The Jockey Club and Betfair extend Betfair Chase and Tingle Creek Chase partnerships

Jockey Club Racecourses today announces that Betfair has extended its sponsorship of two of Jump racing’s most significant races for an additional three years.

The bookmaker has sponsored The Betfair Chase at Haydock Park since it started in 2005 and The Betfair Tingle Creek at Sandown Park since 2015. An extension to those partnerships will now see Betfair continue as the sponsor of both races for a further three years, to include the 2019 renewals.

Paul Fisher, Chief Executive of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “As a major supporter of British Racing we’re delighted Betfair is continuing to partner with us on two of the biggest days of Jump racing in the calendar.

“ABP may have finished following the reform of the levy, but we remain extremely grateful to Betfair, not only for the role they played as a founding partner, but also for the ongoing support they offer to racing.

“The Betfair Chase and The Tingle Creek Chase have been won by some of the greatest Jumps horses in history and we are proud to stage these races at Haydock Park and Sandown Park.”

Barry Orr, Head of Media at Betfair, said: “We are once again delighted to back two of the most exciting and iconic races in the National Hunt calendar.

“This will be the 13th renewal of the Betfair Chase and we are extremely proud to have helped establish the race as a premier target for top chasers and young pretenders alike. It is a race with a rich history which continues to be a strong and sound platform to chasing success.

“The Betfair Tingle Creek is an exhilarating race synonymous with speed, accuracy and brilliance. And with the magnificent Altior pencilled in for the race there is a lot to look forward to this National Hunt season.”

Betfair was a founding Authorised Betting Partner of British Racing and became the first betting operator to sign a commercial partnership with Jockey Club Racecourses after it was announced the Jockey Club would only enter into agreements with ABPs – those who make a fair contribution to the sport. The ABP scheme has now concluded following the reform of the levy.

Betfair Chase Day is staged this year on Saturday November 25th. The three mile Grade 1 race is the first leg of the Jockey Club’s Chase Triple Crown and has been won three out of the last four years by the Colin Tizzard-trained Cue Card. Previous winners of the race include Kauto Star and Silviniaco Conti.

The Betfair Tingle Creek Chase is an established flagship event in the 2m chase division since being upgraded to a Grade 1 contest in 1994. Previous winners of the race include Moscow Flyer, Kauto Star, Sprinter Sacre, Sire De Grugy and last year’s victor Un De Sceaux. This year the race takes place on Saturday December 9th.

Mobile app goes live for SportAccord Convention 2018 – a ‘vital networking opportunity for the sports business community’

SportAccord Convention, the biggest global gathering for all the international sports federations and sports industry, is delighted to unveil the latest release of its smart mobile app for the Convention set to take place from 15 – 20 April 2018 in Bangkok.

Designed to keep attendees informed and connected at all times, with up-to-the-minute news ahead of and during the Convention, the easy-to-use mobile app is also a critical networking tool for delegates.

A popular app at SAC2017 with well over one thousand downloads, Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark, whose organisation were also co-hosts for the Convention in 2017 said:

“SportAccord Convention is a vital networking opportunity for the sports business community. With a packed official schedule, and around 1500 high-profile delegates in attendance during the Convention in Aarhus Denmark in 2017, the mobile app was instrumental in helping delegates access and connect with people on the delegate list, set-up meetings, plan and organise what they want to do ahead of the Convention, and receive the latest information during the Convention. The mobile app is a great networking tool for delegates.”

Registered delegates can send meeting invitations to other attendees as well as review their profiles. In much the same way as email meeting requests are made, recipients can choose whether to accept or decline, and any confirmed meetings are added to their mobile phone calendar.

The new version of the mobile app for the next SportAccord Convention includes a go-to Virtual Conference Bag enabling delegates to bookmark important information, keep track of conference sessions they wish to attend or share with colleagues at a later date, as well as favourite speakers, delegates and content.

Other new features include a social media function enabling delegates to share their experiences with everyone within their social networks. The user-interface has also been updated and is more visually intuitive to include a clear tile icon design for easy navigation.

The official version of the SportAccord Convention mobile app can be downloaded in the Apple and Google Play stores with delegates up and running in less than a minute.

To network and connect with #SAC2018 delegates including all the international sports federations, anyone involved in the business of sport can register for the SportAccord Convention in Bangkok and join the world sport and business summit as a delegate, partner and exhibitor.

Organisations and sports business leaders who are considering attending #SAC2018 can gain insights from last year’s Convention in Aarhus, Denmark and watch highlights in the SportAccord Convention Video Gallery, where many of the conference sessions are also relevant to this year’s Plenary conference which will examine how sport and sponsors can unite a complex global audience for the future.

For media enquiries, please email Jenny Edmondson, Media Relations Officer: jenny.edmondson@sportaccordconvention.com

ITF and Sportradar announce new live streaming platform

The ITF, in partnership with Sportradar AG, has today announced its new live streaming platform for Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.

The platform will ensure fans worldwide can follow tennis’s premier team competitions across a range of devices, starting with this weekend’s Davis Cup World Group semifinals and play-off ties on 15-17 September.

The ITF’s global media rights partner beIN Sports have released the streaming rights in order to enable this platform to go live. Sportradar, the Swiss-based sports data and content specialists, will use its OTT solution to produce and deliver the live and on-demand Davis Cup streams.

Fans will have the ability to purchase coverage ranging from individual ties to a whole round of ties, or an annual package covering all rounds of Davis Cup.

In parallel, the ITF has been working with Sportradar to launch a desktop live scoring centre and redesigned dedicated mobile app for Davis Cup. Thanks to the addition of more in-depth statistics across all ties, the second screen experience will be even richer and more engaging.

The live streaming platform, live scoring centre and app will be available for Fed Cup in the coming weeks. This weekend’s semifinals see Belgium host Australia in Brussels and Serbia travel to Lille to face France to contest a place in the Davis Cup Final in November, with eight World Group play-off ties also taking place.

The new streaming platform will also be available for November’s Fed Cup Final in Minsk between Belarus and the USA. The live scoring centre and live streaming platform will further enhance Davis Cup and Fed Cup in line with the goals of ITF2024, the organisation’s strategic roadmap.

Today’s announcement builds on the long-standing relationship between the two organisations, which has seen Sportradar support the ITF in bringing data and content from more tournaments to more tennis fans worldwide.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “The ITF’s goal has always been to bring Davis Cup and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas closer to every tennis fan, no matter where they are in the world or what device they are using.

“Sportradar AG continues to fulfil our growing expectations in a developing sports marketplace. Through our streaming and digital media offering, they are helping us grow our fan base, deliver engagement and insight and ultimately enhance the largest annual international team competitions in sport.”

Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl added: “Davis Cup and Fed Cup bring together the most committed tennis players, the most exciting matches and the most passionate tennis fans. It is a privilege to be able to help the ITF deliver premium content across the globe.

“With many years of our recently extended partnership still to go, and with our unique ability to mix audiovisual content with data and data visualisation solutions across devices and channels, we look forward to working together on future developments for the sport.”

In addition to live coverage of over 50,000 ITF Pro Circuit matches per year through its umpire technology, Sportradar remains the ITF’s official data rights partner and preferred streaming partner for the ITF Pro Circuit. Sportradar launched the ITF Pro Circuit app back in 2015 and has also increased live streaming of ITF events together with the ITF’s member nations.

Brett Gosper and Adolfo Bara confirmed as speakers for iSportconnect’s Dubai Summit

iSportconnect is delighted to announce that we will be staging our second-ever Summit in Dubai on November 29th 2017.

Brett Gosper, CEO of World Rugby, and Adolfo Bara, General Manager Marketing & Sales at LaLiga, have been confirmed as guest speakers.

The Summit represents a breakthrough opportunity for up to 150 top-tier executives in sport and entertainment to experience and enjoy the unique learning and networking benefits of iSportconnect’s exclusive invitation-only event concept.

Further speaker announcements and a venue will be confirmed in due course.

There is limited space for this exclusive event so please email Chris Edbrook (chris@isportconnect.com) to confirm your interest in attending.

Dates will soon be announced for a Beijing and Singapore Summit as part of a ‘World Tour’ of iSportconnect Summits in 2018.

What makes the iSportconnect Summit so special?

  • The Summit is open exclusively to Director/C-Suite level executives at sports rights holders, sponsorship brands and broadcasters.
  • Event capacity is capped at 150 delegates allowing intimate access to key decision makers in the sports industry.
  • No agencies or press in attendance and as we follow Chatham House Rules, all panel discussions will remain confidential.

Paris & LA to host 2024 & 2028 Olympic Games respectively

Paris and Los Angeles have tonight been confirmed as hosts of the 2024 and 2028 summer Olympic Games respectively by the IOC.

Both cities wanted to host the 2024 event, but LA subsequently agreed to wait an extra four years after receiving guarantees on funding.

“Congratulations to Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028! This historic double allocation is a ‘win-win-win’ situation for the city of Paris, the city of Los Angeles and the IOC,” said the IOC President, Thomas Bach.

“It is hard to imagine something better. Ensuring the stability of the Olympic Games for the athletes of the world for the next 11 years is something extraordinary.

“These are two great cities from two great countries with a great Olympic history. Both cities are very enthusiastic about the Games and are promoting the Olympic spirit in a fantastic way,” he added.

The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said: “Today I am delighted to invite you to join the great family of Parisians, a family which belongs to the world.

“With this team, I am very proud and moved to bring the Games back to Paris. At the heart of these Games, we will place young people, who represent our present, our hope and our pride.”

Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, added: “Bringing the Olympics back home to LA gives us the chance to imagine what our city will look like a decade from now.

“LA is a city where the Games are not a barrier to making progress; we know that they are an accelerating force to re-envisioning a better city and a better world in the days ahead as we welcome you back to the City of Angels.”

Formula E and Jaguar to launch support series in 2018

Jaguar has today unveiled plans for a fully-electric support series to run alongside select races in the FIA Formula E Championship from season five – titled the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY.

The Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY would be the first production battery electric vehicle racing series, featuring cars based on Jaguar’s first battery electric vehicle – the Jaguar I-PACE performance SUV, which hits the road later next year.

Modified Jaguar I-PACE cars will have the opportunity to compete on the same weekend at select Formula E events, using the same circuit layout as the stars of the electric street racing series – with the planned schedule consisting of a practice and qualifying session, followed by a 30-minute race.

Alejandro Agag, Founder & CEO of Formula E, said: “Jaguar has been a welcome addition to Formula E and a fantastic advocate for electric street racing. I’m delighted that in addition to the Panasonic Jaguar Racing team competing on the Formula E grid, we’ll also be adding to our race day schedule with a competitive new support series for season five – the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY.

“The competition will offer more entertainment for fans in-between sessions and is further testament to the advances in battery technology and exciting electric performance. I hope Jaguar will allow me to bring my race suit and helmet and maybe get behind the wheel myself!”

Gerd Mäuser, Chairman of Jaguar Racing, said: “Jaguar returned to racing in 2016 with the mission ‘Race to Innovate’. With the launch of the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, we’ve strengthened our commitment to battery electric vehicles, international motorsport and Formula E.

“As a British team, we’re proud to announce today the launch of the world’s first production battery electric vehicle championship. We’ve always said we want to prove our electrification technologies on the track – this is the proof.

“I’m looking forward to seeing a full grid of Jaguar I-PACE race cars in late 2018, soon after the first Jaguar I-PACE hits the road in Europe. Ultimately, this innovative series will enhance the technology in our future electric vehicles and benefit our customers.

“Formula E has grown exponentially since we joined as the first premium manufacturer last year, with recent commitments from Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.”

Sky to stream midweek EFL games as part of new five-year £600m TV deal

Sky will be able to stream midweek matches after agreeing a new £600m five-year television rights deal with the English Football League (EFL).

All 72 EFL clubs will be able to stream midweek fixtures on their respective websites – if Sky opt not to broadcast them live. Sky will also have the right to stream the same Championship fixtures to subscribers across their interactive and digital services.

However, matches played between 14:45 BST and 17:15 BST on Saturdays will still not be available to live stream.

EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey said: “These negotiations came at what was an incredibly challenging period in the sale and acquisition of sports rights in the UK.

“Having fully tested the market, we believe that not only has a significant increase in value for our clubs been achieved, but also the very best deal, with the best partner has been delivered.

“The new opportunity for EFL Clubs to live-stream their matches through a direct to consumer service in the UK is a revolutionary and exciting step forward for football broadcasting rights in the UK and we will monitor its progress closely to determine how this model can be considered for future EFL rights cycles.”

Barney Francis, Sky Sports Managing Director, commented: “This is great news for EFL fans and our viewers, with more live games than ever before and more opportunities for fans to watch their teams live.

“With a new dedicated football channel, newly enhanced digital platforms, adding more games means Sky Sports is getting even better for football fans.”

The deal is set to run from 2019-2024 and Sky will also continue to broadcast the Carabao Cup, Checkatrade Trophy and play-offs until May 2024.

DHL renews principal partnership with Harlequins

DHL has today renewed its principal partnership with London-based Premiership rugby side Harlequins.

The new deal will see DHL retain its presence on the front of the team’s shirt while also extending support to Harlequins’ leading Academy and EPDG structure, plus the Harlequins Ladies team.

The organisation will also look to expand the service and distribution of Harlequins’ retail offering while growing and developing the grassroots of the game alongside the club’s community team.

Harlequins Commercial Director Ned Wills said: “We are very pleased and excited to have extended our partnership with DHL and continue to work with such a prestigious organisation who recognises the appeal of Harlequins in this country, and around the world.

“This renewed partnership is also exciting as DHL will support the Harlequins Ladies and Academy squads, which reflects our collective ambition to promote the growth of the game at all levels.

“We have enjoyed an incredibly successful relationship since 2012 and we are looking forward to continuing this in the coming years to achieve our collective objectives.”

Shannon Diett, Vice President of Marketing at DHL, added: “DHL is proud to be continuing our successful relationship with Harlequins.

“Over the last four years we have worked closely with club and players to grow their international presence and, as Principal Partner, we look forward to building on this throughout the coming seasons.”

beIN SPORTS partners with Wildmoka to launch mobile near-live video experience for football fans

In complement to TV, now is time to enjoy sports on mobile! With its mobile service, beIN SPORTS FRANCE has been re-inventing the near Live video experience, reaching out to a brand new, digital-addict, subscribers base. Leveraging in-app purchase. Powered by Wildmoka’s unique Automation technology.

Wildmoka, the leading Digital Content Creation Platform provider, has been selected by beIN SPORTS FRANCE to power their new ‘beIN Ligue 1’ in-game mobile service, allowing subscribers near live access to the best in- game highlights.

With Wildmoka’s platform, beIN SPORTS editorial team directly clips and publishes, within seconds, key moments from Live football matches, and provides their subscribers with personalized updates and summary content. With the start of the 2nd season of the service, more than 400 matches have been covered already, generating more than 50.000 hot football moments.

With the acquisition of the French ‘Ligue 1 Near-Live rights’, the challenge was double for beIN SPORTS FRANCE. They wanted to create a brand-new mobile-first experience, powered by in-app purchase, covering 380 matches a year. And they desired that experience to be as quickest as possible, making sure that the quality of the experience is at the level of the subscribers’ expectations to attract and retain that new digital- addict audience.

And for a football fan, the expectation is not even questionable: access to the best moments must be the quickest – notification and video of a goal should be available within seconds. And match with his own personal preferences.

Cristian Livadiotti, co-founder of Wildmoka: “We strongly believe that Automation is key in Digital Content Creation, as it allows for massive and quick creation of short form.

“We are extremely pleased about this partnership, as it is a very strong recognition of our efforts in this area. We have built automation to streamline our customer’s workflow, at the service of their own story telling. Our platform is able to, fully automatically, and almost instantaneously, extract, tag and push key moments from Live sports to any digital platform.

“And thanks to its versatility, it can be tuned to any editorial requirement, and can be adapted to any story telling. The key is to not trade quality for speed, but to achieve the best of both.”

Thomas Menguy, Wildmoka co-founder, added: “Digital is more than ever a serious matter. Our Tier1 customers are fully entitled to claim for very high level of availability, as well as the strongest security for the content rights they have invested so much in.

“The telco grade design of our platform allows us to commit to very high SLA, and features strong content encryption to cope with those requirements.”

Partnerships, content and data among subjects discussed at iSportconnect’s very successful 2017 Brand Marketing Masterclass

iSportconnect, the largest global private network of sport business executives, has won high praise from delegates, speakers and partners for the 2017 Brand Marketing Masterclass.

The annual event was well attended, with over 120 high-ranking delegates present at Pinsent Masons’ offices in central London to discuss, network and connect around the topic of brands and sports partnerships.

LaLiga‘s General Manager of Marketing and Sales, Adolfo Bara, kicked off proceedings with a Keynote Speech detailing how Spain’s globally popular football league has redefined itself to deliver more value than ever for its partners.

The opening Panel of the day presented those in attendance with a unique opportunity to delve into LaLiga’s innovative work with high-profile brands as TAGHeuer‘s Sponsorship Director, Dominic Wolz, took to the stage.

Representatives from 12BET, DHL and EE were on hand on Panel Two to discuss the crucial topic of what brands want from sports partnerships, ensuring everybody in the room will have plenty of food for thought ahead of future endeavours.

Precious peer-to-peer discussions continued throughout lunch as delegates savoured an extensive network session while an array of food was served.

Attendees reconvened for a Case Study by Lucozade Sport‘s Head of Partnerships, James Young, who stressed how vital it is for marketers to evolve their approach within what is an ever-changing industry.

Formula E and Kodak helped form a stellar lineup on Panel Three, which focussed on how brands and right holders can best work together to create captivating content – plus the pitfalls to avoid.

Tom McDonnell, CEO at Monterosa, delivered an engaging Case Study on ‘Digital Engagement Insights’ including an innovative ‘Glue’ idea which was well received by all.

Panel Four proved to be a highlight for many as representatives from Standard Life Aberdeen, European Tour and Atlético Madrid explored the theme of data. Building value through data may not be a new concept but delegates certainly secured several original takeaways on the subject as a wealth of knowledge was shared between the trio of speakers.

Overall, a wide range of speakers, prestigious panellists and knowledgeable delegates combined to produce a memorable event.

Fiona Taag, Head of Global Sponsorship & Europe Marketing Communications at DHL, said: “As always, the event was a great opportunity to meet with sponsorship peers and exchange ideas, plus also a great reminder that we are all facing the same challenges… and the same opportunities!”

Danielle Atkins, Vice President of Brand and Creative at Kodak, said: “The iSportconnect Brand Marketing Masterclass was an excellent event. Great line up of speakers, extremely well moderated Panel sessions. Excellent balance between Sports Rights Holders and Brands.

“I found the event extremely insightful and very good from a networking perspective. I’d definitely attend another event and recommend it to others. Thanks for inviting me!”

iSportconnect has an exciting calendar of upcoming events and you can stay up-to-date with all future announcements on isportconnect.com. Please contact Chris Edbrook (chris@isportconnect.com) to register your interest.