Formula One has agreed an extended deal for the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona to continue to stage the Spanish Grand Prix until 2019.

The current deal with the circuit was due to run out in 2016 but a renewed three-year deal will see the circuit remain on the F1 calendar, medicine as it has done since 1991. 

Spokesperson Vicenc Aguilera said: “We are extremely proud to announce this renewal in such a special year, mind marking the 25th anniversary of Formula One Grands Prix being hosted uninterruptedly at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

“We thus extend this fruitful relationship with Formula One and we look forward to the next 25 years”.

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) has agreed a five-year partnership with Caribbean sports cable network Digicel.

The marketing and broadcast partnership between both parties will include television broadcast rights across 28 countries in the Caribbean.

Up to 48 regular season games will be broadcast on Digicel Sportsmax and its affiliate CDN Sportsmax in the Dominican Republic.

As part of the deal Digicel will launch NBA.com/Caribbean, the first official NBA online destination for Caribbean fans

“It’s a massive deal for us; we haven’t really got into the American sports as we are heavily into the European sports. We know how popular the NBA is and we know people love basketball, so for us this is very important,” said President and CEO of Digicel Sportsmax Oliver McIntosh, speaking to the Jamaica Observer.

“This will help to round out our content [because] a lot of our content comes across, especially in the mornings and afternoons. So if we look to fill up our evening schedule, this is by far and wide one of the most popular pieces of content and one of the most watched leagues in the world, so it’s a massive move for us,” he added.

Also speaking to the Jamaica Observer, Philippe Moggio, NBA’s Senior Vice-President of Latin America said: “We see the penetration and relevance that Digicel Sportsmax has in the Caribbean, and this is the best way for us to bring our game closer to our fans and to expand the base of fans that we have.

“We have a very strong commitment to grow the game of basketball, and the Caribbean as a region is a very strategic market for us. So we know that we can get that scale and relevance through this great partnership.”

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The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) – the international governing body for professional snooker – has announced it has renewed its global partnership with the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) to help safeguard the integrity of the sport.

The global integrity partnership between the WPBSA and ICSS will continue working to protect the integrity of professional snooker by delivering a range of new programmes and initiatives as the sport seeks inclusion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

In particular, impotent the ICSS will work closely with the WPBSA to provide integrity awareness training, prostate including seminars and advice to tour players, coaches, officials and administrators, as well as supporting the WPBSA on intelligence issues concerning match fixing.

As part of the extension, the ICSS will also continue to support throughout the 2014-2015 season by overseeing the WPBA’s betting monitoring programme, ensuring that snooker’s world governing body is immediately notified about any suspicious gambling behavior or patterns during a match.

Jason Ferguson, Chairman of the WPBSA, said: “On behalf of the WPBSA, I am delighted to have renewed our partnership with the ICSS, who are one of the world’s leading experts in the area of sport integrity.

“Extending this partnership with the ICSS demonstrates the WPBSA’s strong and ongoing commitment to safeguarding the sport of snooker and represents another important step in the WPBSA’s integrity strategy.

“I look forward to working closely with the ICSS’s team of sport integrity experts and Sportradar to ensure that snooker continues to take a strong and proactive stance in safeguarding its integrity.”

Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, said: “On behalf of the ICSS, I would like to thank the WPBSA for extending their partnership with the ICSS and would like to applaud them for their continued commitment and leadership in ensuring the highest levels of integrity in snooker.

“Whilst many acknowledge the challenges faced in safeguarding sport, the WPBSA are one of the leading governing bodies in the area of sport integrity and continue to take proactive steps to protect snooker against the very real and emerging threats that are challenging all sport today.

“Continuing to support the WPBSA in advancing their integrity capability is important for the ICSS and I hope that many more organisations in sport will follow the WPBSA’s lead in this area.”

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been named as an ambassador for the 2015 Cricket World Cup by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Tendulkar, there who also fulfilled this role at the previous tournament, will help the ICC with promotion of the event as well as other initiatives.

Read more HERE.

The National Football League (NFL) has announced the three games scheduled for the 2015 International Series.

This will be the ninth edition of the annual series and will once again be played at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Miami Dolphins will face the New York Jets, who will play in the UK for the first time for the match on October 4.  

The game will also be the first-ever division match to be played at Wembley. It will be the Dolphins’ third appearance in London, having taken part in the first-ever edition in 2007 as well this year’s event.

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who will give up their third home game to travel to the UK, will face the Buffalo Bills on October 25 and the final game will see the Kansas City Chiefs host the Detroit Lions on November 1.

Mark Waller, executive vice-president of international for the NFL, said: “We are very appreciative of the outstanding support from our fans in the UK, not only for the games at Wembley, but for all of the related NFL events we have hosted throughout the city.

“We believe we have a great 2015 schedule that will continue to attract new fans to our sport and strengthen the bonds with our existing fans.

“To provide UK fans the opportunity to see games on consecutive weekends, to see new teams, and to attend a division game, which feature some of the most passionate rivalries in our sport, are signs of the growth and depth of our UK fan base.”

The timings of the matches will be announced at a later date. A potential 1:30pm kick off time in the UK could be used again after the positive reception it received from UK and US fans for the match between the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions recently in London.

It’s clear with the lineup that while the NFL wants to mix in new teams, it insists on providing fans in London some semblance of continuity by sending back three teams who played there in 2014.

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Coca-Cola will become the title sponsor of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

The new muli-million dollar tournament will take place from 28^th November to 13^th December and will feature past and present tennis stars such as Roger Federer, nurse Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams.

As the title sponsor, Coca-Cola will participate in a number of initiatives to engage with tennis fans during the fortnight-long event. These include a promotion to select three fans to be the coin-toss boy or girl for three matches.

The tournament will take place in four countries across Asia; UAE, Singapore, India and Philippines.

Debabrata Mukherjee, the vice president of marketing and commercial at Coca-Cola India, said: “Coca-Cola has always been a huge supporter to the cause of sport and we feel this partnership will further catalyse our efforts to promote healthy, active lifestyles by further enhancing a sporting culture in India.”

 

Demonstration that you can never give fans too much information (well…) is the new O2 Matchday app which ensures you hear every cough, spit and whistle from the man in the middle during the Six Nations via Ref Link. Launched just before the England v France test at the end of February, the comprehensive app also has live text commentary, a social media feed and enough stats to fill up 80 minutes of your afternoon. The only thing it doesn’t have is a hip flask.

Speaking of which, the BBC’s mobile app has gone international for iPhone/iTouch (Android’s on its way) and will feature football, F1, rugby (their fans are going to have to review their tariffs) golf, cricket and tennis. The BBC say a third of traffic comes to the Sport homepage via mobile and this rises to 40% on major sporting dates.

If we’re pushing the definition of sports to its limits, then Sports Illustrated is pushing the sport-meets-swimwear franchise to its limits, with the swimdaily.com. You’ll be pleased to hear this is not intended as mere lunchtime viewing for men. Nope, MJ Day, senior editor at Swimsuit says their target readerships is actually female: “”These girls are at the top of their games, taking care of themselves,” so ladies will be wanting to know how they do it… and gentlemen? I guess that audience is covered.

For those of you who haven’t seen the best in Harlem Shake memes (come on, where have you been?) here are my favourites, the Australian V8 Red Bull Racing team:

And demonstrating a very Swiss sense of humour, the good people of the Sauber F1 pit crew (love the attempt at tyre balancing…)

Any other sporting ones out there to beat these two?

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Having spent eight seasons in Formula One managing the digital channels for world champions Red Bull Racing, David Granger now runs Fact 51 (www.fact51.com) a social and digital content agency.

David’s

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Apple is officially the world’s coolest brand. It sells the most desirable products; continually updates its core offer; operates an uncompromising design philosophy; embraces the mass-market with premium pricing; and wraps itself in an outstanding retail/service proposition that invariably delivers on its promises.

Each new product launch delivers a new chapter in the brand mythology and follows the familiar pattern of frenzied media speculation culminating in secretive invitations to “an exclusive event” at which the new technology is wondrously revealed. The media always keen for an exposée seizes upon any hint of dissonance between the new technology and initial customer reaction. Invariably this is soon overwhelmed by queues of eager early adopters wishing to acquire the latest iteration of “cool”.

So what can sports brands learn from Apple?

1. Every organisation needs a vision. Apple’s is to “Think Differently”. Its mission is to define the future of mobile media and computing devices. This is how all stakeholders including the owners, management, staff, talent, fans, customers, partners and suppliers can understand the corporate objective

2. The vision is supported by strong brand values. These are the rules governing the behaviour of both the individuals comprising the organisation and the corporate entity as a whole. The key point here is only to promise what in fact can be delivered. Many sports businesses fail at this point

3. Avoid selecting ‘motherhood and apple pie values’. Every organisation should aspire to excellence, integrity, leadership, pride, unity etc. It goes without saying. Choose values that not only reflect the nature of your organisation, but ones you can live up to and deliver against under any circumstance

4. Your chosen values and behaviours determine the personality and essence of your brand reflecting its culture, history and traditions. This is articulated to your fans and customers through development of clear brand guidelines and application of marketing content consistent with brand values

5. Dissonance can kill a brand. Delivering on the brand promise means that an organisation should never engage in activity that may create conflict between the vision, values and day-to-day operations. This may mean making painful choices to build real brand equity

6. Brand development is an on-going process. It should be reviewed and revised regularly to ensure that vision, mission, values and behaviours are consistent and reflective of the brand’s essence and personality

Can Apple continue to fight off its competitors in the promiscuous world of hi-tec consumer products? That depends on the success of its next major innovation.

Can a sports brand emulate Apple’s essence of “cool”? Just ask Nike.

 

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About Steven Falk:

A graduate in Psychology from Manchester University, Steven started his career in the motor industry before taking an MBA at Warwick University Business School. There followed commercial roles at Astra Zeneca, United Utilities, Great Universal Stores and MBNA Bank where he worked on a range of assignments in the UK, Eastern & Western Europe, North America and Asia.

From 2001 to 2009, Steven was Marketing Director at Manchester United Football Club. Steven served as a member of the Executive Committee of Manchester United and a board director of Manchester United Foundation, the club’s charitable trading arm. In January 2010, he launched Star Sports Marketing, a specialist sports marketing consultancy.

For a confidential conversation on how Star Sports Marketing can help you to devise and implement an effective brand strategy. Visit www.starsportsmarketing.com or email  steven.falk@starsportsmarketing.co.uk

Steven Falk’s

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