Renault Sport announces Le Coq Sportif as new F1 kit supplier

Formula One team Renault have announced a new partnership with Le Coq Sportif.

Le Coq Sportif will supply all the clothing worn by team members from next year, with the new agreement set to last for three years.

Cyril Abiteboul, Renault Sport Racing Managing Director, said: “I am very happy Le Coq Sportif is joining Formula 1 with Renault Sport Formula One Team.

“The arrival of a new team kit supplier not only demonstrates the interest created today by Renault in Formula 1, but also the appeal that this sport represents for a brand already partnered with prestigious athletes in football, cycling, tennis and rugby.

“The drivers and the members of Renault Sport Formula One Team will benefit from the technical clothing expertise of this historic and emblematic sports brand. We are already working on a complete merchandising range in the team colours and collaborative projects that will allow our programs to crossover.”

Marc-Henri Beausire, Le Coq Sportif CEO, added: “We are proud of this relationship with Renault Sport Formula One Team. We are joining a team and a high-performance project that we are certain will allow us to continue to grow.

“Our two brands are recognised for their expertise and the quality of their products. They have also distinguished themselves by their innovations and their commitment to both French and international sports.

“Our two brands unite around a common project. It is with great pride that we will accompany the team by providing our high-quality equipment. We wish Renault Sport Formula One Team great success and we will experience each race with passion and emotion.”

Eurosport launches new campaign for Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018

Offering a further hint at how Eurosport will redefine the Olympic Games viewing experience, the broadcaster today launched a new campaign, ‘Make It Yours’, for its coverage of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.

The new films, released today across Europe, showcase how Eurosport will make every minute available as part of the first fully digital Games for Europe, through live and on-demand coverage across all screens and devices.

The ‘Make It Yours’ campaign celebrates how fans across Europe will be able to personalise their Olympic Winter Games viewing experience, empowering them to take control and choose what they watch, when they watch and how they watch their favourite sports and local heroes.

The campaign also sees the debut of Eurosport’s anthem for its coverage of PyeongChang 2018, a modern remake of the classic Queen song, ‘I Want It All’.

Peter Hutton, CEO Eurosport, said: “We made a promise to redefine the fan viewing experience for PyeongChang 2018.

“Queen’s ‘I Want It All’ is a classic song from an iconic band, who have a history of writing songs that become synonymous with sporting success. The lyrics really speak to our ambition of delivering anytime, anywhere content for fans during the Olympic Winter Games.”

Antonio Ruiz, Vice President of Marketing Eurosport, added: “We wanted to develop a campaign that would underline to fans that when it comes to the Olympic Games on Eurosport, they can have it all: every minute, every sport and every athlete.

“It aligns perfectly with our ambition to deliver the first fully digital Games for Europe as part of our commitment to reach more people across more screens in Europe. Together with our new Eurosport anthem, working with some of the best names in the creative business, we’ve created a new, fresh Olympic Games identity for Eurosport.”

Sheikh Nahyan and Princess Rima win the top honours at ninth edition MBR Creative Sports Awards

His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan has been named the UAE Sports Personality of the Year at the 9th Edition 2017 of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, while Her Royal Highness Princess Rima bint Bandar Bin Sultan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has picked up the corresponding award for Arab Sports Personality.

The winners were announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon at the Palazzo Versace Hotel by His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award, which is one of the entities under the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.

Moaza Al Marri, Secretary General of the Award, Mustapha Larfaoui, Member of the Award’s Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Jury Committee, were also present on the occasion.

Sheikh Nahyan was bestowed the honour for his contributions as Chairman of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, while Princess Rima – Deputy President of the Sports Authority for Planning & Development and the first female to head a Saudi Sports Federation, has picked up the award for her contributions in founding and regulating women’s sport in Saudi Arabia by introducing sports among girls at public schools.

Omar Abdul Rahman, the UAE and Al Ain Football Superstar who was named AFC Player of the Year for 2016, has picked up the UAE Outstanding Athlete Award, while Egytian squash player Nour Atef El Sherbini, the Women’s World No1 who has won back-to-back World Open titles in 2015 and 2016, has been named the Arab Outstanding Athlete.

The 9th Edition of the Awards considered the sporting achievements of individuals, teams and organisations during the period September 20, 2016 to August 31, 2017 and all the winners will be honoured at a glittering Awarding Ceremony on January 10, 2018.

Speaking on the occasion, Al Tayer, who is also Vice Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, said: “On behalf of the Board of Trustees for Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award and the sports sector, I would like to thank His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai Government and Dubai Sports Council, and His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee and Chairman of the Award, for their guidance and unlimited support, which has strengthened the status of this prestigious award and put it at the forefront of international awards, honouring innovation and creativity in the world of sports.

“Thanks to the generous care and efforts of the Board of Trustees and employees of the award, and the efforts of local and Arab media organisations in supporting the work of the Award and the distribution of its message, the 9th Edition 2017 of the Award has grown significantly in terms of numbers and the quality of entries.

“Although the qualifying period for the 9th Edition 2017 of the Awards – which was from September 20, 2016 to August 31, 2017 – did not witness any Olympic Games and there were few major international events during this period, there was a significant increase in the number of entries – we received 297 entries for this edition, which is 99 more than what we received for the 8th Edition of the Awards (198), a jump of 50 per cent.

“We saw an increase in the number of entries for the Awards in the different UAE categories as well. Last time, we received 72 files; this time, that number has gone up to 87. The number of entries we received from International Sports Federations also went up from 15 to 26, an increase of about 73 per cent.”

Empowerment of Women, as decreed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, was one of the principal focus of the 9th Edition 2017 of the MBR Creative Sports Award and Al Tayer was pleased to see the presence of a number of women, like Princess Rima and El Sherbini, in the winners’ list.

“I am also very pleased to see a strong presence of women on the list of competitors for the 9th Edition of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Creative Sports Award,” Al Tayer said. “This year, Empowerment of Women was the criteria for judging the best local and international organisations, and that confirms the status of women’s sport in the awards and our positive interaction with them.”

THE AWARD WINNERS

UAE Sports Personality Award: HE Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (UAE)

Arab Sports Personality Award: HRH Princess Rima bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud (KSA)

UAE Outstanding Athlete Award: Omar Abdul Rahman Al AMoodi (Football)

UAE Referee Award: Ebrahim Yousef Al Mansoori (Beach Soccer)

UAE Coach Award: Saeed Bin Suroor Al Khaldi (Horse Racing)

UAE Organisation Award: UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation

Arab Outstanding Athlete Award: Nour Atef El Sherbini (Egypt – Squash)

Arab Administrator Award: Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Al Gannas (KSA)

Arab Referee Award: Tarek Bin Mohamed Souei (Tunisia)

Arab Coach Award: Faris Ibrahim Al Assaf (Jordan)

Arab Team Award: Iraqi Youth Football Team U16

International Organisation Award (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations): Union Cycliste International (UCI)

International Organisation Award (Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations): International Cricket Council (ICC)

UAE Emerging Athlete Award (Nominees – voting to continue until Dec 31)

  1. Hussain Yousuf Anwar (Football)
  2. Ammar Mohammed Al Sedrani (Chess)
  3. Maitha Abdulla Hasan   (Judo)
  4. Wadima Saeed Abdulla  (Jiu Jitsu)
  5. Omar Mohammed Alwan (Jiu Jitsu)
  6. Abdalla Guhloom Al Maazimi (Taekwondo)

Arab Emerging Athlete Award: Mohammed Mustafa Al Sowaiq (KSA – Taekwondo)

Distinguished Athletes Achievement Sports Award: Farida Hisham Osman (Egypt – Swimming)

Difficult Challenges Award (People of Determination Category)

  1. Abdellatif Baka (Algeria – Athletics)
  2. Fouad Baka (Algeria – Athletics)

Olympic Creative Sports Award

  1. Mohammed Gammoudi (Tunisia – Athletics)
  2. Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco – Athletics)

TV3 Ireland to broadcast every round of Formula E Season Four

TV3 Ireland has announced it will broadcast every round of the FIA Formula E Championship for Season Four.

The broadcaster will also be showing every episode of Formula E’s official magazine show Street Racers, which delves behind-the-scenes of the series to deliver the latest news and features against the backdrop of some of the world’s most iconic cities.

TV3’s Head of Sport Kieran Holden, said: “We are thrilled to continue to our partnership with Formula E to bring more live Electric Street Racing to audiences in Ireland, and we are looking forward to the new challenging circuits in iconic cities such as Rome, Paris and New York.

“But first up we’ll all have an early start on 3eHD in Ireland for live coverage of the opening rounds in Hong Kong on the first weekend in December.”

Ali Russell, Media & Business Development Director at Formula E, added: “It’s excellent news that TV3 is airing all the races of the upcoming season of Formula E.

“With the anticipation of the new season fast approaching and the first two rounds of the season taking place next week, fans across Ireland will have the best seat in the house to view the electric street racing series.”

Television and video content is everywhere, with multiple platforms and devices available at billions of fingertips around the globe – but staying ahead of the curve has never been more difficult.

Click here to register your interest in the 2018 Broadcast Masterclass.

World Rugby announces governance reform to accelerate global development of women’s rugby

World Rugby has underscored its commitment to furthering gender equality at all levels of the organisation by announcing sweeping reform of its Council with an ambition of at least one-third women’s representation from next year.

In an historic decision spearheaded by Chairman Bill Beaumont, World Rugby will increase the number of people who may sit on Council – its highest decision-making body – from 32 to 49, with the 17 new representatives to be women.

The ground-breaking reform will give the 11 unions and six regional associations, who currently have an additional vote but no additional representative, the right to send an additional representative to Council subject to that person being female. This will not result in any changes to the existing voting rights of unions or regional associations on Council.

Approval of the proposal by Council at its recent meeting in London is a first and very important step in World Rugby’s wider strategy to accelerate women in rugby on and off the field of play and bring gender-balance to the highest levels of its governance.

Beaumont said: “This is a major milestone in the progression and growth of World Rugby and the global game. The reform is historic, reflective of our ambitions and long overdue. If we are to promote and nurture the growth of women in rugby then change must be led from the top.

“I would like to thank my Council colleagues for their full commitment to this important reform and I look forward to welcoming their new representatives from rugby and beyond so that together we can work to further rugby worldwide. It is clearly a fantastic start and opens the door to even greater female representation in Council and across rugby in the future.”

Driven by a record-breaking Women’s Rugby World Cup, rugby’s highly successful inclusion in the Rio 2016 Olympic Programme and the thriving HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, women’s rugby is experiencing unprecedented growth with participation levels at an all-time high. Latest figures show more than 2.4 million women and girls are playing rugby at all levels, accounting for more than a quarter (26 per cent) of players globally, an increase in player numbers of 60 per cent since 2013.

In order to support that growth, promote greater parity at all levels across the sport and further strengthen and grow the game globally, the newly-approved strategic Women’s Plan has set out the following aims:

  • Drive inspirational leadership on and off the field
  • Grow sustainable participation
  • Build high performance through quality competition
  • Build an impactful profile, inspiring engagement
  • Grow strategic, sustainable investment partnerships

Kimoa becomes corporate partner of McLaren’s F1 team

Kimoa has today become a new corporate partner of McLaren’s Formula One (F1) team.

The multi-year partnership, which begins in January 2018, will see Kimoa become the team’s official surfwear partner.

The Spanish clothing brand, which is owned by driver Fernando Alonso, is sold via an e-store in more than 150 countries.

During the 2018 season Kimoa branding will feature on the team’s F1 car, driver overalls and helmet. It will also be displayed on Alonso’s team kit and driver cap.

Zak Brown, Executive Director, McLaren Technology Group, said: “As our new surfwear partner, Kimoa will easily sit alongside other clothing brands that we may look to introduce as we continue to grow our partner portfolio.

“Today’s announcement will place the brand squarely on the international stage and really help to amplify Kimoa’s global presence over the coming years.”

Alonso added: “As a double-world champion who has been racing in Formula 1 for 16 years, it can be tough to find new challenges in life. Founding Kimoa has given me that fresh start, and I’ve really enjoyed experiencing the adrenaline buzz and sensation of discovering something new for the very first time.

“I’m truly delighted about Kimoa’s new partnership with McLaren. Seeing the Kimoa logo on my F1 car, overalls, helmet and cap next year will make me and my co-founders feel extremely proud.”

EFL confirms plans to bring forward live streaming for EFL Trophy

The English Football League (EFL) has confirmed plans to introduce live streaming of its EFL Trophy competition early prior to rolling out similar coverage from the start of the 2019-20 season.

Matches taking place from Round Two of this season’s Checkatrade Trophy will be broadcast to fans in the UK and overseas via the EFL’s live streaming platform, iFollow.

This development has been made possible due to the organisation’s record broadcast agreement with Sky, whereby EFL clubs have been granted the rights to stream Checkatrade Trophy games to a domestic audience from the start of next season.

That opportunity has now been brought forward to take effect from this season’s competition and EFL Chief Executive, Shaun Harvey, is excited about its introduction

He said: “The ability to live stream EFL matches is an exciting new innovation that is already having a major impact for overseas fans of EFL clubs since we launched iFollow ahead of the 2017/18 season.

“This opportunity is being extended to UK-based fans from next season, as we develop plans to deliver live domestic streaming for any non-Saturday 3pm league and live TV games.

“It therefore presents supporters in the UK with a great opportunity to get a taster of the online match day experience and follow their team as the competition nears its conclusion at Wembley on Sunday 8th April.

“I am confident that this latest development will bring the competition to a new audience as interest and excitement grows throughout the knock-out stages.”

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Toyota becomes official partner of Paralympics Ireland

Toyota Ireland has announced a new partnership with Paralympics Ireland that will see the car brand become an official partner to Paralympics Ireland and to the 2020 and 2024 Irish Paralympic Teams.

The announcement builds on Toyota’s worldwide Olympic and Paralympic partnerships in the mobility category, with an ambition for the partnership to promote a more inclusive society, help break down barriers to mobility, boost the profile of Paralympics through the Start Your Impossible campaign, and ultimately create a lasting legacy for Paralympic sports in Ireland.

Toyota has also confirmed brand ambassador deals with leading Paralympic athletes; Jason Smyth, Patrick Monahan, Noelle Lenihan, Ellen Keane and Nicole Turner, who will play a central role in Toyota’s global Start Your Impossible campaign.

Commenting on the partnership, Steve Tormey, Chief Executive, Toyota Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to support Paralympics Ireland as they prepare to compete on the global stage in Japan in 2020 and Paris in 2024.

“There’s a natural fit between Paralympics Ireland and Toyota Ireland’s brand values of being relentless, inventive and considerate – three traits which closely parallel what Paralympics is all about.

“We believe we are uniquely positioned to support the organisation and its athletes over the next eight years. This is the start of an exciting journey for Toyota Ireland, our Start Your Impossible campaign will break new ground for the brand in Ireland and we want as many people to take that journey with us.”

Miriam Malone, CEO of Paralympics Ireland, added: “We are delighted to welcome Toyota Ireland as official partners to Paralympics Ireland.

“There are very exciting times ahead for our athletes and parasports in Ireland over the coming years. We have enjoyed great success at recent Paralympic Games and, with the support of Toyota, I am sure we will continue to deliver amazing memories and world class, medal winning, performances into the future.”

Beşiktaş becomes latest club to join Dugout platform

Turkish club Beşiktaş has today become the latest team to join digital football platform Dugout.

Besiktas joins at a time of significant expansion into the Turkish market, with Bursapor and Gençlerbirligi have also recently signed up to the platform.

Dugout launched in 2016 and now has partnerships with 67 clubs including European heavyweights Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

Dugout Executive Chairman, Elliot Richardson, said: “We’re really excited to welcome Besiktas to the Dugout platform. We have made significant steps over the past year, signing our first National Football Federation and League, and expansion into Turkey is another example of Dugout’s progress.

“The game today is truly global and fans don’t just want to watch matches in their own country – they want to follow their favourite clubs and players across the world.

“That’s what Dugout offers – unrivalled access for fans to see behind the scenes of the clubs and into the lives of the players. Thanks to Dugout, fans can now access the best content from Besiktas, both on and off the pitch, for the first time.”

Besiktas’ Chief Marketing Officer, Umut Kutlu, added: “As Turkey’s first sports club, we are so glad to join the Dugout platform.

“With our football team that has gained the respect of fans around the world, the breathtaking stadium and the spectacular atmosphere created by our fantastic fans; we are looking forward to widening our perspective through Dugout.”

Engage Sports Media rebrands: The new age content company is now ‘Engage Digital Partners’

Engage Sports Media have redefined their identity and will now be called Engage Digital Partners.

This comes with a fresh new look that reflects the brand’s positioning and culture. A vibrant group of experienced professionals from all walks of the content business make them a dynamic and diverse team with aspirations of consistently moving the industry forward.

Their current services include:

Content Studios, Distribution and Publication, Insights, Influencer Marketing, Brand Strategy, Commercial Strategy, Technology and Innovation, Consulting.

Gregg Oldfield, Chief Executive Officer, Engage Digital Partners said: “It has been over 5 years since we started the business as Engage Sports Media and we see this as an ideal milestone to effectively position ourselves for the years ahead.”

The brand refresh comes at an exciting period of Engage’s growth in the sports and entertainment industry and allows the new age content company to reaffirm their offering as high-level strategic partners, along with the dynamic content expertise and services they provide.

As an organisation, Engage continually strives to be a trusted content partner with rights owners, leagues, clubs, broadcasters and brands. The company hopes to add many more clients over the years to come.

With Podium, a new data-led service, Engage can make clients better equipped to innovate and provide content and commercial solutions that address the shifting media consumption habits and technology advances. Engage believes their product will move industry benchmarks on how they plan to make content.

It has been an impressive year for Engage, retaining the World Rugby account until 2020 and on-boarding several new partners including Major League Baseball, Arsenal FC, Godolphin and Mountain Dew.

Last week they celebrated winning the Digital & Social Media Excellence Award as part of the Goodwood Racecourse team at the RCA Showcase 2017.