The BBC and ATP have today announced an extension to their broadcast deal for the Nitto ATP Finals which will see the tournament broadcast live in 2019 and 2020.
The new agreement is for exclusive free-to-air TV rights for eight singles matches, including a semi-final and the final, and includes the right to stream these matches across the BBC’s online platforms, plus non-exclusive radio rights for the whole tournament.
The deal also includes non-exclusive radio rights to all ATP World Tour Masters 1000 matches.
BBC Director of Sport, Barbara Slater, said: “We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with ATP ensuring top class tennis continues to reach the widest possible audience on free to air TV, radio and our live streaming service.”
Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, added: “The BBC has provided a terrific platform for our season finale since we moved the tournament to London in 2009, giving millions of fans in the UK the opportunity to watch the very best in men’s professional tennis.
“We’re delighted to extend our partnership a further two years through to 2020.”
The Ladies European Tour is seeking proposals for the provision of world feed television production services for The 2019 Solheim Cup, which shall be held on the PGA Centenary Course at The Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, on 9-15 September 2019.
Suitably qualified vendors are invited to apply by 13 December 2017, 12:00 GMT, via the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website: po.st/P2yQPg
The Solheim Cup is a major international event, the biggest and most prestigious in women’s golf. It follows the same format as the men’s Ryder Cup and was first contested in 1990 at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Florida.
Since then this match play tournament has been held biennially alternating between venues in the United States and Europe. The Ladies European Tour (LET) is the governing body of tournament playing female golf professionals in Europe and will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2018.
The LET owns the European and International rights to The Solheim Cup when the biennial, trans-Atlantic team match-play competition is played at home in Europe against the United States of America and has appointed Scotland as the host for The 2019 Solheim Cup.
Scotland is widely recognised as the Home of Golf and with each event VisitScotland prides itself on delivering something special and unique. At the core of their bid to bring The 2019 Solheim Cup to Scotland are the themes of equality, experience and innovation.
The LET welcomes bids which will highlight the uniqueness of the world’s most prestigious international women’s professional golf team event compared with other women’s and men’s golf tournaments, including The Ryder Cup.
A successful bid will demonstrate how to raise the profile of The 2019 Solheim Cup while also helping to inspire the next generation of female golfers, which in turn will increase participation levels of the sport.
Mouthguard manufacturer OPRO has today announced the renewal of its official licencing agreement with England Rugby.
As part of the new agreement, OPRO has been granted the rights for a further four years – incorporating the 2019 Rugby World Cup – to produce special England Rugby branded mouthguards, as well as being the official mouthguard of England Rugby and the official supplier to the CBRE All Schools programme.
OPRO, who has been in partnership with England Rugby since 2012, will provide mouthguards to the England senior men’s and women’s teams, England senior men’s and women’s 7s teams, England Saxons team, England Under-20s, Under-18s and Under-16s teams.
OPRO chairman and founder, Dr Anthony Lovat BDS, said: “We are proud and honoured to be partnered with one of the best sporting organisations out there. At OPRO, providing the most comfortable, best fitting and reliable mouthguards is our passion.
“We are also delighted to be able to show support for the CBRE All Schools programme and to be part of a project that enables more young people to take up rugby.”
The London Football Association (LFA), the largest of the County Football Associations, is leading the way in corporate governance by stepping up to the challenge of making the sport more inclusive and representative of Londoners.
A third of its newly appointed board members are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds while nearly half are female.
Following a significant overhaul of its Board, London’s governing body of the game has announced the latest appointments of 10 new Non-Executive Board members who will have a greater say in shaping a more diverse and sustainable future for football in the Capital.
The new board members, which include Kirstin Furber of BBC Worldwide, Gabby Shirley of the Youth Sport Trust and Paul Mortimer of Kick It Out, will play an integral part in the future success of the LFA as it becomes a more diverse body with greater representation of the communities it serves.
Lisa Pearce, CEO of LFA and the first female to hold this position, explains: “Our governance initiative attracted overwhelming support from the sporting and business communities and as a result, we received over 65 applications for the Non-Executive Board roles.
“I was extremely impressed by the calibre of applicants and we have strengthened our board with a group of talented and highly qualified individuals.
“Our new board members’ wealth of diverse management skills, experience and backgrounds puts us in a very strong position and we’re looking forward to entering an exciting and progressive era for the LFA.”
The reform in the LFA’s governance adheres to Sport England and UK Sport’s Code for Sports Governance which came into effect from April 2017. The LFA board comprises 11 members, with the Chair’s position extended for a further 12 months.
This is in line with the Tier 3 requirement of the Code which applies to organisations receiving more than £1m of public funding.
Ruth Holdaway, CEO of Women in Sport said: “I’m delighted to have been appointed to the Board of the LFA and excited about the opportunity to build on the great work that has already been done to engage more women and girls in the game.
“As a new Board, we are committed to good governance and to ensuring we are making football inclusive for all Londoners. We’re dedicated to delivering great experiences across the capital to attract more people and keep them playing football. I can’t wait to get started.”
The new LFA positions include three independent Non-Executive Directors, six Non-Executive Football Directors and one Non-Executive Finance & Risk Director.
Independent Non-Executive Directors
Ruth Holdaway, Chief Executive, Women in Sport
Kirstin Furber, People Director, BBC Worldwide
Simon Hughes, previous LFA board member and former MP for Bermondsey
Non-Executive Football Directors
Vivienne Aiyela, Chair of the Anti-Discrimination Disciplinary Panel for the FA
Gabby Shirley, Development Manager, Youth Sport Trust
Paul Mortimer, Professional Players Engagement Manager, Kick It Out
Louise Dorling, retired academic and London FA Council Member
Ian Wallis, previous LFA board member, Chair of the Cup Competitions Committee and South East Division
Derek Harris, previous LFA board member, Vice Chair of the London Youth Division, Chair of the London Youth Representative team, Director of Development Committee
Non-Executive Finance & Risk Director
Alistair Morgan, Engagement Director at the National Audit Office
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, the biggest and toughest ocean endurance challenge to circle the planet, has today invited expressions of interest from Host Ports in the next two editions of this unique biennial event through to 2022.
The announcement coincided with the release of very positive economic impact figures for Liverpool, UK, the host of the start of this year’s global race in August 2017, of £7.5 million GBP, which reinforces the power of the Clipper Race as an impactful and highly inspirational global mass participation sports event for everyday people from all walks of life.
Returning to the city bigger and better than ever for the first time in a decade, after hosting by other UK cities including London and Southampton, the Clipper Race drew some 220,000 visitors to Liverpool during the week-long schedule of festivities at Albert Dock.
Early research commissioned by Culture Liverpool, and conducted by North West Research and Strategy, suggests that the event has already left behind a substantial economic boost to Liverpool and has been responsible for a £7,510,000 boost and a further million pounds of visitor spending retention in the city.
Clipper Race CEO, William Ward, said: “The Clipper Race has developed and grown so significantly over the past 21 years and its ability to deliver such impressive economic and cultural benefits to partners, in addition to providing life changing ocean racing experience to non-professional crew, is something that I am very proud of.
“We had a fantastic time in Liverpool this year and very much look forward to returning in July next year for the finish of the 2017-18 edition.”
Clipper Race officials have been meeting with potential candidate cities for the 2019-20 and 2021-22 editions of the event at the World Travel Market being held in London this week to coincide with the release of invitations to submit Expressions of Interest to become official Host Ports.
The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is unique in that it is the only event on the planet which trains non-professional sailors to become ocean racers. Approximately 40 per cent of crew members have never sailed before they sign up. 40,000 nautical miles in length, the circumnavigation is divided into eight legs.
More than just a very special sailing event, the Clipper Race inspires its adventurous crew to push themselves beyond physical and mental barriers, and enables its business partners, from Team Partners, Fleet Partners and Suppliers, to achieve incredible results on a global scale.
The event evaluation report, which monitors the impact of the major events in the cultural programme, looks at recorded activity over and above what would have been expected without the Clipper Race presence. It concludes that in 2017 alone, the Clipper Race drew a higher proportion of visitors coming from elsewhere in the country than any other recent event and attracted nearly double the number of visitors from overseas (10.4 per cent over 5.5 per cent).
The report also gained insights into motivations and key drivers for attendance, visitor expenditure, quality of experience and length of stay. It suggests that 69 per cent of respondents were visiting Liverpool specifically to attend the Clipper Race event and over a third (35.7 per cent) of visitors were on staying trips, with the average stay of three nights, an increase of 15 per cent in staying visitors in comparison to similar events.
Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said: “Maritime events in Liverpool are always hugely successful, and Clipper’s Race Start was no exception.
“From the moment the vessels sailed into the city, crowds of people headed to our world heritage waterfront to see the fleet first hand, many sending the crews well-wishes for the challenge they were all facing.
“We are incredibly proud to be the host port for both the start and finish of the event, and it’s wonderful to know that it has already attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors which in-turn boosted the local economy by millions
“The city is looking forward to giving the Clipper vessels and crew another warm welcome next year as we celebrate our tenth anniversary of being European Capital of Culture.”
In addition to economic benefits, as a worldwide event the Clipper Race Start in Liverpool has further cemented the position of the city’s waterfront as a world class event stage.
The Clipper Race fleet, including the Liverpool 2018 team entry is currently racing across the Southern Ocean to Fremantle, Western Australia having already stopped in Punta del Este, Uruguay and Cape Town, South Africa.
The Clipper Race teams will return to Liverpool next summer on 28 July 2018 once they have also completed the 2017-18 edition of the race calling in Fremantle, Sydney, Hobart, Whitsundays (Australia), Sanya and Qingdao in China, Seattle and New York in USA, and Derry-Londonderry in Northern Ireland.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has renewed its partnership with Guinness for a further four years.
Building on over four decades of rugby heritage, the new agreement will see Guinness work closely with the RFU to help give fans an unrivalled match-day experience at Twickenham Stadium.
The partnership extension builds on the brand’s already strong presence in and around the venue, while also becoming the official partner of west fan village stage and show.
Guinness will also create unique opportunities with England Rugby legends to deliver engaging experiences and content for all supporters, not just those in attendance at Twickenham.
Steve Brown, chief executive officer at the RFU, said: “We are delighted to be renewing our partnership with Guinness – a leading global brand that has a strong rugby association.
“Guinness has become synonymous with England Rugby and the match-day experience, and shares our aims to prioritise fan engagement so together we are looking forward to delivering more unbelievable match days to England fans.”
Meanwhile, England Rugby announced earlier this week that it has renewed its license agreement with OPRO, the world’s largest manufacturer of the most technically advanced mouthguard.
NatWest and Six Nations Rugby have today announced a one-year sponsorship agreement that will see NatWest take on the naming rights for the 2018 Six Nations Championship. The agreement means that the 2018 Championship will be called the ‘NatWest 6 Nations’.
Six Nations Rugby CEO, John Feehan, said: “We are delighted to be announcing NatWest as title sponsor of the NatWest 6 Nations and the extension of our relationship with RBS.
“They have been excellent partners over the past 15 years and we know what an outstanding role they have played and will continue to play in the success of our Championship.
“I am sure it will be a wonderful event in 2018 with NatWest on board. They know how this great Championship works and there is no doubt that it is a very positive development for both us and for NatWest ahead of next season. We greatly look forward to it.”
Today we are proud to announce our sponsorship of the NatWest 6 Nations. Having supported England and Wales at both grassroots and international level in recent years it’s a great opportunity to build on the excitement of the 2018 Championship! pic.twitter.com/GcESWtRNQW
David Wheldon, Chief Marketing Officer at NatWest, added: “We have been title sponsors of the Six Nations for the last 15 years and are delighted to be renewing our sponsorship for a further year under our customer facing NatWest brand.
“The 2018 NatWest 6 Nations will provide us with a platform to engage and build affinity with our customers and to offer our continued support to a sport with which we have had a long running and mutually beneficial relationship. The Six Nations also has a strong European reach where we also serve our customers through our NatWest brand.”
The next installment of the Championship kicks off in February 2018 when Wales host Scotland at the Principality Stadium.
In 2018, the Red Bull Air Race World Championship will make eight stops around the globe, featuring classic series destinations and a premiere in Cannes – the first French race in the history of the sport.
The 2018 World Championship will take flight with a record 11th consecutive season opener in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Next: Cannes rolls out the red carpet for the series’ long-awaited debut in France.
With French pilots in both the Master Class and the Challenger Class – including the first woman to compete in the series, Mélanie Astles – the 370kmh action over the Riviera will mark one of the high points of the season.
The towering 25-meter Air Gates will rise at another European location – yet to be announced – for the third stop of the season; while the midpoint will be celebrated as the raceplanes once again speed under the iconic Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary.
The 2017 World Champion Yoshihide Muroya of Japan – the first Asian pilot ever to claim the overall title – is sure to be the center of attention when the second half of the calendar kicks off with a race in Asia slated for August at a location to be announced.
Then the event will return to Kazan, Russia, where the World Championship ignited the passion of the country’s motorsport fans with a maiden race in 2017.
The final two stops will take place at the USA’s famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the third year in a row, followed by a season finale, which will make history as the first to be held in Asia (location TBC).
BT Sport will make the decisive Women’s Ashes day-night Test available free to watch online.
Australia will retain the Ashes if they win the historic four-day match at the North Sydney Oval, which starts at 03:30am (GMT) on 9th November, 2017.
The game will be the first Ashes Test – men or women’s – to use the pink ball and will also be the first day-night Test ever played in the women’s game. The full four days will be available to watch completely free on both BT Sport’s website and app.
Fans will also be able to follow all the action on BT Sport’s new enhanced video player, which allows supporters to select key moments and view live in-game stats.
The match is also available on BT Sport’s Youtube channel.
Meanwhile, BT Sport will also be showing the two Men’s first-class Ashes warm up matches against a Cricket Australia XI on BT Sport’s Facebook page.
SportAccord Convention is delighted to confirm Sportcal, a world-leading provider of sports marketing intelligence, and Yutang Sports, the premier sports marketing platform in China, will host workshops revealing breaking news and insights from recent studies for delegates attending the SportAccord Convention set to take place from 15 – 20 April 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Selected as Principal media partners for their knowledge and expertise, the following workshops will provide the latest data, analysis and learnings for international sports federations, event hosts and rights holders, as well as any organisation involved in the business of sport.
Sportcal How Sporting Events can be a Driver for Social Change: Social initiatives have become embedded in the organisation of major sporting events. Sport has the power to bring communities together and to drive social change, but how exactly can this be achieved by event hosts?
Through its GSI Event Studies Programme, Sportcal conducted an in-depth analysis of event impacts for event owners and hosts throughout 2017 where twenty world championships and multisport games were studied.
The workshop will act as the first annual review of Sportcal’s GSI Event Studies Programme, and is designed to connect event owners, organisers and hosts to enable both knowledge exchange and a discussion on the social impact and cultural engagement generated by sporting events.
Yutang Sports Report on the 2017 Chinese Sports Sponsorship Market and how to achieve Good Partnerships in China. Following an in-depth study due to be published in March 2018, workshop delegates will have the opportunity to hear and discuss key highlights from the report.
The panel will address the characteristics of the Chinese sponsorship industry and how Chinese brands use sports sponsorship to achieve their goals. Delegates will also hear what Chinese brands want to get from the partnerships and their partners.
Other highlights will also include what needs should be put in place to educate Chinese brands, as well as what needs sports rights holders and event hosts should consider for brands.
The workshop will also include a keynote delivered by Li Jiang, Executive Director of Yutang Sports.
