Sportel Rendez-vous Buenos Aires – An International Sports Market & Summit

The SPORTEL 2024 season is in full swing! With just a few weeks remaining, anticipation is  building for the kick-off of SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires, taking place from 14 to 15  May at the Hilton Buenos Aires, an inspiring relocation of the Americas event, being held for  the first time in a Spanish speaking country, in Argentina.  

Buenos Aires, the vibrant capital and revered hub of football and sports culture, the city is  famed for its abundant sporting talents and athletic excellence, including football, basketball,  rugby, boxing, and hockey. It is also renowned for organising multiple conferences and events  spanning international meetings, gastronomy, cultural, and scientific realms. Surpassing even  the renowned cities of New York City and Miami, Buenos Aires emerges as the premier destination for conferences across the Americas. Furthermore, Argentina was pioneer in the  TV cable industry, reaching the highest level of coverage in all Americas. It has also a high  level of content production, distributed all throughout the continent. 

SPORTEL Rendez-vous Buenos Aires will serve as the essential bridge for the global sports  tech and media industry, facilitating the exchange of experiences, best practices, and  innovations between the North and South American continent and the SPORTEL community. 

The 2-day market and summit will gather key decision makers from the LATAM region and  the rest of the world, such as 1190 SPORTS, ANTHEM SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ACB,  BETWARRIOR, BIZID, DFB, DORNA SPORTS, EL CHIRINGUITO DE JUGONES,  EURODATA SPORTS, FANATIZ, E1 SERIES, ELEVEN TICKETS, ESPN, FIFA, GLOBAL  MMK, GLOBECAST, GLOBO, GRUPO MEDIAPRO, IKO MEDIA GROUP, IMG, IMPLY,  INFRONT, INTELSAT, IOC, LEGA SERIE A, LIBERO 33 MEDIA, LPGA, MADCO  BROADCAST SERVICES, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, MATCHROOM, MEGA TV,  MERIDIANO TV, ML SPORTS MEDIA, MOVISTAR+, NBA, PROFESSIONAL FIGHTERS  LEAGUE, PREMIER LEAGUE, PROTOCOL SPORTS MARKETING, ROSS VIDEO, SARAN  MEDIA GROUP, SES, SPONIX TECH, SPORTFIVE, SPORTRADAR, SPORTSVALUE, SPRING MEDIA, SUPPONOR, STATS PERFORM, TEAM MARKETING, TELEMETRICO,  TORNEOS, TYC SPORTS, VIVARO, WARNER BROS DISCOVERY, WORLD TABLE  TENNIS, WPT ENTERPRISES, ZAPPING, ZEUS SPORTS MARKETING etc. 

The event will kick off on Monday 13 May with an unforgettable Opening Party sponsored  by Bet Warrior and 1190 Sports, in one of the most emblematic spots in Buenos Aires,  Hipodromo Argentino Palermo, gathering all SPORTEL participants. 

“It is a unique opportunity to develop the South American market, where potential for  development is huge. This event will offer new networking, meetings, and business  opportunities with top executives from the sports broadcast and tech industry from Argentina  and beyond, in prepation to the many sports tournaments that the region will host in the  upcoming years. To make this event a great success, I am delighted to be joining forces with  valuable local partners, J & S EG, Lions Sports & Media, and ProEnter”, explains Laurent  Puons, CEO of Monaco Mediax. 

“We are very excited about the arrival of SPORTEL America to our country, having an event of  international quality in Argentina and being the first time in a Spanish-speaking country will  give a lot of prestige to the industry” said Jorge Strika, CEO of J &S Entertainment Group? 

“These types of events help strengthen and expand the development of the sports industry on  our continent, generating new business opportunities,” added Daniel Tamborini, CEO of Lions  Sports & Media. 

• Check out the full participant list: https://www.sportelamerica.com/participant-list First speakers announced!

Through a series of engaging Masterclasses, Keynotes and Presentations, the Conference  Summit, will dive into emerging industry trends, which will enable the international SPORTEL  Community to explore new channels and partnership opportunities within LATAM and North  America. 

Hot topics will include: Latin America – The real land of opportunity; Reaching a new generation:  trends in streaming and digital content; The collaborative model that is changing the landscape  of Peruvian football; How the PFL created a global MMA powerhouse; AI shaping the future of  sports creating a new era of innovation; Pioneers of production for major sporting events; New  markets for in-play sports betting; The Pitch Perfect session and more to be announced! 

Current headline speakers include : 

• Peter Murray, CEO, PROFESSIONNAL FIGHTERS LEAGUE 

• José D’Amato Country Manager Argentina Uruguay aParaguay, GROUP MEDIAPRO • Guillermo Santa-Cruz, VP Latin America & US Hispanic, IMG 

• Hernan Donnari, Co-Founder and CO, 1190 SPORTS 

• Juan Buscaglione, Genereal Manager, FANATIZ 

• Mohammad Ali Abbaspour, CEO, SPONIX TECH 

• Michael Muller, Broadcast Director, PANAM SPORTS 

• Fabio Gallo, General Manager Europe & Asia, VIEWLIFT 

• Danny Citrinowicz, CEO and CO-Founder, BIZID 

• Facundo Pardo, CEO and CO-Founder, BIZID 

• Callum McCarthy, Editor in chief, SPORTBUSINESS 

• Tironi Paz Ortiz, CEO, IMPLY 

• Cesar Sbrighi, COO, EVENTICKETS 

• Joanna Merchie, Conference Director, SPORTEL 

More information on the programme : https://www.sportelamerica.com/programme and speaker updates: https://www.sportelamerica.com/speakers 

• Press Registration: https://press.mysportel.com/wizard/step_1

Auburn University replaces Under Armour with Nike in a 10-year deal

Auburn University inked a 10-year deal with Nike after ending its 18 years association with Under Armour.

Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen said: “We are excited to enter this new partnership with Nike, a brand that consistently champions athletes and sport around the world. We are appreciative of their strong support throughout this process. We believe that our 10-year agreement, beginning in July 2025, will continue to elevate Auburn and best serve our student-athletes and our university moving forward.”

“We are also grateful to Kevin Plank and Under Armour for their 18 years of valued partnership in growing the Auburn brand and serving our student athletes, coaches, and fans. We look forward to the opportunity to celebrate this relationship throughout the final year ahead.”

ATP signs multi-year global deal with Yokohama Rubber

ATP and Yokohama Rubber have announced a new multi-year global partnership, with the premium Japanese tire manufacturer becoming the ATP Tour’s first Official Tire partner.

Renowned for its fearless commitment to performance, Yokohama will leverage the Tour’s year-round platform to bolster its global presence and premium positioning. The brand will activate a portfolio of ATP Tour events, unlocking exclusive experiences for fans at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Internazionali BNL d’Italia, Cinch Championships (London Queen’s Club), Hamburg European Open and the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Key benefits include on-court and on-site brand visibility, and world-class corporate hospitality.

As Gold Partner, Yokohama will also receive year-round integration on ATP Tour’s social and digital channels, showcasing its performance-driven technologies and innovations.

“We’re incredibly proud to welcome Yokohama as our first Official Tire partner,” said Daniele Sanò, ATP Chief Business Officer. “Our brands share so many values, including a commitment to high performance and innovation. As a Tour we’re always on the road – a truly authentic platform to tell Yokohama’s brand story.”

Giovanni Ponzoni, CEO Yokohama Europe, said: “We are really delighted to partner with the ATP Tour, a truly global premium platform that shares our commitment to excellence and innovation. This sponsorship provides the perfect stage to expose Yokohama brand and gives us the opportunity to engage our business partners with unique and exclusive experiences”. He added: “Our range of tires are well-known for incredible performance on different surfaces – much like the players on the ATP Tour. We are extremely proud of becoming the ATP’s Official Tire Partner, and we aim to leverage this partnership to sustain our brand awareness and continue to expand our footprint across Europe.”

SportAccord Adds Glow to West Midlands Plans

After a five-year hiatus SportAccord is back with a buzzy relaunch edition that has brought 1700 delegates to Birmingham’s International Convention Centre from April 7-12. The ambitions of the city and surrounding area as a sports destination were highlighted on Tuesday when Birmingham City FC Chairman Tom Wagner revealed that the club has acquired a 48-site for a new stadium that will create a second city centre focused on sport. iSportConnect’s Content Director Jay Stuart spoke with Joel Lavery, strategic lead, major sporting events, for the West Midlands Growth Company to know more.

Sports tourism accounted for one in seven visitors during the 12-month period that featured the Commonwealth Games with 19.6 million people coming to watch or participate in events. “It’s our fastest growth sector,” said Joel Lavery.

SportAccord is part of a 10-year sports growth plan for the area centred on Birmingham encompassing Wolverhampton and Coventry. “We started with the 2022 Commonwealth Games. SportAccord is the second big step,” he said. “It’s all about awareness. The leaders of world sport, people who would not come to Birmingham otherwise, are visiting us in our home and we’re sure they like what they see.”

He added: “We are not only aiming to attract sports competitions but also the annual meetings and other gatherings of sports organisations. We have invested in bringing the federations here to SportAccord and we want them to come back. We want this to be the start of a relationship.”

Several upcoming sports competitions are among the events sharing £3 million in funding from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games budget. The Games managed to achieve an underspend of £70 million and that money is being reinvested back into the region. The Games were also delivered in a record four and half years instead of the usual seven, and much of that time was affected by the Covid pandemic. This sports-related inflow pumped £1.9 billion in spending into the economy and supported 18,352 jobs.

This year’s sports events and the amounts of support they have received are:

  • The ESL One – Dota II esports tournament, Solihull, April 26-28 – £145,000
  • The European Judo Union Junior Cup, Walsall, June 15-19 – £250,000
  • The SuperDome esports tournament, Solihull, September 5-8 – £250,00
  • West Midlands Urban Sports, Wolverhampton, September 6-8 – £390,000

The highest amount (£500,000) goes to the Kabaddi World Cup taking place from March 24-31 next year. It will be the first time the biggest kabaddi event is held outside Asia.

These events along with several cultural happenings are expected to give estimated £11.5 million boost to the local economy, bringing almost 700,000 competitors, performers and spectators to the region.

Birmingham will host the European Athletics Championships in 2026 at the Alexander Stadium, a dedicated athletics venue with 18,000 capacity near the city centre.

The area regularly hosts the UK’s biggest gaming festival, Insomnia, at the National Exhibition Centre, the country’s largest exhibition venue.

WNBA extends partnership with Prime Video

The WNBA has announced a multi-year extension with Prime Video The deal keeps 21 games each season on the streamer, with the highlight being the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game.

“We’re thrilled to continue bringing exclusive national coverage of the WNBA and highlighting these exceptional athletes to Prime members,” said Charlie Neiman, Head of Sports Partnerships, Prime Video. “Following a successful 2023 season, we’re looking forward to reaching even more milestones with the WNBA and furthering our commitment to women’s sports.”

“We are incredibly pleased that Prime Video is making a meaningful and continued commitment to the WNBA and will once again provide a great platform to showcase the world-class athletes of our league across the regular season and particularly with its streaming of the Championship Game of the new, streamlined Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase,” said WNBA Chief Growth Officer Colie Edison.

In addition to its deal with Prime Video, the WNBA has media rights agreements with CBS, Scripps Sports, and most significantly, ESPN. The ESPN deal expires after the 2025 season, and inking a new pact with the company is crucial for the WNBA.

The league is reportedly seeking $100 million annually from all of its media rights deals. That target doesn’t seem that farfetched, especially given that the NWSL is earning $60 million annually through its four new media rights deals. The spike in viewership for women’s college basketball this season could make the WNBA an attractive target for media companies going forward, and several not currently airing the league may want to get involved with new media rights deals.

McLaren Racing inks extension with British American Tobacco

McLaren Racing has announced a multi-year partnership extension with British American Tobacco (BAT), continuing as Official Principal Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team from this season.

BAT is a leading multi-national consumer goods business and has been partnered with the McLaren F1 Team since 2019. The partnership is rooted in advanced technology, transformation, and innovation.

McLaren and BAT’s brand Vuse last week launched the latest edition of the “Driven by Change” campaign for the Japanese Grand Prix, which saw a design by local artist MILTZ on the MCL38 cars in Suzuka. The Driven by Change campaign celebrates emerging creatives through the global motorsport platform, providing opportunities to showcase their innovative artwork to the world.

The campaign, now in its fourth year, has championed rising artists including Rabab Tantawy, Anna Tangles and Nujood Al-Otaibi, who each produced artwork which was carried on McLaren’s race cars at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively. Driven by Change is underpinned by diversity, equity & inclusion, a key pillar of McLaren’s sustainability mission.

BAT’s brands will continue to be represented on McLaren’s F1 race cars from the current season, and as part of the extension, will also see branding feature on NEOM McLaren Formula E Team race cars for the remainder of the season.

Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing, said: “I am thrilled to announce this partnership extension with our long-standing partner BAT. Together, we will continue to champion important causes, such as DE&I, and deliver campaigns that engage and excite our global fanbase.

“BAT’s transformation journey is fast-paced and innovative, just like Formula 1. I am proud that we will continue our partnership into the future.”

Kingsley Wheaton, Chief Growth & Strategy Officer, BAT, said: “We are extremely proud of the partnership we’ve built with McLaren over the last five years. Our shared expertise and lessons learned has helped us to build multi-billion-dollar brands and I am excited to see where this partnership goes from here.

“With cutting-edge innovation capabilities, purposeful brand engagement and a programme of events and projects which exemplify our commitment to diversity and inclusion – the McLaren partnership will continue to support BAT’s transformation agenda. With McLaren as a partner, we are well placed to continue building a Smokeless World.”

Greenfly secures $14m investments from sports tech brands

Greenfly, the leader in powering short-form content workflows for sports, media, and other brands have announced the closing of equity investments of $14 million led by global sports tech investor ADvantage, with participation from Ryan Sports Ventures, Mercato Partners, and NBA Equity. Existing investors Verance Capital, Iconica Partners, Alpha Edison, Elysian Park Ventures and others also joined in the oversubscribed financings.

The Greenfly Platform is core infrastructure for short-form content operations, allowing the world’s largest sports and entertainment organizations to create, aggregate, collect, organize and distribute short-form content throughout their ecosystem – connecting sports leagues with teams, athletes, broadcast partners and sponsors for collaborative content activation.

“Greenfly has solidified their standing as the core short-form content infrastructure in sports and media. Their technology is already propelling these industries forward and capitalizes on one of the biggest content opportunities since the advent of cable and widespread sale of broadcast media rights,” ADvantage founding partner Jeremy Pressman said. “We are still in the early innings of effectively monetizing short-form content, and Greenfly is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this fundamental shift in consumption patterns globally.”

Greenfly onboarded over 40 partners across the globe in 2023 alone. The company also made multiple strategic hires including bringing on board a new chief financial officer, chief revenue officer, and managing director for EMEA, as well as executing its first acquisition, purchasing Miro AI, the leading contextual analysis platform for sports content. Mercato Partners’ investment came from a dedicated sleeve earmarked for pioneering AI technology, inside its latest $400M growth fund.

“Most video consumed around the world in the past year was short-form content on platforms like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels,” Greenfly CEO Daniel Kirschner said. “Sports organizations as well as their entertainment counterparts now understand that short-form content is not simply social content that can serve as marketing for core experiences. It is a core experience itself – for many fans, a primary experience – and creates opportunities for meaningful monetization. Last year was the fastest period of growth in our company’s almost ten-year history. This funding will help us continue to unlock powerful strategic relationships and give us the resources we need to supercharge our continued growth.”

The road to The Olympic Games Paris 2024

The excitement surrounding The Olympic Games Paris 2024 is growing. Within this article, we present the parallel journeys of an Olympic athlete and the vital role played by ATPI Sports Travel, highlighting the dedication, professionalism, and passion.

What unique perspectives do they both offer, shedding light on the synergy that propels them towards the grand stage of The Olympic Games Paris 2024?

Katerine Savard’s narrative in the realm of swimming unfolds as a captivating saga of triumph and perseverance. At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Savard swam the opening leg of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, helping Canada capture its first-ever Olympic medal in the event. Savard has been a consistent performer throughout her career, clinching medals at prestigious events such as the Pan Am Games, Commonwealth Games, World Aquatics Championships, and Universiade reaffirming her status as one of Canada’s most accomplished swimmers.

Beyond her aquatic feats, Savard’s commitment to developing the future of swimming as an educator reflects her talented persona. Inspired by icons like Dara Torres, she embodies the spirit of living one’s dreams—an inspiration for aspiring athletes worldwide. As Paris 2024 beckons, Savard’s journey represents the unwavering pursuit of greatness.

Amidst the spotlight illuminating Olympic athletes, a vital ATPI Sports Travel. With a blend of precision and teamwork, ATPI provides logistical excellence, facilitating seamless travel arrangements for athletes, teams, coaches, and stakeholders alike.

Their unrivalled expertise in sports travel management, coupled with a solid commitment to quality, ensures that every aspect of the journey to Paris 2024 is thoroughly curated. By harnessing cutting-edge technology and industry insights, ATPI coordinates with efficiency and comfort, empowering athletes to channel their focus entirely on their performance.

ATPI embodies the relentless spirit driving athletes towards podium triumph—a trusted ally in the quest for Olympic excellence.


As The Olympic Games Paris 2024 draws nearer, the narratives of Katerine Savard and ATPI Sports Travel meet, creating a relationship of passion, preparation, and dedication. Savard’s journey embodies the epitome of athletic prowess, fuelled by unwavering determination and a fervent desire to excel. Her relentless pursuit of excellence, both in and out of the pool, serves as a testament to the transformative power of dedication and perseverance.

In parallel, ATPI Sports Travel operates behind the scenes, seamlessly arranging the logistical intricacies that underpin an athlete’s journey to Olympic glory. From coordinating travel itineraries to managing accommodation and transportation, ATPI’s dedication to quality ensures that athletes can navigate the demands of international competition with ease.

View From The US: 2024 MLB Franchise Valuations Ranking

In this View From article, Kurt Badenhausen Sportico’s Sports Valuations Reporter, looks into the MLB team valuations in 2024.

The average MLB team is worth $2.64 billion, according to data compiled by Sportico. The New York Yankees rank first at $7.9 billion, while the Miami Marlins rank last at $1.2 billion. Below are the values of the league’s 30 franchises, whose collective worth is $79 billion.

To derive the market value of the 30 MLB franchises, Sportico calculated each team’s revenue relying on publicly available information and financial records—and interviews with those knowledgeable of team finances, including sports bankers and attorneys who actively work on MLB transactions. We traded candor for anonymity. This information was vetted by multiple team or parent company CEOs, presidents, chief financial officers and media relations personnel, as well as industry experts and investors. Below are definitions of some major metrics:

Total Value: The sum of the enterprise market value of an MLB franchise combined with the equity value of team-related businesses and real estate holdings.

Team Value: MLB franchise valuation, derived from metrics by which brball team transactions occur, including aggregating local and national revenues and factoring in a team-specific multiplier. This represents the fair-market value of the team itself, excluding related businesses held by its owners. It includes the value of each franchise’s 3.3% interest in MLB Advanced Media, the league’s digital arm, which is acquired/dispossessed in tandem with the sale of a team, as well as its 3.3% interest in the league’s investment arm, undefinedball Endowment L.P. (BELP).

Team-Related Businesses and Real Estate Holdings: The value of a franchise or franchise owner’s equity in team-related businesses—that is, both those on the team’s balance sheet and held in distinct corporate entities—as well as government-assessed real estate related to venue, practice facilities and adjacent developments. Examples include the Boston Red Sox parent entity’s 80% interest in the New England Sports Network (NESN), holdings through the Atlanta Braves’ six subsidiaries of all or a portion of 31 parcels of land adjacent to its ballpark, and minor league teams owned by the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.

Teams’ stakes in regional sports networks are included in the related business category. Historically, those equity stakes held significant value, but they have declined significantly in recent years as cash flows have deteriorated. Sportico did not assign any value to the equity stakes in Diamond Sports’ regional sports networks or to those in Mid-Atlantic Sports Network held by the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.

For franchises that do not own their stadia, the value of a team’s lease—often with advantageous terms negotiated with municipal or state authorities—is captured in the Team Value category.

iSportConnect Sports Tech Partnership Index powered by SportsTech Match – March 2024

Who’s hot in sports tech? Who is doing deals? Who is creating new, innovative partnerships? That’s what the Index attempts to dig into on a monthly basis. Whether established players or the up-and-coming stars, we go a little deeper for you…

In March SportsTech Match recorded 68 new or renewed deals / partnerships featuring tech companies in sports. 

The sports technology sectors’ continued fascination with artificial intelligence (AI) is reflected heavily in this month’s deals. The predominant use case for AI amongst the companies featured in this month’s list remains optical tracking for live video production and data collection. Evolv Technology, who announced four new partnerships in the month of March, are applying AI for an alternative use case – threat detection at venues.

Genius Sports, who sit on top (equal with Kitman Labs) of our first partnership index of 2024, are one of the companies who are applying AI for live video production and data collection. Their continued diversification, particularly into fan engagement, coaching and officiating, is evident this month as they announced deals with HBA Media (gamification) and DVSport (officiating and coaching).   

Kitman Labs, who sits on top together with Genius Sports were assisted by first-time deals struck in the Czech Republic and Brazil as the company’s international expansion continues.

Want to get access to the data behind the index?

SportsTech Match curates the only feed dedicated to sports tech partnerships from around the world to give tech companies and rights owners a snapshot of the deals and partnerships being struck across the ecosystem. Contact info@sportstechmatch if you would like to get early access to the alpha version of the sport tech partnerships feed.