There is a certain amount of irony in writing a blog about an event – in this case the iSportconnect Directors’ Club – that has the famous 1927 Chatham House Rule imposed on it . On one hand, I can only reveal a small amount of what the fascinating Question Time style debate by leading sports figures revealed, but then without the closed-shop format, the audience would have only heard the standard run-of-the-mill responses to topics ranging from social media to multi-platform consumption of sport content. However, by definition, Chatham House Rule states that ‘participants are free to use the information received’ provided that the information is not linked to any of the speakers – good news for both you and I.

So with that in mind, let’s dig into a couple key points from the panel, which consisted of Geoff Cousins (Jaguar), Philip Beard (QPR), Roger Draper (LTA) and the ever opinionated Barry Hearn (Matchroom Sport, Professional Darts Corporation, World Snooker and the O’s).

Topic one – social media in sport and more specifically, its role in sponsorship and creating customer action and engagement. The general panel consensus was that social media, particularly twitter, is breaking down the traditional models and giving brands a level of targeting and evaluation that other platforms do not currently provide. From Generate’s point of view, who are partners of the event, we see evidence of this through the continued shift by brands and rights holders to have tangible and accountable activity to better measure the success of a sponsorship, the activation and ticket drives. In addition, the panel gave a nod to the ability of social media to instantly activate a sponsorship – this was combined with some humorous anecdotes of how important it is to monitor your talents use of twitter (cue a certain ex-QPR player).

Barry Hearn had a chat on camera after the debate (Chatham House Rule off) and gave this insightful comment of what the industry should be focusing on: “The biggest education is we need to listen to more young people, we need to get more creative, we need to realise our own shortcomings and be prepared to learn.”

Next topic – how are we going to consume sport content in the years to come and who is going to provide that content. On TV through traditional broadcasters? Streaming on laptops, tablets or smart phones? Perhaps streaming it through a TV as Smart TV’s continue to penetrate the market? Or, will we watch it on our Smart TV, while we follow a player camera through our tablet and get set to watch the brand sponsored highlights through a traditional broadcaster?

My vote is Smart TVs will be at the forefront. Let’s be honest, the only reason I’m not streaming the El Clásico on my laptop is that I’d much rather watch it on my 32 inch flat screen and not have to worry about the internet having ‘a moment’ and missing a Messi screamer. Therefore, personally, my interest in connected (or Smart) TVs will increase as the bandwidth of my home internet increases. I’m not going to start talking about 4G and mobile devices here, but you can guess where that train of thought would lead…

Regardless of the answer to the question of consumption, Philip Beard did a marvellous job of pointing out (also to camera) that the most important thing is to get the live event element right where stadiums and venues are sold out. A good point, otherwise, you can distribute on all the platforms known to man and I won’t be as engaged, because if there are empty seats, I’m already questioning if it is the best use of my time.

To finish I will leave you with a quote from Barry Hearn who was asked to camera why he was attracted to iSportconnect and the event – it sums up the evening for me:

“As William Gladstone said on his deathbed ‘I have been a learner all my life’ – that applies to everyone who hasn’t lost the focus and the desire to expand their business.”

By Byron McCaughey, Senior Account Manager, Generate Sponsorship

Byron McCaughey’s

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When it comes to bad news, don’t shy away from hitting it head on. If you feel a customer is going to complain or, worse still, not complain about something that is bothering them, then you could lose them.

Conducting regular reviews to understand exactly how their sponsorship or hospitality purchases are working for them are essential. To simply sign an agreement, put it in the drawer and revisit it in a few years’ time will mean they will more than likely not renew.  Identify the potential issues, anticipate the bad news and address it in advance. To spot that a customer feels disappointed about their purchase can give you the chance to change the offering and doing this effectively could mean that you keep them for many years. This works much the same way as dealing effectively with complaints.

Even if you feel the relationship is going swimmingly, then a simple sit down to find out the customers’ thoughts might unearth other opportunities or even reveal that they don’t feel the way you think they do. The measure of success is to renew, nurture and grow their spend over time.

As with any relationship, keeping things fresh and surprising with a gesture will always help, we sell the virtues of hospitality so why not use it to look after the customers you have.

When customers feel that you are continually looking to improve their experience, they will feel loved. As a consequence, they feel an obligation to stick with you. Helping to show a return on their investment without being prompted will mean a longer life cycle for any partnership.

Remember a pre-emptive positive strike could be the difference between keeping a customer and them walking away unhappy without them ever giving you the chance keep them.

About Adrian Blackburn

Adrian Blackburn’s 

I know how doctors must feel when they’re at a social event and total strangers discover that there’s a GP in their midst. However hard they try to keep the topic of conversation away from minor ailments and illnesses, they’re dragged mercilessly back to the colds, back-aches and piles of their fellow guests.

A similar situation all too often develops when I meet people at a social or business function. Someone mentions that I work in the sponsorship acquisition business and before I can blurt out that they’re wrong and I’m actually an undertaker, I’m cornered! Earnest parents take great joy in informing me that not only is Jemima, their 16 year old daughter, a show jumper par excellence, but that if she could just get a company to sponsor the purchase of a new horsebox, she’d be in the British Olympic Team within a year.

Then comes the inevitable question….”Can you help us get some sponsorship, or tell us how to go about it?”  

So easy! A few minutes to explain how they should go about finding and then persuading a company to part with tens of thousands of pounds to help a junior show jumper fulfil her (and her parent’s) dreams. 

Just like the doctor being asked for a speedy cure for piles!

That is why I decided to write my first book on sponsorship acquisition, some 8 years ago. It meant that when cornered at subsequent events, I could avoid a long interrogation by suggesting that they invest £15 in the book, which would help them improve their chances of securing sponsorship.

I can understand people from outside the world of professional sport not having a clue as to how to go about securing sponsorship, or not being aware of what sponsorship can offer a business. After all, it’s not something that they are likely to have been involved with before, however talented they might be within their own sphere of business.

What I do find surprising is the total lack of knowledge displayed by so many sponsorship seekers within sport, about the way in which the business sector uses sponsorship. With it being the lifeblood of nearly all sports, you’d think that they would spend more time trying to learn the skills necessary to get their share. It never ceases to amaze me how many people seem to think that senior business executives have nothing better to do than just wait for sponsorship proposals to land on their desk. 

They believe that sponsorship is capable of delivering just three marketing aspects: brand awareness, hospitality and PR.  Imagine going into a restaurant for a meal and finding that there are only three items on the menu. If you didn’t fancy any of the three, what would you do? Most likely go somewhere else. Yet I see far too many sponsorship proposals offering just that….three items.

To be fair, however, a high number of these sponsorship seekers do have one major talent in common: Mind reading!  They send out sponsorship proposals telling a business executive what will benefit his company, without even having to ask!

I hear an increasing number of business people telling me that too many proposals display no understanding of what matters to a business. Many provide incredible examples, often from the supposed top echelons of sport. The reality is that they are nothing more than begging letters, however expensively packaged. This is quite depressing when you think that sponsorship has been a key factor in sport for nearly four decades now.

In motorsport, which is where I’ve spent much of my sports marketing career, the need for sponsorship is arguably even greater than in many other sports. Even for absolute beginners, it’s impossible to compete without a significant financial involvement. You need some wheels beneath you, at whatever level you are competing.

It you think that because of this, the standard of sponsorship acquisition within motorsport would be considerably higher than in many other sports, you’d be wrong.

Too often, competitors believe that because they win a motorsport event, or can lap a circuit at record pace, businesses will hand out a substantial amount of money to help them progress their motorsport activities. They also believe that the only return required is a vague level of something called “exposure”.

Why does this worry me?  After all, I still manage to secure my fair share of sponsorship , as I have done over my thirty-eight year career. Surely it makes my job easier if some of the competition get it wrong?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. The more professional, relevant and carefully researched the approaches to the business sector become, the higher the respect with which business executives regard sponsorship as a measurable, sustainable, business development tool.

Although I now spend more and more time training people in sponsorship acquisition skills and consulting on strategic sponsorship planning, I still love the adrenalin that comes from putting a long term sponsorship deal together!

In the months to come, I’d like to share some of my thoughts, experiences and ideas about the fascinating world of sponsorship acquisition.

About Brian Sims:

Brian Sims is one of international motorsport’s most experienced and successful sales exponents, securing over £60 million of sponsorship deals at all levels of the sport.

He is the author of a highly acclaimed book on the subject of securing sports sponsorship, the second edition of which was published in October 2011.

His career in sport included 11 years as a championship-winning professional racing driver, in the UK and in South Africa.  He also spent some years as the Marketing Director of the Kyalami F1 Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa.

On returning to England, he established the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA), securing sponsorship from Andersen Consulting, Hewlett Packard and Ford Motor Company.  This was the first trade association established to represent the British motorsport industry. 

After three years as CEO of the MIA, Brian became Head of Motorsport for the international API Agency who represented the Benetton F1 Team. Brian secured over $14,000,000 of sponsorship for the Team subsequently becoming the Benetton F1 Team Commercial Director.

Brian then spent four years in South Africa, establishing the South African Motorsport Industry Association. In August 2010 he stood down as its CEO, to allow a South African to take over.

His latest major sponsorship acquisition deal is a three-year agreement with specialist insurance group, HISCOX, on behalf of the Official Aston Martin Racing Team, Jota. 

Brian Sims’ 

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Major League Soccer, North America’s primary soccer division, has received 12 expansion bids as the league seeks to expand to 28 teams in the near future.

There are currently 22 teams in MLS, with Los Angeles FC and a long-discussed Miami franchise due to join the league soon. However, MLS officials are still keen to expand the league and four more slots – two for a 2020 entry and two to follow in 2021 – have gained significant interest.

The price for entry to MLS currently stands at $150m, with 12 prospective new franchises having confirmed their bids. The 12 interested parties are: Charlotte, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Raleigh, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, St Louis and Tampa.

The decision as to which bids have been successful in expected later in 2017, with St Louis, Cincinnati, and San Diego reportedly early frontrunners.

The reigning champions of the MLS Cup are Seattle Sounders, who won their first MLS championship in 2016.

Location: Shanghai, China

Closing Date: Open until Filled

Overview:

Key Responsibilities

Develop Fan Growth & Engagement Strategy

• Develop a 3 year strategic plan to grow MCFC fan base in China.
• Identify key objective, drivers, and key success factors for fan base growth.
• Build a 12 month integrated marketing execution plan.

Understand the Market & Consumer Insights

• Obtain market and consumer insights thru market research and intelligence on China football market and fans trend, behaviour, and opportunities.
• Carry out regular tracking on key performance of MCFC / CFG brand in China.

Develop Media and Content Plan

• Understand the media landscape and various digital and social media platforms in China.
• Build a content driven media strategy to maximize MCFC awareness and engagement on relevant media platforms.
• Identify and propose media cooperation and partnership opportunities.
• Manage the implementation of media plan.

Supervise China Social Media Work Streams

• Work closely with the MCFC Chinese social media team to ensure quality and effectiveness of MCFC social media content works on Weibo and WeChat.
• Integrate social media content into overall China marketing concept, campaigns, and calendar to create deeper fan engagement.
• Monitor and improve Social Media KPIs.

Manage and Strengthen Media Relationship

• Develop and build strong network and relationship with top Chinese media (CCTV, Tencent, PPTV, Super Sports, etc.).
• Create and secure strategic media partnership programs with top Chinese media platforms, and manage the partnership implementation on operational basis.

Agency Management

• Manage agency briefing, planning, communication, and evaluation.
• Maintain strong agency network and relationship in the market.

Budget Management

• Develop annual marketing and operational budget.
• Assist CMO and MD to manage marketing spending and budget control and analysis.

Team Management and Development

• Supervise subordinates on daily basis, as a team leader.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to the team.
• Develop bench talent for CFG organization.

General responsibilities

• Compliance with Club policies.
• Compliance with the Club’s health and safety procedures.
• To undertake such other duties as may be reasonably expected.
• To maintain professional conduct at all times.

Skills & Experience Required

Essential:

• Minimum 8 years of full time experience in marketing, media, PR or other relevant areas.
• Proven record of managing a team of social media and content development.
• University Degree educated, in Marketing, Advertising, Media, PR or another relevant subject.
• End to end knowledge and experience of creating and managing B2B and B2C marketing campaign.
• Knowledge of China media landscape and relevant experience in working with key media.
• Experience in working to and managing a marketing budget.
• Proven marketing experience in a relevant role/industry.
• Creativity and confidence to pitch ideas and be proactive.
• MS Office – Powerpoint, Excel and Word.
• Strong English and Chinese grammatical, spelling, proofreading and writing abilities.
• An eye for great graphic design and branding.
• General skills and attributes: more general characteristics e.g. flexibility, communication skills, team working etc.
• Well organised, analytical and a self-starter with good time management and strong attention to detail.
• The ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities, and manage several projects at one time.
• Creative problem-solver with an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Ability to work quickly and efficiently under pressure.

Desired:

• In-house experience of content development.
• Agency-side experience of marketing & PR.
• Experience of marketing events or hospitality.
• Proven record of experience in a particular field, profession or specialism.
• Experience in sports industry.
• Post Graduate with marketing & media qualifications.

How to apply: visit http://www.sportsrecruitment.com/jobs/details/2468/head-of-marketing-and-media-china

January 17 2017: National Golf Month, the annual programme aimed at growing participation in the sport, will focus on encouraging women to take up the game as its primary target for this year’s month long campaign, which starts on May 1st 2017.

Currently, only just over one in ten UK golfers are female (14%) compared to one in four in Europe (25%), which makes the proportion of female golfers in the UK the lowest of the top ten markets in Europe.

‘Women should be a higher proportion of the playing base, which is why increasing the number of women playing the sport will be the top priority for National Golf Month in 2017. If we can boost the number of women who play the sport, then we can also revitalize the playing base of the sport through increased family participation too, ’ said Doug Poole project Director – National Golf Month.

This year’s National Golf Month will address some of the key barriers currently preventing women off starting the game in the first place: the cost of taster sessions, easy access and the chance to try the game with their friends. These factors were highlighted by Syngenta’s recent global report ‘Unlocking Golf’s True Potential’.

 Core to National Golf Month 2017 will be a its target to provide 50,000 free one hour trial sessions, exclusively for women, worth over £2m, which will be the industry’s largest ever promotional offer aimed specifically at getting women started in the sport.

As well as providing a substantial inventory of taster sessions, National Golf Month will provide a better understanding of how clubs and professionals can attract more women through new or innovative approaches.

 ‘There is a clear business case for attracting more women to play the game. New female members generate an additional £750 of revenue per annum PER PLAYER according to some research and female players open up the family market. We plan to help the industry learn more from the great data and case studies which exist,’ said Doug Poole.

The National Golf Month web site will use the booking platform, supplied by fibodo, to match consumers with golf professionals. The website will be live on February 1st at: www.nationalgolfmonth.com.

 ‘Golf clubs, centres and PGA professionals wishing to participate in the event should visit the National Golf Month web site and register there. Alternatively, they should contact me for more details about how to get involved,’ said Doug Poole.

Philip Morley, Chair of the British Golf Industry Association, said: ‘The British Golf Industry Association is delighted, once again, to support National Golf Month which remains the most effective campaign we have to promote the sport in the UK. Golf is a fun, healthy and social game which more people should try, especially women. We hope that our efforts this year will help to boost female participation in the game for the long term.’

 Bauer Media have renewed their sponsorship of National Golf Month which will provide the campaign with radio and print exposure across several of their titles including Top Santé and Yours, two of their major publications, both of which have substantial female readerships.

‘Last year, National Golf Month reached 20 million people across Britain with a mix of marketing and promotional activities. Over 140,000 people who were new to the sport or recently lapsed have came back to the sport during its 3 years. This year,we’re targeting 100,000 new or lapsed participants to golf of whom we hope 50% will be women,’ said Doug Poole.

Hungary’s supreme court has rejected the latest effort to hold a national referendum on Budapest’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The supreme court upheld judgements made by a lower court, ruling that the questions asked could mislead voters.

Budapest is competing alongside Paris and Los Angeles to host the games. The German city of Hamburg withdrew its bid in 2015.

Ooyala, an iSportconnect partner and a Telstra subsidiary and a leading global  innovator in premium video publishing, production workflow, analytics and monetisation, has announced a unique deal with Sky Sports. Ooyala is automating the global syndication of clips for Sky Sports with Ooyala Flex, its media logistics solution. With this deal, Sky Sports is able to deliver hundreds of Premier League (PL) in-game clips and highlight packages for online and linear consumption to 40 international licensee partners, all within minutes.

We spoke exclusively to Rags Gupta, General Manager of EMEA at Ooyala about this deal.

“We’ve been working with a number of sports publishers and rights owners for a long time including Sky Sports, who also uses our player and analytics technology. We are now extending the work that we do together in a very different type of way. Sky Sports have obligations to cut, code and syndicate clips from matches to rights owners who have bought packages of PL in other markets. What Ooyala Flex is contracted to do is automate and work with the production team at Sky Sports to very quickly get the clips and the metadata and transfer the files into the cloud and be able to render it into the different types of formats each package requires – to several partners around the world,” said Rags Gupta, General Manager of EMEA at Ooyala.

In addition to Sky Sports’ portfolio of UK linear & digital rights it is also responsible for delivering clips to over 40 international licensees in multiple file formats based on each individual licensee’s regional or platform requirements. Further, they must have all in-game clips available for download and redistribution for all licensee partners within minutes from when the actual highlight is broadcast live.

Sky Sports turned to Ooyala as it could quickly adapt to their needs and technical requirements, rapidly deploying an integrated solution in time for the beginning of the Premier League season. Through the power of automation, Ooyala Flex alleviates Sky Sports from dedicating more resources to this demanding syndication workflow, letting them focus on producing the content.

Ooyala’s role in leveraging automation

Once a notable event occurs during a live match, a Sky Sports production team is responsible for quickly creating the clip, inputting metadata and transferring the file into their cloud storage system. Once uploaded, Ooyala Flex automatically detects the clip, ingests it into the system and triggers a series of workflows that transform the clip into 20 different renditions. Once final, Ooyala Flex creates and delivers a number of unique packages, each with a subset of those 20 different renditions based on the preferences for every partner, including the corresponding metadata. 

This process is repeated and automated every time Sky Sports uploads a clip into Ooyala Flex, occurring numerous times per game, with as many as six to ten games per day, multiple times a week with some games occurring simultaneously. This is a process that, if done manually, would require an immense amount of resources and hands-on work.

“This is an extraordinary syndication contract and set of requirements,” added Rags Gupta, “Today, TV whether online or linear, and especially for sports, is in a constant state of immediacy, requiring broadcasters and publishers to rethink very foundational systems and processes that have worked for decades. Without Flex and the art of automation for Sky Sport’s unique use case, they would not be able to meet the syndication demands from the PL.”

“Ooyala Flex gives us the confidence, and frankly, the capability to meet the Premier League’s requirements,” said Phil Marshall, Head of In-House production at Sky Sports. “There’s no question that automation has a significant role in video production today. Using Ooyala Flex, we’re able to meet the complex demands associated with this project”.

Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit (SIC) is to continue to host the MotoGP until at least 2021. 

The SIC extended their contract with Dorna Sports, MotoGP’s commercial rights holder on Saturday, which was due to expire this year.

Sepang hosted the Malaysian MotoGP since the circuit opened in 1999. 

“I’m happy to inform that we have signed an extension for five years ending in 2021,” said Azman Yahya, Sepang International Circuit chairman. 

“We will continue with the MotoGP for the next five years and we think that we will see an even better response from the Malaysian public.” 

“It’s not very difficult to convince the Malaysian government to support the Malaysian Grand Prix because we achieve record-breaking crowds every year,” said Datuk Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali, chief executive of SIC. “MotoGP is no longer just a spectacle for Malaysians, it is now a platform for young Malaysian talent to compete in the world championship and on home ground. I think that is key to the Malaysian GP.”

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The International MMA Federation (IMMAF) has renewed its long-term partnership with Lausanne-based media agency, Broadreach Media. 

The partnership started in 2014 and since then, the IMMAF has created a series of events including World Amateur MMA Championships and European Open Amateur MMA Championships and achieved a five-fold increase in the number of hours of produced content. Additional championships in Asia and Africa are also planned in 2017. The events have been broadcast in over 130 countries across all five continents, via deals with Extreme Sports Channel, Combate Channel (Globosat), Sky Sports NZ, BT Sport and The Fight Network, among others.

Densign White, IMMAF CEO commented, “Broadreach Media has worked with us from the beginning and we’re delighted to continue working with them. They’re a very reliable agency that understands how to work with our relatively young, fast developing federation.”

Steven Morris, Director of Broadreach Media said, “MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and IMMAF events hold a unique position within the sport. It’s amazing how far IMMAF has come in only a few years and I’m delighted that Broadreach Media will continue to assist the organisation in its exciting future.”

Founded in 2012, the purpose of the IMMAF is to protect and further the development, recognition and regulation of the sport of MMA on all levels, enabling international competition through the organization of non-profit, democratic national federations.

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