Manchester United inks global deal with Wow Hydrate

Manchester United and WOW HYDRATE have announced a multi-year global partnership, making the popular sports and fitness drink the club’s official sports hydration partner.

This new collaboration will see WOW HYDRATE and the club working together to deliver high-impact campaigns, featuring both the men’s and women’s first teams, highlighting the popular drinks brand with the United’s global fan base.

From today, WOW HYDRATE will be available within the club’s famous Old Trafford stadium, with products available to purchase at all matchday concourse retail points, and across the men’s, women’s and academy training facilities at the club’s Carrington Training Centre.

With a commitment to supporting grassroots football, WOW HYDRATE plan to use the partnership to engage with local footballing communities. There are also future plans to mark the partnership with a specially created Manchester United and Wow Hydrate co-branded range of hydration drinks.

To announce the collaboration, Manchester United and WOW HYDRATE have created exclusive new content featuring United first team players such as, Lisandro Martinez, Mary Earps, Harry Maguire and Alejandro Garnacho, showing both players and fans enjoying the sports drink in a mixture of fun environments.

WOW HYDRATE’s mantra is to ‘be the best’ and their overarching goal is to become the world’s number one sport hydration brand. By partnering with Manchester United, the company believes the collaboration will help them achieve this ambition, entering them into new markets, elevating them on a worldwide scale.

Jake Brocklesby, Global Director, WOW HYDRATE, said: “This partnership aligns with the ambitions we have for the brand – redefining the sports and fitness drinks market, and becoming the leader in our space. We can think of no better club to combine with to showcase our science-led approach and innovative technology.”

Queenie Porter, Managing Director, WOW HYDRATE, said: “This is a major step for our brand. We wanted a mutually beneficial partnership that would allow us to develop impactful community and grassroots programmes, and this agreement delivers on that. We are excited to see the club’s supporters discover and interact with WOW HYDRATE in the weeks and months ahead.”

Victoria Timpson, CEO of Alliances of Partnerships, Manchester United said: “WOW HYDRATE is a progressive and ambitious brand, and we are extremely excited to be partnering with them. We look forward to not only introducing our global fans to the science behind its range of hydration products, but also support the work it does within our footballing community.”

Understanding Sport’s Value Chain In The Middle East

In this View From Middle East piece Petra Santini, Partner at Portas Consulting, outlines the importance of understanding sport’s value chain, particularly in the region.

The Middle East’s sport sector is booming. It is currently valued between c.$10-15bn with some estimates of up to $25-30bn by 2030 being cited. Governments are pushing the development of sports, to benefit the country socially and economically, while private investors are increasingly attracted to the sector for financial returns.

How do you ensure that this accelerated investment is holistic and leads to a fully functioning sports sector vs. a series of individual stand-alone initiatives and investments?

There is no set definition of a functioning sport sector however we use this term when a sports ecosystem enables positive outcomes for a country whilst requiring targeted government intervention across value chain. Therefore, whether a policy maker or an investor, an understanding of the sport sector value chain is imperative. This article outlines what the sports value chain is, why it matters, and its importance to sector development in the Middle East.

Sport value chain

The term value chain typically describes a process of activities where value is delivered at each step. While the steps differ slightly across the different sub-sectors of sport, it can broadly be defined across five activities, segmented into three groups:

In a recent study across the sports ecosystem, we identified 16 sport sub-sectors, further broken down into over 80 potential investment areas cutting across the above outlined value chain. These sub-sectors include direct sport activities (e.g. sports facilities and professional sports leagues) and wider supporting activities (e.g. sports medicine and sports media).

Let’s take the sub-sector of sports media as an example:

Design
Investors will own the media rights for a league, club or event
Develop
Production companies will film and develop content for commercial use
Deliver

Broadcasters will distribute content across networks
News platforms will report on the content either through traditional (e.g., print) or modern platforms (e.g., apps)

There are 7 potential investment areas within sports media alone, all requiring differing businesses and offering varied impact and returns.

Public sector trends

In countries with a long history in sports, the private sector will often operate across the majority of the sports value chain. Entities have developed sectoral expertise as the sport ecosystem has matured over 100+ years. However, even in such markets, there is a significant role for the public sector to play in enhancing sector development. In the UK for example, local government has sometimes taken over the management of public facilities where the returns have been insufficient for private sector involvement. By so doing, they are ensuring that sports consumption is not limited by income bracket, thereby enabling the sector to function and ecosystem goals, such as physical activity rates, to be achieved.

The Middle East landscape differs. Public sector entities operate across many parts of the value chain due to the relative immaturity but high ambitions of the sport sector. Governments have observed the value of sport and must fill gaps where the private sector cannot. Major events in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE are examples where the public sector will support across the value chain to bring and deliver leading events to the region. Development of a sports calendar is largely led by the respective entertainment and sport ministries while the event operations are likely supported by similar government entities. Although the private sector is increasingly operating in select areas of the sport event value chain, government support is required due the high cost of attracting events to the region, which in turn, can disincentivise private sector participation. Where any aspect of the value chain is broken in this region it is the current role of the public sector to see that it is fixed in some way. This is different to other regions.

Policy implications

An understanding of the value chain and where intervention is needed is therefore imperative for a functioning sports ecosystem and enabling a country to benefit economically and socially from sport. For Middle East governments to move towards a fully functioning ecosystem, policy makers must recognise the nuances of the sports value chain and identify potential gaps. They can then set out to attract the private sector to participate in these under resourced areas, for example through grants or tax breaks, reducing long term funding reliance on the public sector. This private sector participation can be through stimulating local investors or through attracting foreign direct investment.

From an investor perspective, ecosystem gaps present opportunities for positive returns given the growth of the sector and possible first mover advantage. Furthermore, many of these new areas of investment can withstand volatile economic conditions and exhibit stable cashflows due to the resilience of sport.

So in summary, especially now for the Middle East, placing greater emphasis on the sports value chain rather than through just a ‘sport’ or ‘thematic’ lens is a more effective way to move towards a functioning whole sports ecosystem.

The PGMOL Has A Communication Problem

In this week’s Member Insights piece, David Alexander, MD of Calacus PR focusses on the communication problem Professional PGMOL has.

A few months after VAR had been introduced to the Premier League, to great fanfare, the then-PGMOL chief Mike Riley admitted that there were problems that needed to be addressed.

He said at the time: ““There are significant things we can do to improve it. We can get better consistency in decision-making, we can improve the timings and if we achieve those – which we will over time – then what we’ll end up with is better quality decision-making that minimises the impact on the game.”

We are now into the fifth year using VAR and nothing has really changed.

Riley was replaced by Howard Webb, and his failure to address the problems facing top level officiating has raised more questions about the competence and integrity of referees.

The inconsistencies that referees and VAR exhibits on a weekly basis suggest that there is a long way to go – and the spectacle of the game has been ruined by slow decision-making and obvious errors that the technology was supposed to eradicate.

It’s no surprise, then, that a YouGov survey carried out in 2020 found that two-thirds of fans in England believed that VAR had made the game less enjoyable, and just 8% wanted to keep VAR operating as it was.

Former referee Mike Dean, never one to shirk the limelight, has hardly dampened the concerns that referees apply the law evenly and fairly, when he admitted that he did not send the referee to the screen when Cristian Romero clearly pulled Marc Cucarella’s hair at the end of a 2-2 draw between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in August 2022.

He explained: “I said to Anthony (Taylor) afterwards: ‘I just didn’t want to send you to the screen after what has gone on in the game’. I didn’t want to send him up because he is a mate as well as a referee and I think I didn’t want to send him up because I didn’t want any more grief than he already had.”

We have had instances of VAR drawing offside lines in the wrong place and even forgetting to place the lines altogether.

Webb later called a crisis meeting at Stockley Park and Lee Mason, responsible for one of these errors, then left the Select Group by mutual consent.

This season, the controversies have continued, with Wolverhampton Wanderers three times the victims of erroneous decisions which led manager Gary O’Neil to admit that he has given up on referees.

Webb now participates in ‘Mic’d Up’ which discusses refereeing decisions using match footage and previously unreleased audio.

“We made a commitment to be more transparent,” said Webb on Sky’s Monday Night Football. “We know and recognise that people want more information about refereeing processes, particularly with the advent of VAR.

“We want to show spectators what goes into making the decisions on the field and then how the VAR works as well. We’ve got a professional group of officials working hard to have a positive impact on the game.”

On the face of it, this is a good move, improving the transparency of the PGMOL and the thinking that leads to certain decisions.

But there are two major problems with the concept. First of all, former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen is not a journalist, and so does not press Webb with the challenging questions an experienced journalist should ask.

That gives the impression that Webb is afforded the easiest of rides from doing the show, so it feels more like propaganda than a genuine dissection of key decisions.

The show is also only on monthly, meaning that heat-of-the-moment decisions from the previous weekends may not get covered in the 30-minute show.

The controversy reached boiling point when Luis Diaz of Liverpool was denied a goal for offside against Tottenham Hotspur in September this year, with the Londoners going on to win the game in the dying seconds.

To their credit, the PGMOL issued a statement soon after the game, as did Liverpool, who urged for a swift escalation and resolution of the ongoing issues.

Perhaps the PGMOL thought they were doing the right thing by releasing audio of the discussion between their officials which led to the error but all it did was underline the chaos, and some would argue the ineptitude, of the VAR process and personnel.

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett said: “I was staggered by the level of communication on show in the short clip released on Tuesday night… There was no joined-up thinking, clarity of thought, or any sort of collaborative approach. It appeared people were passing the buck until it all dawned on them what happened, and how they could not — or did not want to — rectify it.”

The Premier League announced an evaluation of VAR, amid scathing criticism in the fallout of what happened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a spokesperson said: “It is clear that there were not only human errors but systemic weaknesses in the VAR process. We accept PGMOL’s immediate recommendations to ensure that such failures are not repeated in the future.

“However, a wider review to seek consistently higher standards of VAR performance will be conducted by the Premier League and PGMOL, supported by other stakeholders, and where necessary further recommended actions will be brought forward and implemented.”

As a consequence, a new protocol aimed at enhancing the clarity of communication between the referee and the VAR team in relation to on-field decisions has been arranged, underlining that speed should never be more of a consideration than accuracy.

It also does not help the PGMOL’s reputation that some of its referees have travelled to officiate games in the Middle East.

In April, Michael Oliver took charge of a Saudi Pro League game between Al Nassr and Al Hilal while the VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook, who were on duty in that Tottenham v Liverpool match, had been officiating in the UAE Pro League game between Al Ain and Sharjah a few days earlier.

Given that there are Premier League clubs with significant ownership groups and interests in the Middle East, at the very least the decision to allow referees to accept these well-compensated freelance opportunities can only give rise to suspicion and conspiracy.

It seems that every week, the discourse is more about referees than the players, and nothing seems to change.

After so much controversy, is it any wonder that the League Managers Association (LMA) is lobbying for major officiating changes?

LMA Chief Executive Richard Bevan said: “The managers strongly feel that a VAR specialist should be considered a member of the close team of officials (Referee, 4th Official, Assistant Referees and VAR specialist) that become one unit for every game they are officiating together.

“The managers are also calling for a review (and simplification) of the interpretation of the term “clear and obvious” in VAR decision-making, as this is a cause of much confusion at present.”

Hackett described the current standard of refereeing as “woeful both in the middle [of the pitch] and VAR room at Stockley Park.” In response to one user on X, Hackett said there is currently “incompetence and a lack of leadership” at the PGMOL.

Clearly something has to change, and perhaps football needs to look at other sports.

Fans and coaches may be more accepting of controversial decisions if referees were more relatable and the transparency seen already in rugby and cricket was in some way replicated.

Both have greater communication around decision-making and there is a tolerance for imperfections which take into account the fact that not every decision can be absolute.

Currently VAR tries to hide the process from its audience, but IFAB secretary Lukas Brud recently ruled out broadcasting refereeing deliberations.

“I categorically say no, they shouldn’t [be played out live,]” he said. “I was allowed to observe and see communication between match officials during a review and it is quite a chaotic situation, not in a negative sense but there’s many people talking at the same time and I think it would be counterproductive for anyone to listen to all those voices talking to each other.

“We have given the green light to test the announcement of decisions to bring a little more transparency to decision-making, but we are not prepared at this point to open up communication live to the audience.”

Brud perhaps gave too much away and the “chaotic experience” is part of the problem football faces.

The introduction of semi-automated offside technology was introduced at the 2022 World Cup and its deployment in the Champions League, Serie A and La Liga, but is not yet adopted in the English top flight, which may also have helped with some decisions such as that of the disallowed Diaz goal.

There is so much for the PGMOL to improve, but while VAR continues in its current form, confidence in referees and the game in general is being undermined with referees changing their minds, managers angrier than ever and clubs calling out conspiracy.

A monthly 30-minute TV show isn’t going to change hearts and minds anytime soon.

David Alexander is Managing Director of Calacus PR, a sports public relations consultancy which provides communications and crisis support to a wide range of organisations in sport. You can connect with him here.

Prof Dr Uğur Erdener appointed as the new President of SportAccord

Prof Dr Uğur Erdener, the President of World Archery, has been appointed unanimously by the Executive Committee as the new President of SportAccord, the global sports event organisation that is governed by stakeholders representing Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations (IFs).

Prof Dr Uğur Erdener has served as President of World Archery since 2005 and has been an IOC Member since 2008. A widely-respected physician, President Erdener is the Chair of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission and is also a member of the WADA Executive Committee, a member of the board of the ITA and Vice President of ASOIF. Since 2011, he has been President of the National Olympic Committee of Türkiye.

Erdener, who will serve a four-year term as SportAccord President, will be supported by his seven colleagues on the new SportAccord Executive Committee, the composition of which was confirmed during yesterday’s General Assembly (in alphabetical order by organisation):

Ingmar De Vos (BEL) – ASOIF representative
President, International Equestrian Federation (FEI)

Uğur Erdener (TUR) – ASOIF representative
President, World Archery (WA)

Petra Sörling (SWE) – ASOIF representative
President, International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)

Einars Fogelis (LAT) – AIOWF representative
President, International Luge Federation (FIL)

Beau Welling (USA) – AIOWF representative
President, World Curling Federation (WCF)

Anna Arzhanova (RUS – SER) – ARISF representative
President, World Underwater Federation (CMAS)

Riccardo Fraccari (ITA) – ARISF representative
President, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC)

Stefan Fox (GER) – AIMS Representative
Secretary General, International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA)

General Assembly also ratified new statutes under which SportAccord will operate according to a revised governance structure whereby all of the IF umbrella bodies will be represented, as reflected in the new composition of the Executive Committee above. The new statutes also bring the association into line with best practice corporate governance, clearly defining roles and responsibilities between the Executive Committee, the General Assembly and the Secretariat.

New SportAccord President Prof Dr Uğur Erdener said: “I am gratefull for the confidence of my colleagues and I am looking forward to serve SportAccord as President over the next four years. I am grateful to my friend Ivo Ferriani for all the work he has done in transforming SportAccord over the last two years and also for the work accomplished by his Executive Commitee colleagues Ingmar De Vos, Francesco Ricci Bitti and Luc Tardif.”

Erdener succeeds International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and AIOWF President Ivo Ferriani at the helm of SportAccord, who said: “As my term comes to an end, it is with spirit of service and a mission accomplished that I hand over the baton to Uğur Erdener. I offer my successor the very best wishes in building, starting from this solid base, a prosperous future for SportAccord and sport as a whole.”

SportAccord is currently hosting the IF Forum 2023, which takes place from 13 to 15 November at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and gathers hundreds of leaders, experts and decision-makers from across the global sports movement. Under the theme of ‘Sport (R)evolution’ the IF Forum covers topics including the use of new technology to build fan engagement and optimise the monetisation of IF assets, the strategies that have succeeded in revolutionising women’s sport, climate action and other topics that are transforming the environment in which IFs work.

Also attending the IF Forum is a delegation from the host of SportAccord’s next major event, the World Sport & Business Summit, to be held from 7 to 11 April 2024 in Birmingham and the West Midlands, UK.

Sponsorship Propensity Index: Sectors Rights Holder Should Target To Maximise Chances Of Success

When it comes to selling sponsorship, rights holders want to know which sectors they should prioritise to give themselves the greatest chance of success. In other words, where is the probability highest? caytoo’s latest Propensity Index does just this.

caytoo’s Propensity Index answers this question of probability for various factors such as what sport you’re in or what rights package you’re selling (such as on kit or naming rights) but for this issue we’ll focus on the key benefit you offer sponsors in terms of why brands say they undertake sponsorships.

In particular, we’ll look at the three most popular reasons why brands say they undertake sponsorships. This is based on our analysis of 2,730 deals around the world during the first 10 months of 2023.

1. Brand awareness: this is about brands doing sponsorship deals to generate or maintain awareness.

This accounted for 28.2% of all deals so any sector in which brand awareness accounts for more than 28.2% of deals over-indexes on this reason (i.e. a higher probability) and any sector below 28.2% under-indexes (a lower probability).

Top of the pile is Consumer Services with an index of 1.33 (brand awareness accounts for 37.4% of Consumer Services deals divided by the 28.2% average). In other words, rights holders promoting brand awareness are 1.33 times more likely to attract a Consumer Services sponsor than the average across all sectors, so this is the sector to prioritise.

This is primarily driven by gambling firms, who are 1.86x more likely to do deals based on brand awareness. This is because the sector is highly competitive with low product differentiation, so the focus of marketing is to maintain top of mind awareness among consumers. This is illustrated by the sector’s heavy use of TV advertising which is seen as the most effective tool to help maintain awareness.

This is a similar characteristic to the other sectors that over-index most on brand awareness – Automotive, Food & Beverage and Travel & Tourism – all highly competitive sectors who are major users of TV advertising.

2. Social Impact: this is about brands doing sponsorship deals because they want to be seen to be doing good.

Utilities over-index most on this reason by a huge margin, being 2.59x more likely to do a deal based on this versus the average (45.3% divided by 17.6%). This is driven by energy companies (2.66x more likely) who, being inextricably linked with the damage they cause to the environment, need to generate positive PR to offset this.

Financial Services (1.45x) is the next most likely sector for rights holders to fish in to maximise the chances of a deal if you’re pitching social impact-related sponsorships. This is driven by Insurance, Banks and Investment/Trading firms. In the case of Insurance firms, it tends to be around doing sponsorships to promote the benefits of good health and active lifestyles. For Banks, it’s more focused about helping certain communities around financial accessibility and literacy.

When it comes to Investment/Trading firms, the motive is similar to Energy firms in the need to improve public perception. In Investment/Trading’s case, it relates to the inherent risk and association the sector has with potentially losing people’s money. This has become increasingly prevalent due to the rise of online trading firms that promote a more short-term, and risky, view of accumulating wealth compared to the traditional longer-term, ‘safer’ method practised by wealth management firms.

3. Values Alignment: this is about brands choosing rights holders to showcase and promote desirable values or characteristics that both parties share.

Health & Wellbeing brands over-index most on this reason, being 1.64x more likely to do a deal based on this versus the average (22.5% divided by 13.7%), so this is the sector to primarily focus on if you’re pitching a deal based on the strength of your values. This is led by Health Services – such as private medical services and orthopaedics providers – due to the obvious links they share between playing sports and the associated health and wellness benefits.

The Automotive sector is the next most conducive to pitch around Values Alignment, with an index of 1.37. This is driven by Auto Components such as tyre and engine oil brands (mostly using motorsport) who play on the shared characteristics of performance and engineering. Probably, less obvious is how much Auto Retailers also play on aligning values between themselves and the rights holder. This is usually around the different stages of the car-buying process (e.g. being smooth, efficient) or what the rights holder is looking to achieve beyond the playing field (e.g. investing in the future).

If you’re interested in learning more about Propensity when it comes the other factors mentioned – such as what sport you’re in or what rights package you’re selling (e.g. on kit or naming rights) – contact info@caytoo.co.uk

FIBA 3×3 World Tour to make debut in Bahrain

The FIBA 3×3 World Tour is set to make its highly anticipated debut in Manama, Bahrain, as the world’s best 3×3 players descend on the Harbour North on 16-17 November 2023.

The 16th FIBA 3×3 World Tour stop in 2023 will see 12 of the best 3×3 men’s teams in the world, from Ub Huishan and Vienna (AUT) to Antwerp TOPdesk (BEL), Lausanne Sports LS (SUI) and Amsterdam HiPro (NED), compete in the Kingdom for the very first time.

Hosted in cooperation with the Bahrain Ministry of Tourism and GFH Financial Group, fans of the world’s number one urban team sport will enjoy a combination of family entertainment and thrilling 3×3 action at the iconic Harbour North on the shores of Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

“We couldn’t be happier to bring the world’s best 3×3 stars to Manama, the capital of Bahrain, for the first time ever as part of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour in 2023,” said Shaikh Issa Bin Ali Al Khalifa, Undersecretary Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and Vice President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee. “The iconic waterfront location of the Harbour North will provide the ultimate 3×3 showcase in a vibrant city home to a growing community of passionate basketball fans.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome the FIBA 3×3 World Tour to Manama – the first time this prestigious tour will be held in Bahrain,” said Shaikh Issa Bin Ali Al Khalifa. “Hosting this major international event on the beautiful shores of Manama will no doubt inspire the next young generation of basketball stars in Bahrain and underline our ability to host major international sporting events. Outside of the action, we welcome the players and fans to take time to enjoy the rich history and culture our beautiful city has to offer.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri signs NEFT Vodka as official team partner

Scuderia AlphaTauri has signed a new Official Team Partner, NEFT Vodka.

This long-term deal will break cover at the next round of the Formula 1 World Championship in Las Vegas from 16 to 18 November, when the NEFT logo will appear on the halo, wheel spray deflectors, and top headrest of our AT04 cars driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.

These are exciting transformational times for Scuderia AlphaTauri and NEFT, two companies who share Austrian roots, with the rapidly expanding vodka producer seeing Formula 1, through our team, as the ideal vehicle to promote the NEFT Vodka Brand and expand its global footprint.

Quality, innovation and sustainability are at the heart of this global ultra-premium vodka Brand; concepts that it shares with Formula 1 and our team. Its two key tenets are sustainability and giving back. NEFT’s sustainability efforts are focused on minimizing its environmental impact throughout the entire production process via methods that are aimed at preserving the environment for the sake of generations to come.

NEFT’s packaging is as innovative as its product delivered in a recyclable, heat resistant unbreakable barrel that not only keeps its contents cold for several hours, even in warm temperatures and climates, and can also be taken places where glass is forbidden.

The award-winning vodka is the result of NEFT’s founder, Ekaterina Kuzmina’s, vision to produce a spirit made with two super-clean ingredients: non-GMO rye and Austrian crystal-clear spring water, with no additives; applying sustainable choices while aiming to raise environmental consciousness in its industry – all of which aligns perfectly with the pinnacle of motorsport and Scuderia AlphaTauri’s net zero goals.

Fabian Wrabetz, Scuderia AlphaTauri Director of Marketing and Communications: “Much like the sport of Formula 1, NEFT Vodka believes in the power of extraordinary and remarkable moments. Scuderia AlphaTauri is delighted to welcome this ambitious and ultra-premium brand to our growing portfolio of partners during this incredibly exciting and transformational period in the sport. We can’t wait to share this collaboration with the world in the years to come.”

Jeff Mahony, NEFT Global Inc CEO, “Scuderia AlphaTauri are the perfect partner for NEFT Vodka, as we enter the next era of our global business. Scuderia AlphaTauri provides the ultimate global stage to show the innovation and unrivalled taste of our ultra-premium vodka. We’re honoured to be an official partner of the F1 team during this pivotal time in both of our dynamic businesses. We couldn’t be more excited about what we can achieve together in the years to come”.

October Success for the Confederation of African Football: New Sponsorships and Partnerships

In this week’s View From Africa piece Cynthia Mumbo, CEO of SportsConnect Africa pens down how October has witnessed a series of significant milestones for the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with the announcement of crucial sponsorships and partnerships that promise to transform African football and have a broader impact on the global soccer landscape.

1. IMG: Official Sales Partner for CAF’s 11 Competitions

In a significant development for the Confederation of African Football (CAF), IMG has been appointed as the official sales partner for CAF’s 11 competitions. IMG will provide marketing intelligence, data analysis, and consultancy services to CAF, helping to maximize the commercial potential of its competitions and generate new revenue streams.

The appointment of IMG is a significant coup for CAF, as it is one of the world’s leading sports marketing and media companies. IMG has a proven track record of success in helping to commercialize sports competitions and events, and its expertise will be invaluable to CAF as it seeks to grow its reach and revenue.

2. Visa: Official Payment Partner for CAF Competitions

In another notable development, CAF has chosen Visa as the official and exclusive payment partner for several of its competitions, including the next two Africa Cup of Nations and Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.

This partnership represents a significant win for Visa, as it provides the company access to a massive audience of soccer enthusiasts throughout Africa. CAF competitions are among the most popular sporting events on the continent, presenting Visa with an ideal platform to promote its payment services to African consumers.

The agreement also reflects CAF’s growing commercial ambitions as the organization actively seeks more sponsorships and investments. The Visa partnership is a significant stride in this direction.

3. PUMA: Official Technical Partner of CAF

In a groundbreaking announcement, CAF and the renowned sports company PUMA have established a new partnership that designates PUMA as the official technical partner for several CAF events, including the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023.

This collaboration, effective from November 1, 2023, will see PUMA supplying the official match ball for CAF tournaments and providing referees’ kits. Moreover, PUMA will engage in various marketing opportunities both inside and outside the stadium.

CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe expressed his delight in welcoming PUMA as a partner and highlighted how the agreement would aid in the development and growth of football in Africa. Johan Kuhlo, General Manager EEMEA Distribution at PUMA, emphasized PUMA’s commitment to working with CAF to create exciting products tailored specifically for African football.

4. Visit Saudi: Main Sponsor of the New African Football League

In a major development, the tourism board of Saudi Arabia, Visit Saudi, has stepped up as the primary sponsor for the recently established African Football League (AFL). This sponsorship agreement, initiated by CAF, encompasses the league’s inaugural season and holds the potential for multi-year extensions.

The partnership marks a significant achievement for Visit Saudi, aligning its tourism brand with one of Africa’s most prestigious soccer competitions. The AFL is set to attract fans and players alike, offering Visit Saudi an excellent opportunity to promote Saudi Arabia as a top travel destination.

This move also underscores Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning interest in soccer, with the country having already hosted several high-profile soccer events in recent years. It’s clear that the Saudi government is eager to position the nation as a key player in the global soccer landscape.

These recent sponsorships and partnerships achieved in October are encouraging developments for both CAF and the organizations involved, setting the stage for an exciting future in African football.

Streaming Leaders Post Subscriber Gains But Profitability Remains Elusive

Carlo De Marchis, ‘a guy with a scarf’ pens down this month’s business index.

Overall our index sees more positives than in the past months but the Sports category is the one doing less well. We want to focus our attention on the media and streaming sector with Netflix seemingly doing the right things in the current scenario and is up nearly 15% on the month alone. That’s a big move and continues a strong performance as Netflix is up around 50% this year vs the S&P 15%. .

Another notable winner is Draftkings but that we will cover in the next episode.

The latest quarterly earnings reports from major streaming platforms offer crucial insights into the state of the industry. By analyzing subscriber, revenue and profitability data, we can assess which players like Netflix and Disney are leading the pack. Streaming’s transition continues, but these financial results help gauge progress monetizing users amid economic uncertainty. Though challenges remain, the numbers reveal how media giants are adapting their business models to gain dominance as consumer behavior shifts. The earnings spotlight key inflection points in streaming’s competitive evolution.

What we learned:

In brief we were surprised by subscribers numbers going up and in many cases beating estimates
Price hiking has not scared too many customers
Password sharing restriction has not scared too many customers
The hybrid AVOD/SVOD/FAST model is in the works, too early to judge

Major streaming platforms Amazon, Disney, and Netflix reported third quarter earnings this month, highlighting ongoing subscriber momentum amid intensifying competition for market share. However, turning streaming to profit remains an uphill battle.

Netflix remains the leader in the streaming space with impressive Q3 subscriber additions showing its continued momentum. The company added 8.8 million global paid members, ending the quarter with over 247 million total subscribers. Growth was fueled by hit content like Stranger Things and Virgin River as well as new initiatives around advertising and account sharing. Netflix also posted improved profitability driven by price hikes and subscription monetization. However, the company still faces rising competitive threats as deep-pocketed rivals like Disney, Apple and Amazon ramp up investments in exclusive original content.

Though Netflix retains pole position for now, its content costs remain extremely high at over $17 billion per year. As economic conditions tighten and consumers reel in spending, Netflix will need to judiciously balance content budgets and regional strategies to maintain growth. Profitability gains are encouraging but larger challenges loom to defend its streaming dominance worldwide in the years ahead. Overall, Netflix remains the giant to beat, but its long-term trajectory will be shaped by how well it can evolve its business model and avoid missteps against hungry competitors.

Amazon also posted robust ad sales of $12 billion, up 26% year-over-year. This sets the stage for the retail giant to introduce an ad-supported version of Prime Video in 2024, further diversifying revenue.

Disney+ grew subscribers 12% to 152 million, but at a slowing rate of just 4 million adds last quarter. High content and marketing costs continue to weigh on profitability. Disney’s direct-to-consumer unit posted a $387 million loss for Q3.

Results underscore streaming’s transition pains. Subscriber gains highlight platforms’ growing scale and demand for on-demand video. Amazon and Netflix in particular showcased their ability to monetize engaged users through ads, price hikes and account policies.

But turning a profit remains an uphill battle, especially for Disney. With economic uncertainty ahead, financial discipline and savvy spending will determine which players emerge on top in the streaming wars.

For now, Netflix and Amazon look best positioned given their subscriber monetization progress and ad capabilities. But Disney’s unmatched brands and IP present an opportunity to play catchup if the company can judiciously rein in costs.

The path ahead will test streaming’s leaders as consumer budgets tighten. But quarterly momentum underscores these giants’ pole position as cord cutting accelerates. Where streaming’s profit puzzle will ultimately land is still coming into focus.

Looking into the categories

Streaming:

Divergent trajectories with players like Netflix and Paramount+ adding subscribers but also facing cost/profitability pressures.
Roku growing accounts and revenue signaling advertising rebound.
Pay-TV providers like Dish and Altice continue to lose subscribers to cord-cutting.

Media/Content:

Traditional media firms face growth struggles compared to digital/streaming.
Ad measurement provider Comscore saw modest revenue decline.
AMC Networks grew streaming revenue but overall company under pressure.

Tech:

Cloud services firms like Akamai saw solid enterprise security revenue but media delivery lagged.
Apple saw iPhone sales growth but slowdowns in other units like Mac.
Vimeo struggled with bookings/pipeline especially among SMB customers.

Overall themes:

Streaming services and digital media outperforming traditional media.
Economic uncertainty creating churn – winners adapt and highlight value.
Cost control and financial discipline critical in turbulent environment.
Choppy conditions persist but opportunities exist for firms able to execute.

AOB – Crypto back in fashion?

It will be very interesting to see if the momentum gathering in the crypto markets has any effect on areas of the Index. For those not watching Bitcoin (that tends to be the wider barometer) it has pretty much doubled this year and has steadily risen all year. It’s been out of the news and is it a coincidence that Roblox has also been very strong recently? One to watch….

Here’s the full index:

iSportConnect Welcomes EXL As New Partner

iSportConnect are pleased to announce EXL, a company that specialises in helping businesses to make sense of data and leverage AI to drive business growth, as the latest company to become an iSportConnect Advisory partner.

EXL, a publicly listed company (Nasdaq:EXLS), is an established leader in data and analytics and a global professional service provider. They hold a leading position in the sports analytics industry and work with several leading sports leagues and clubs, leveraging cutting-edge analytics to drive growth.

Besides sports, media and entertainment, EXL works with over 800 clients worldwide across a variety of industries including insurance, health, banking and financial services. They are bringing vast experience from these dynamic and hugely challenging verticals into the world of sport to help fuel sports’ digital and business transformation.

Anuroop Talwar, Vice President – Sports, Entertainment & Retail Analytics, EXL Analytics commented: “We are ecstatic to partner with iSportConnect to expand our reach within the global sporting community. We are looking forward to having the expert guidance of the iSportConnect team members in helping us build new and meaningful connections within sports”

Welcoming EXL as iSportConnect’s newest Advisory partner, Sandy Case, CEO of iSportConnect said, “A key component of working with any of our Partners is around both their product and their people. EXL are genuinely doing world class work with world class clients and our first meetings with the team reinforced the opportunity across the sport industry. We look forward to being part of the next stage of EXL’s growth in sport.”

iSportConnect Advisory

iSportConnect’s Advisory service works to help our clients grow – through commercial development, marketing and communications, global sports market entry and business strategy. Our global consultancy clients have included the likes of LaLiga, ITF, Vindicia, IAAF, Tata Communications, ITF and InCrowd among many others.

About iSportConnect

iSportConnect is all about helping organisations grow in the business of sport. Whatever the organisation. We launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing together sports business professionals around the world in a networking community enabling them to meet one another, find information and obtain access to a wide range of relevant services. The platform is now the largest global private network of sport business executives, where membership is exclusive and follows a strict door policy.