.56 million viewers from 8 pm -10 pm.

WWE Network Shows Subscription Jump

World Wrestling Entertainment’s SVOD network has topped 1.5 million paying subscribers, according to the groups’ latest report showing full-year revenues up by 16% to $930.2 million, the highest in WWE history.

The WWE Network saw average paid subscribers increase by 7% in the 4th quarter to about 1.59 million and group revenues were up 29% over the same period last year to $272.5 million.

Digital engagement continued to grow in 2018 with video views up 57% cent 31.4 billion and hours consumed up 77% to 1.2 billion across digital and social media platforms.

“In 2018, WWE generated the highest level of revenue and earnings in the company’s history by leveraging our brand strength to increase the monetisation of our content worldwide,” said Vince McMahon (pictured), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our long-term growth strategy will continue to focus on content creation, digitisation and international development.”

Serie A President: “We Need To Improve”

The President of Italy’s Serie A said the only way for the league to grow revenues is via the international market, but internal improvements are needed in order to make it happen.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Gaetano Miccichè, who became Serie A President in March 2018, said: “We don’t lack investors and customers, but the quality needs to improve. We need to improve the infrastructure and get the players up to a high level. If we succeed in developing the overall quality, we will also be able to attract investors and sponsors from overseas.”

He indicated that he sees Serie A’s main competitors as being the Spanish and German leagues, while the English Premier League has pulled ahead. “With LaLiga and the Bundesliga we can play. The Premier League has better stadiums, international investors and generally has achieved a level of corporate peace.”

Miccichè, who is also President of Banca IMI (part of Gruppo Intesa Sanpaolo), said he views football in a much broader economic context. “Football is a catalyst for the success of Made in Italy and for our economy. And as social influence it’s an inexhaustible resource.”

He said Serie A continues to explore having its own TV channel and is focused on making sure whatever it does delivers quality and financial benefit.

He added that reducing Serie A to 18 teams remains a possibility, but that he thinks 20 is the right number. It will be up to the league assembly to decide.

Liverpool Reports Soaring Profits

Liverpool FC reported £125 million pre-tax profit for the year to May 2018, more than three times higher than in the previous year. The profit after tax was £106 million.

The Premier League club’s revenue increased by £90 million to £455 million, as media, commercial and match-day revenues all rose sharply, thanks largely to a big Champions League campaign that led all the way to last year’s final.

Media revenue increased by £66 million to £220 million, commercial revenue was up £17 million to £154 million and match revenue grew by £7 million to £81 million.

The report shows that £137 million came into the club from player transfers. “All of that, plus further investment, has been reinvested back into the squad taking the total outgoings on new players in excess of £190 million,” the club stated.

During the reporting period, the club signed eight new partnerships, including the new shirt sleeve sponsor with Western Union and global partnerships with Falken Tyres and Joie.

The club also renewed with four partners which further demonstrates the strength of those relationships, consistency of delivering value to partners and the global appeal of the football club.

LFC also had significant digital growth and became one of the fastest-growing football clubs on social media, including the Instagram platform gaining three million followers at a 71% annual growth rate.

Facebook and Twitter continued to grow and saw 27 million fan interactions on Twitter during the reporting period. Overall, the club’s social media platforms had a 14% growth rate taking the total to more than 60million followers across digital channels.

In May 2018, LFC had the highest viewing figures on YouTube ever for a Premier League club and third of any sports club globally.

Liverpool FC COO Andy Hughes said: “What we have seen is a stable and sustained improvement in the club’s financial position over recent years. This growth and increase in revenue have enabled us to significantly reinvest both in the playing squad and the football operational infrastructure.

“Financial results do fluctuate depending on player trading costs and timing of payments but what’s clear in these latest results is the further strengthening of our underlying financial footing and profits being reinvested in the squad and infrastructure.

“Since the reporting period, which is now nearly 12 months old, we have continued reinvesting in the playing squad from those areas of growth. In addition, the capital investment in our new training complex in Kirkby is well under way which will provide first-class amenities for our players and staff and will vastly improve sports facilities for the community of Kirkby.”

Google Cloud Partners With NBA Warriors

Google Cloud has formed a partnership with the Golden State Warriors, winners of back-to-back NBA championships, and their new arena currently under construction  in San Francisco.

Google Cloud will be the Official Public Cloud Provider of the Warriors and a Founding Partner of Chase Center, the team’s 18,064-seat privately financed sports and entertainment arena in the Mission Bay area, slated to open in time for the start of the 2019-20 season.

“Google is one of the most innovative and iconic brands in the world,” said Warriors Owner and CEO Joe Lacob. “As the first professional sports team to partner with Google Cloud, we’re looking forward to combining our individual expertise into an overall unique and exciting fan experience for everyone attending events at Chase Center.”

The Warriors and Chase Center will collaborate with the Google Cloud team on a phased approach to create a seamless technology integration as well as ongoing exploration of opportunities to leverage technology for the team and Chase Center events and programming (the aim is to host almost 200 events per year).

The partnership will also focus on ways to use Google Cloud analytics and machine learning capabilities to enhance decision-making and provide coaches, staff and players with more data-driven touch points than ever before and provide faster analysis of high volumes of data for coaching staff and front office.

Google Cloud will also host the Warriors and Chase Center mobile applications, along with hosting all data warehouses for them.

“We’re excited to team up with the Warriors and help them leverage the power of cloud technology to take their player and fan experiences to the next level,” said Alison Wagonfeld, CMO, Google Cloud. “Our collaboration will allow them to use data analytics to enhance team and player performance, create more engaging fan experiences and deliver world-class media and entertainment.”

Google Cloud joins current Chase Center Founding Partners Accenture, HPE, Pepsi, RingCentral, United Airlines and naming rights partner Chase.

The partnership covers additional sales and marketing elements related to the Warriors including radio, social media, online and in-arena.

Get Ready For iSportconnect’s 2019 Broadcast Masterclass

iSportconnect is pleased to announce that the 2019 Broadcast Masterclass will be held on Thursday 4th April at Fieldfisher in the City of London. This event will bring together senior level executives in the industry to focus on new ways for media companies, rights owners and technology partners to prosper, thrive and grow as the digital revolution continues to disrupt the sports broadcasting market.

The speaker lineup will feature:

  • Stephen Nuttall, Managing Director for Production & Media Rights, America’s Cup
  • James Gambrell, CEO, Supponor
  • Jan Olsson, Head of Sports Rights, SVT Sweden
  • Barry Flanigan, Chief Product Officer, COPA90

Stephen has over 30 years of experience working as a senior executive and as a consultant in the sports, media and digital industries. His current role at the 36th America’s Cup is his most notable amongst other roles, including being a Member of Ofcom’s Content Board.

Stephen was the Senior Director for YouTube EMEA for 5 years, after a 10-year-run at Sky, where he held a variety of positions rising to be Group Commercial Director as well as a board member of Team Sky (Sky’s cycling team), Freeview, the National Geographic Channel and A&E (UK).  Before Sky, Stephen was one of four founders of Sportal.com which raised over £125 million in finance and was recognised by The Sunday Times as the best digital business in Europe in summer 2000.

Jay (James) has over 25 years’ experience in operations, finance, technology, strategy development, implementation, turnaround and re-positioning. He works with innovative technology companies and start-ups in the software, technology, new media and telecom sectors to successfully scale businesses on a global basis.

Before joining Supponor, Jay was the CEO of Fits.me, a company he successfully exited after leading an MBO. Prior to this, he was Executive Chairman of Atego, which he founded after leading an MBO of Artisan Software Tools where he was CEO. Jay has previously also spent time as CEO of Adaptive, an enterprise software company providing the leading repository technology for metadata management, enterprise architecture and business process management solutions for Global 100 financial services companies and governments.

Jay is a Chartered Director with both the UK’s Institute of Directors and the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors. He also has a Doctorate in Business Administration from the International School of Management (Paris, France); an MBA from Baylor University (Texas, USA); and a BSc in Business Administration from the State University of New York.

Jan has been responsible for sports rights at SVT, the Swedish public service broadcaster, for over eight years and is also currently the Vice Chairman of the EBU Sports Committee. Prior to his role at the biggest broadcaster in Sweden, Jan was the General Secretary at the Swedish Swimming Federation.

Barry has more than 20 years of experience building high-growth businesses across media, telecoms & technology sectors, with a particular focus on digital audience strategy and product development. He has worked for and with many leading brands worldwide including News Corp, AOL, Telegraph Media Group, Adidas, Condé Nast and the Guardian – helping them to grow and monetise fan communities built around digital content – before beginning his role at COPA90, one of the world’s most influential football media businesses reaching millions of fans worldwide.

With 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 Broadcast Masterclass, please contact Chloe McCombie at info@isportconnect.com

Invitation Policy: The Broadcast 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