Youtube to broadcast Parker vs Fury heavyweight bout on PPV basis

Hennessy Sports has agreed a deal with Youtube to show Hughie Fury’s upcoming world heavyweight title bout against Joseph Parker live on the online video platform.

The fight will take place on September 23 at Manchester Arena and fans in the UK and Republic of Ireland will for the first time be able to tune in via a pay-per-view model.

‘The Boxing Channel’ is set to screen the highly anticipated bout, with supporters currently able to purchase the event for an early-bird price of £9.99 (UK) and €11.99 (Republic of Ireland).

Mick Hennessy, chief executive of Hennessy Sports, said: “For Fury versus Parker, we decided to make this event innovative, forward thinking and really push out the boundaries.

“We’ve been talking to YouTube for months about bringing boxing to a wider audience through their platform, and are delighted to have found a way to achieve this.

“The way TV viewing is consumed has altered rapidly in the last few years and we wanted to be at the forefront of that change in presenting this fight. As a company, Hennessy Sports is proud to be playing such a pivotal role in transforming the way in which live boxing content is televised. This is the future of boxing.”

Tomos Grace, head of sport for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at YouTube, said: “YouTube allows sports partners of every size to reach a large, global audience.

“YouTube is the home of sport highlights worldwide and we have a proud record of showing some of the biggest events in global sport live on the platform. We’re delighted that Hennessy Sports have chosen YouTube to show this massive world heavyweight title fight.”

Rangers extend sponsorship partnership with Ladbrokes

Scottish football club Rangers have extended their sponsorship partnership with Ladbrokes for a further two years.

The bookmaker will continue to serve as the club’s retail betting partner for both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns.

The gambling company will provide all betting services at Ibrox Stadium on matchdays throughout the duration of the deal.

Stewart Robertson, managing director of Rangers, said: “We are delighted to confirm Ladbrokes will continue as the Rangers’ retail betting partner. The club has enjoyed a great relationship with Ladbrokes over the years and are delighted that they will be with us for the next two years.”

Christopher Hector, Ladbrokes’ regional director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “It’s fantastic news that we’ll be providing the betting services again for Rangers at such an iconic location in Ibrox Stadium.”

READ MORE: The pros and cons of betting sponsorship in football

ITV agrees broadcast deal for World Boxing Super Series

ITV has agreed a deal with MP & Silva to to broadcast the inaugural 2017/18 season of the World Boxing Super Series.

The broadcaster will exclusively cover 16 elite boxers competing across 14 separate events to see who will come out on top and lift the Muhammad Ali Trophy.

The Super Middleweight and Cruiserweight competition will be available via a combination of ITV’s free-to-air and pay-per-view platforms.

MP & Silva CEO Jochen Lösch said: “The boxing world has been crying out for a tournament like this, and ITV is the perfect UK partner to deliver it. I’m extremely pleased to announce this deal so that these high calibre fights can be delivered to the British fans.”

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, added: “Live coverage of this brand new tournament featuring some of British boxing’s most exciting talents is something we hope will appeal to keen fight fans and sports enthusiasts across the country.

“Chris Eubank Jr won his first world title and defended it on ITV Box Office and this marks the next step in his development. The potential of a mouth-watering match-up with George Groves adds to the prestige of this new series.”

Said Kalle Sauerland, Chief Boxing Officer, said: “It is simply unbelievable that the most loyal boxing fans on the planet – the UK fans – are able to watch every single second of action in the tournament as well as the second to none side programming.”

Olympic Channel and BeIN media group announce partnership

Bringing fans and viewers close to the Olympic Movement all year round, the Olympic Channel and BeIN Media Group announced a partnership which begins on 4 September with programming blocks leading to the launch of a 247 linear channel on 1 November across 24 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) territories.

Under the “Olympic Channel” brand, the partnership begins with a daily eight-hour programming block on beIN Sports’ free-to-air channel featuring an exclusive preview show providing viewers with a glimpse of some of the exciting stories they can expect.

For two months, the branded programming hours will feature robust Olympic related content whilst promoting the 24/7 linear channel, which will launch on 1 November 2017 and will offer year-round coverage of Olympic sports and athletes and their quest for success, on a subscription basis.

Highlighting the programming on the new co-branded “beIN Sports Home of the Olympic Channel” television network will be live, comprehensive coverage of the upcoming Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 which amplifies beIN’s rights-holding broadcast agreement with the IOC for the Olympic Games.

“We are excited to collaborate with beIN MEDIA GROUP to deliver the Olympic Channel experience to their audiences throughout this important and growing region, bringing them closer to the Olympic Movement all year round,” said Mark Parkman, General Manager of the IOC’s global Olympic Channel. “Our partnership with beIN to create a co-branded linear platform gives us a powerful position in MENA to further engage fans and new audiences with the Olympic Channel brand and the Olympic Games than ever before.”

“beIN is passionate about sports. We are constantly collaborating with our global partners to present sports to our subscribers in high quality. The Olympic Channel debut in MENA beIN network demonstrates that beIN is the only premium destination for sports lovers in the region.” said Yousef Al-Obaidly, Deputy CEO of beIN MEDIA GROUP.

Further programming will include live broadcasts from beIN’s extensive sports media rights agreements, original series produced by the global Olympic Channel, access to archival footage from the IOC’s vast library, and additional news and highlights.

The new partnership complements the Olympic Channel, which launched as a worldwide digital platform following the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016. In efforts to expand its offerings, and in partnership with its rights-holding broadcast partners and National Olympic Committees, the Olympic Channel is developing localised versions that offer region- and language-specific user experiences on linear and digital platforms in certain territories.

Ferrari Formula 1 team extends Philip Morris deal

The Ferrari Formula 1 team has announced a new long-term deal with tobacco sponsor Philip Morris.

The two organisations’ association dates back more than 40 years and Philip Morris’s brand Marlboro has been Ferrari’s title sponsor since 1997.

The logo last appeared on the car in 2007 due to a ban on tobacco advertising but Ferrari has maintained a red and white colour scheme in recent years.

“Ferrari N.V. announces that Scuderia Ferrari has renewed its multi-year partnership with Philip Morris International,” a team statement read.

“The agreement continues the collaboration of over 40 years between Philip Morris International and Scuderia Ferrari.”

Philip Morris’s previous contract was due to expire at the end of 2017.

 

LaLiga and Perform Group create LaLiga Official Data Centre

Innovators join in five-year agreement to expand global availability of data on Spanish football competitions.

Jointly led by Perform and LaLiga, the newly created LaLiga Official Data Centre will be responsible for ensuring LaLiga maximizes the use of official match data across multiple sectors and channels.

LaLiga will utilise Perform’s sports data collection, distribution and commercialisation expertise in the media, professional analysis and betting sectors, via Perform’s Opta and RunningBall data brands. The five-year agreement starts with the 2017/18 season.

Perform CCO Jacopo Tonoli said: “We are delighted to be broadening our relationship with one of the world’s most exciting football leagues. The innovative partnership will see us working with La Liga to deliver the best quality sports data globally, across multiple sectors and channels.

“It gives LaLiga control over their data rights, with full access to the market leading industry expertise and sales network of Perform. We are thrilled to be able to add LaLiga to our official data rights portfolio.

“This agreement deepens the relationship between LaLiga and Perform, two innovative brands,” said Melcior Soler, director of audiovisual at LaLiga.

“The LaLiga Official Data Centre will allow us to enhance the delivery of competition data across the world through internal and external channels, taking advantage of Perform’s distribution and commercial reach and experience.”

The partnership will allow LaLiga to facilitate innovation across broadcast graphics and production workflows, develop digital data visualisations, fantasy and gaming concepts, as well as supporting a commitment to data editorial and performance data analytics.

Opta, the world’s leading provider of live, detailed sports data, will provide accurate and granular match data to power various LaLiga channels, including broadcasts.

The Opta team of data scientists and editorial experts will continue to experiment with in-game data, developing new metrics to offer even greater fan engagement opportunities, benefitting league and club digital and social properties, creating assets for LaLiga commercial partners to connect with fans around the world.

This agreement expands on the partnership between Opta and LaLiga to provide the best eventing data for coaching purposes to LaLiga Santander an LaLiga 123 teams through LaLiga Mediacoach tools.

From the perspective of bookmakers, this partnership will provide exclusive official accreditation for the RunningBall network of highly experienced and qualified scouts, in every stadium. This will allow RunningBall to collect and distribute the fastest, most reliable Spanish data to power superior live betting experiences for the world’s leading bookmakers.

Perform’s Integrity Operations team will support LaLiga in its innovative approach to preventing match manipulation and betting fraud through monitoring and intelligence.

The partnership covers the following competitions organized by LaLiga and the Spanish Federation: Liga Santander, Liga 1|2|3, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, Second Division B, and the Spanish Women’s League.

iSportconnect adds TAG Heuer, Kodak and 12BET to Brand Marketing Masterclass line up

iSportconnect is delighted to confirm three additional guest speakers for our Brand Marketing Masterclass on September 11.

Dominic Wolz, Sponsoring Director at TAG Heuer, Danielle Atkins, VP Brand & Creative at Kodak and Rory Anderson, CEO at 12BET, have been added to a distinguished list of industry thought leaders.

Already confirmed to speak at the event are Enrique Arribas, Brand and Corporate Marketing Director at Santander, Nuala Walsh, Chief Marketing Officer at Standard Life Aberdeen, James Young, Head of Partnerships at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, Adolfo Bara, General Manager Marketing & Sales at LaLiga, Fiona Taag, Head of Global Sponsorship & Europe Marketing Communications at DHL, Tim Hunt, Head of Marketing at PGA European Tour and Ali Russell, CMO at Formula E.

Brands are at the heart of the business of sport and the all-day event will offer an exclusive opportunity to discuss a challenging and fast-changing global business with industry experts.

Debates will be stimulating and the networking opportunities second to none, with current topics and challenges of tomorrow set to be on the agenda throughout a series of panels and keynote speeches.

The event will be held at the offices of Pinsent Mason in central London. Chatham House rules will be strictly adhered to, encouraging a free exchange of ideas.

Content programme

Panel One: Inside LaLiga’s Brand Partnerships

Panel Two: What Do Brands Want From Sports Partnerships?

Brand marketing spend has changed drastically over the last five years with most Western markets witnessing over 50% of marketing budget being invested in digital.

Sports rights holders are responding to the changing needs of business with increased digital content output and a more analytical approach to understanding their customers.

However are they doing enough? Are sports bodies offering a relevant and effective mix of engagement opportunities that reflect how brands are buying audiences? Is there still too much reliance on classic sponsorship models?

Equally how do right holders create compelling propositions that make brands stand up and listen?

Panel Three: Working Together To Generate More Captivating Content

Sponsoring a sports property gives a brand a credible reason for entering and hosting the conversation, enabling it to create interesting content due to its access to players, managers and behind-the-scenes action.

Planning and delivering content has become a military operation so how can brands and right holders work best together to ensure this is done successfully? How much flexibility and trust is required between sports and brands to create real-time, honest and authentic content?

Panel Four: Building Value Through Data

Building value through data is not a new concept. Major retailers have been operating sophisticated CRM systems for decades superseded by today’s data blueprint leaders Amazon.

We all want to ‘Amazonify’ our respective businesses but how can brands and sports collaborate most effectively in using data? What are the partnership challenges? What technical solutions work best? Should brand and sports collaboration lead to monetization? Who’s doing it well?

Confirmed guest speaker list:

Enrique Arribas Alcolado, Brand and Corporate Marketing Director at Santander

Nuala Walsh, Chief Marketing Officer at Standard Life Aberdeen

James Young, Head of Partnerships at Lucozade Ribena Suntory

Adolfo Bara, General Manager Marketing & Sales at LaLiga

Fiona Taag, Head of Global Sponsorship & Europe Marketing Communications at DHL

Tim Hunt, Head of Marketing at PGA European Tour

Ali Russell, CMO at Formula E

Dominic Wolz, Sponsoring Director at TAG Heuer

Danielle Atkins, VP Brand & Creative at Kodak

Rory Anderson, CEO at 12BET

This event is open exclusively to senior executives at brands, governing bodies and sport teams. Please contact Chris Edbrook (chris@isportconnect.com) to register your interest.

EVENT PARTNER

Pinsent_Masons

MotoGP confirms three-year deal with Buriram circuit in Thailand

Thailand has been confirmed on the MotoGP calendar from 2018. Sakon Wannapong, the Governor of Sport Authority of Thailand, and Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna Sports CEO, signed the contract in a ceremony in Bangkok.

More than 200 members of the media gathered at the event in a new market for the World Championship, with interest in Thailand incredibly high as they prepare to welcome MotoGP.

With the deal now finalised, the Thai Grand Prix will be staged in Buriram, north east of Bangkok, from 2018 – with the initial deal sealing it as a fixture until 2020.

General Tanasak Patimapragorn, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand: “We are happy that MotoGP is coming to Thailand and you can see that this is a very good deal for everyone, and all the stakeholders in motorsport fully support it.

“Even though they are competitors, they have all come together and would like MotoGP to happen in Thailand. We would like to say thank you the circuit of Buriram and to Carmelo, and thank you to the media.

“It is a challenge for Thailand to be the host of MotoGP, but beyond the circuit, it will also be good for infrastructure of Thailand – to upgrade the airport, to get ready for everyone to go to the circuit.

“Not only for Buriram, but also the area and the north eastern part of Thailand. They welcome this major event to the north east, and believe the economic and the tourist impact will be very good for Thailand. Thank you to Dorna Sports for coming to Thailand with MotoGP.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO Dorna Sports: “Thailand is a big consumer of bikes also and they are happy to use MotoGP to develop tourism here in Thailand.

“We are very proud to have made this agreement with the Thai government. The races here so far have been Superbike – who will also renew the contract in the near future – and we see that there’s a lot of expectation.

“MotoGP has had a lot of interest in Thailand, and it’s sure to be a Grand Prix with a lot of interest from everyone. We need to fix some of the dates but the calendar is finished, and I hope we can soon announce the draft calendar for 2018.”

Kwesé and ESPN agree exclusive sub-Saharan Africa broadcast agreement for IAAF events

Econet Media will bring International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) competitions to its Kwesé TV platform in sub-Saharan Africa from 2018, having reached an exclusive agreement with ESPN, who were representing the IAAF.

The six-year deal, brokered by ESPN’s Media Distribution unit, begins on 1 January 2018 with Kwesé TV becoming the exclusive broadcaster for IAAF events and content in sub-Saharan Africa, these will feature across its free-to-air and pay TV channels as well as the new Kwesé Play service.

The deal includes the next three IAAF World Championships (2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar, 2021 IAAF World Championships in Eugene, Ore., USA and 2023 IAAF World Championships*) as well as the next three IAAF World Indoor Championships (2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, UK, 2020 and 2022) and more than a dozen other competitions in the IAAF World Athletics Series.

Through its pan-African footprint, Kwesé Sports broadcast the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London which dominated sports headlines as they showcased the world’s finest athletes.

The rights agreement is the latest in Kwesé and ESPN’s successful partnership after the brands signed a long-term collaboration agreement for sub-Saharan Africa in October 2016. This year the partnership has launched a dedicated ESPN channel on Kwesé Sports, and the KweséESPN.com website and app.

The deal comes in the wake of the recent announcement that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ESPN Media Distribution are collaborating to represent the media rights to IAAF events across Europe and Africa – bringing a unique, combined ability to maximise the profile of Athletics and increase access to the sport’s top global competitions to hundreds of millions of fans across the two continents via a combination of free-to-air television, pay television and digital media platforms.

Joseph Hundah, President and Group CEO of Econet Media, said: “Our exclusive collaboration with ESPN was forged on our collective commitment to bringing the best in world class sporting content to African audiences.

“Athletics enjoys a huge following on the continent with African sports men and women dominating in a number of categories. The IAAF is an important addition to our Kwese Sports portfolio as we extend our offering and build Africa’s most diverse sports destination.”

12BET announced as official sponsor of ITTF Team World Cup 2018

12BET has signed a deal with Table Tennis England and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) to be the Official Betting and Gaming Sponsor of the ITTF Team World Cup 2018.

The Team World Cup will take place at the Copper Box Arena in London from February 22-25 next year.

Mark Taffler, Table Tennis England head of commercial, said: “We’re delighted to be working with a brand of the size of 12BET on the Team World Cup 2018.

“The profile of table tennis globally was a key factor in 12BET coming on board, and they also wanted to work with us to help deliver a superb event in London which table tennis fans all over the world can enjoy.”

12BET has an expanding portfolio of sports sponsorship, including recently becoming the first shirt sleeve sponsor of Premier League team West Bromwich Albion, and has also put its name to world-level snooker and badminton events.

12BET spokesman Rory Anderson said: “Everyone at 12BET is delighted to add the Team World Cup Table tennis tournament to our growing sponsorship portfolio.

“We will have extensive branding at the event that will be picked up by an impressive number of global broadcasters.

“We are looking forward to seeing the best players in the world compete at the Copper Box Arena in February.”