iSportconnect, Author at iSportConnect

Manager of Game & Event Entertainment – Kansas City Chiefs

Location: Kansas City, cure MO, USA

Closing date: 16th December 2016

Overview:

Job Description: The Manager of Game and Event Entertainment will serve as an associate to the Chiefs in-house production team. The role will require collaboration with Chiefs Sr. and Lead producers and other depts. to identify and implement the strategy, execution, and management of the Chiefs in-game entertainment & Chiefs special events. Job will oversee the relationships with several third party vendors that create the best game experience in the NFL. The role will work closely and collaboratively with multiple departments within the organization including partnership sales, marketing, digital and communications depts. to develop, execute, and implement best in class entertainment programming while stewarding the Chiefs brand and mission.

Job Responsibilities:

Game and Event Entertainment Management

• Lead in the overall production and execution of game and event programming

• Manage all internal game and event entertainment related requests and deliverables

• Assist with game and event entertainment budgets, invoicing, and event staff payroll

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with talent, vendors, and agencies

• Assist in the production of all Chiefs Special Events including Chiefs Draft Day events,

Kickoff Luncheon, College Football Games, Concerts, 101 Awards, and other special events.

Chiefs In-Game Entertainment Management

• Develop an in-game entertainment program in coordination with the Production & Marketing departments which represents the Chiefs business strategy into a creative, exciting and engaging fan experience

• Prepare, coordinate and activate in totality, the game day entertainment show format

• Develop and write game scripts, manage game crew, book and organize in-game ceremonies

• Supervise the hiring and management of all game day production staff. Provide training and instruction to assure execution of department’s goals

• Manage field producers and assistants

• Directly oversee execution of vendor, client, and guest production initiatives

• Communicate production activities clearly to all departments, game day staff, and guests for every game throughout the year

• Book and organize pre-game, halftime, and in-game ceremonies (including National Anthem Singers, Drum Honorees, Halftime performers, special guests, military acknowledgements, etc.)

• Schedule and coordinate all rehearsals for all game day events including, pre-game & halftime, mascot skits, and special events

Corporate Sponsorships/Advertising

• Serve as a liaison with Corporate Partnership department on planning, scheduling,

activation & fulfillment for all game and event entertainment initiatives

• Assist with the development of engaging, fan-centric partner initiatives

• Manage & track all signage, video and in-game inventory

Additional Responsibilities

• Attend various departmental meetings

• Represent Chiefs to the NFL Events and Marketing Departments

• Assist and lead Chiefs special events in multiple operating positions

• Consult with other teams and NFL on best practices, trends and new initiatives

The successful candidate will have:

4+ years of increasingly responsible professional experience in project management, large-scale event presentation, and client relations
Proven ability to create and activate engaging, impactful, and memorable fan experiences
Significant experience in managing numerous time-sensitive projects simultaneously with critical attention to detail
Significant experience with media relations, production, and vendor relations
Highly motivated, proactive and hands-on attitude
Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively across the organization

No phone calls, please!

Please click here to apply

Bath Rugby clean-up with Dyson partnership

Dyson and Bath Rugby have announced the renewal of their partnership for a third year running.

Dyson, have been Bath’s title partner since July 2014, and the deal has been extended for a further two years.

Tarquin McDonald, Managing Director of Bath Rugby, commented: “Bath Rugby and Dyson have enjoyed a very strong relationship these past two seasons, one which we’re delighted to be continuing with over the coming two seasons.

“Dyson have been a joy to work with, and this partnership extension serves to emphasise the value of our work together at an especially exciting time for Bath Rugby.”

AS Roma first European side to stream a match on Facebook

AS Roma have become the first European football club to broadcast an entire match live on Facebook all over the world.

The Italian side used Facebook Live to stream the team’s pre-season friendly against Russian Premier League side Terek Grozny last Sunday.

Fans all over the world who follow the club’s official Facebook page were able to watch the entire match on the social network.

The match pulled in an overall audience of just under 2 million viewers with around 280,000 unique views.

The full match was also broadcast in Italy on the club’s official television channel Roma TV and online, outside of Italy, on Roma TV+.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT: OMNIGON – Tailoring Digital Solutions to Offer the Finest Cut

By Christian Radnedge

With the digital possibilities in sport causing one’s head to spin, it is getting seemingly harder and harder to get a bespoke offering from the ever growing list of companies vying to secure business.

That is why digital consulting firm Omnigon maintains that what sets them apart is their tailored approach.

Headquartered in New York and with offices around the world, they provide everything from consulting services to creative services to software systems to development and oversight.

More than ever the focus to link brands with their audiences over mobiles, tablets and other devices is the top priority.

Omnigon’s chief commercial officer David Nugent told iSportconnect why his company was ideally suited to deliver the best results.

“There are certainly others who are in the same space that we are in but typically those companies are taking a slightly different approach to the way they deliver solutions,” he said. “We are a professional services company first.

“I think if you were to talk to the clients they would tell you that the reason they like working with us is because we focus first on business meetings and specifically the needs of the individuals that are sitting across from the table from us.

“They are all tasked with very specific things from a business objectives perspective and what we’re doing on our side when we’re doing our job well, is that we are delivering on those business objectives within the realm of visual.”

Nugent stressed that it doesn’t mean Omnigon doesn’t have products to deploy or intellectual property but simply that they did not take the product approach first like their competitors who chase the better margins.

This can be seen in the company’s handling of the digital needs of PGA Tour, NASCAR, USGA, Fox Sports and PGA of America. But their focus has been on expanding in Europe, and a recent example of that is their work on the official app for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

With live match coverage, expert analysis, live statistics and much more, the app was the most comprehensive of its kind for the fourth biggest sporting event in the world.

When asked about his proudest achievement at Omnigon, Nugent said: “For us it would be the Rugby World Cup because for us when we look outside North America and thought about what we wanted the business to be outside North America we certainly wanted to touch the most visible and important sports properties in the world and we were flattered that IRB, now World Rugby, considered us for this work and I would say it is a massive achievement for us, we are massively proud of it.”

Headquartered in New York, and with offices in Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Kiev and St. Petersburg, is global domination now on the agenda?

“It is going to take us some time to do a great job in Europe. I think we have done a pretty good job so far in the nearly two years we’ve had boots on the ground here. There is lots of room to continue to grow that story. When you say global domination, that implies China and Asia; we are not going there right now.

“There are just too many hurdles in terms of running the day to day business and making sure the clients we are dealing with are saying the kind of things about us that we need them to say. We are not in Latin America yet which is probably before Asia Pacific.

“We are trying to do a good job with what we have got on our plate in the short term before we go to ‘global domination’. It may come at some point but for now we are comfortable in North America and Europe.”

For Omnigon, which only opened its London office January 2014 with Alex Chamberlen as Managing Director of Omnigon Europe, it is more about touching new sports than new territories.

Nugent said: “The most important sport in the world is football and the most important leagues in the world are in Europe. We’ve worked with some football clubs and are continuing to grow our presence within that sport.

“As for other sports, we are very interested in entering the cricket community. And of course, we are hopeful to continue working with World Rugby. We’ve also started to work with some international leagues and federations and are looking forward to continue to work with them.”

RELATED

Find out more about Omnigon by watching our recent BIG Interview with CEO Igor Ulis:

The BIG Interview with Igor Ulis, Chief Executive Officer at Omnigon from iSportconnect TV on Vimeo.

FIFA Approves Reform Proposals to Become “Modern, Trusted and Professional Sports Organisation”

The FIFA Executive Committee has unanimously approved a set of proposals by the FIFA Reform Committee that will allow for changes to FIFA’s governance structure.

The proposals will need to be ratified by FIFA’s congress at its extraordinary seesion in Zurich on 26 February.

Among the reform proposals include a term limit of 12 years for a FIFA president, an increase in the number of women involved in the decision-making process and compulsory and comprehensive integrity checks for all members of FIFA’s standing committees.

FIFA’s Acting President Issa Hayatou said: “These reforms are moving FIFA towards improved governance, greater transparency and more accountability. They mark a milestone on our path towards restoring FIFA’s credibility as a modern, trusted and professional sports organisation.

“This signals the beginning of a culture shift at FIFA. It is important to recognise that today’s recommendations build on the foundations established by the IGC in 2011 under Mark Pieth’s leadership, which included the creation of an independent chairman on the Audit and Compliance Committee and splitting the Ethics Committee into investigative and adjudicatory chambers.

“As the February Congress approaches, I want to encourage all presidential candidates to embrace this spirit of reform and, as they campaign, to make clear their plans on how they would help FIFA enact these and other reform measures, should they be elected.”

The ExCo also discussed the proposal by the Reform Committee to increase the number of teams participating at the World Cup from 32 to 40, but a decision has yet to be made on this and it will be debated further.

The main reforms to be passed on to the Congress are:

– Term limits: maximum term limits of three terms of four years for the FIFA President as well as all members of the FIFA Council (see below), the Audit and Compliance Committee and the judicial bodies

– Separation of political and management functions: clear separation of “political” and management functions. The FIFA Council (replacing the FIFA Executive Committee) will be responsible for setting the organisation’s overall strategic direction, while the general secretariat will oversee the operational and commercial actions required to effectively execute that strategy.

The members of the Council will be elected by the member associations of the respective region under FIFA’s electoral regulations, with a FIFA Review Committee to conduct comprehensive and enhanced integrity checks

Concrete steps to increase the role of women in the governance of football with a minimum of one female representative elected as a Council member per confederation

– Diversity: promotion of women as an explicit statutory objective of FIFA to create a more diverse decision-making environment and culture

– Independent committee members: key financial decisions to be made by the Finance, Development and Governance Committees, which will have a minimum number of independent members and whose activities will be audited by the fully independent Audit and Compliance Committee

– Enhanced committee efficiency: reduction of standing committees from 26 to nine, with increased participation of the football community, which will provide efficiency while ensuring that all member associations are involved in a more meaningful and effective way

– Integrity checks: compulsory and comprehensive integrity checks for all members of FIFA’s standing committees, conducted by an independent FIFA review committee

– Greater transparency and inclusion through broader stakeholder representation: creation of a dedicated Football Stakeholders Committee to include members representing key stakeholders in the game, such as players, clubs and leagues

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Tokyo Olympic Stadium to Begin Construction in 2017

By Christian Radnedge

After months of confusion surrounding the main stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, viagra the Japanese Sport Council announced this week that construction of the venue will begin in early 2017.

Takakuni Ikeda, thumb a board member of Japan Sport Council, told local media: “If all goes well, it will begin around the start of the year after next.”

Monday was the deadline for submission of plans for the new National Stadium detailing the overall design and cost. Blueprints will be requested next year.

It comes after plans for a Zaha Hadid designed venue, including many thrills such as retractable seating and various hospitality offerings, were scrapped by Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following escalating costs. As much as 265.1 billion yen ($2.17 billion) was quoted at one stage.

The amount of land allotted for the new stadium will be 113,000 square meters, about 1.5 times the size of the old national stadium in the Shinjuku region of Tokyo.

Demolition of the old venue, which was built to host the 1964 Olympic Games, was completed late last month.

Originally, Tokyo’s new stadium was to also play host to the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

However, after plans were altered this year, the climax of the Rugby event in four years’ time will take place in Tokyo’s Yokohama Stadium which also hosted the final of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

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iSportconnect and PwC Enjoy Second Successful Directors’ Club in Moscow

iSportconnect and PwC Russia staged another very successful Directors’ Club in Moscow on Wednesday evening, as the event continues to build its presence in the Russian capital.

The event attracted a number of representatives of major sports organisations, teams/clubs, federations and brands, many of whom are heavily involved in the Russian sports business industry.

This included; Adidas, Russian Football Premier League, Russian Olympic Committee, Russian Rugby Leagues Federation, FC Dinamo Moscow, Manchester United FC, HAVAS Sport and Entertainment and many more.

The discussions were focused on the practical aspects of how the launch of the new sports channel will affect the commercialization of sports in Russia. The Chatham House rule helped to make the discussion very open and lively.

The main topic of the meeting was based on launching of the new Russian sports channel “Match TV,” which starts broadcasting on 1 November 2015. Our aim was to find an answer together to the question – how can we make the interaction of professional sports clubs, sponsors, and TV sports channels most effective?

As with the previous Directors’ Club in Moscow, the second edition featured international and local speakers, and an active combination of participants from sports clubs, leagues, sponsors and broadcasters.

Sergey Pryadkin, the President of Russian Football Premier League, expressed his ideas and expectations on new sports channel.

Vyacheslav Murugov, General producer of ART Pictures Group – the author of a well-known Russian commercial TV show about hockey “Molodezhka”, shared his successful experience and best practices on creating a good sporting content.

Oleg Malyshev, Partner of PwC Russia presented the analytics on watchibility of sports channels in Russia.

Matt Scammell, Sponsorship Sales Director at Manchester United, also took part in the discussions. Matt gave interesting comments on the way English sports TV was becoming more popular and beneficial, and talked about his experience of sponsorship sales, reasoning future directions of improvement for Russian sports business.

All the delegates expressed their interest to take part in future Directors’ Club events in Moscow on regular basis, as they like the format of the event – in particular the frank, open and informal tone.

Oleg Malyshev, partner at PwC, commented: “The second meeting of our joint Derectors’ Club was based on launching of the new sports channel “Match TV” in Russia. It was a hot topic that helped us to get together decision-makers of professional sports community, sponsors and representatives of television with their own success stories.

“The discussion was detailed and lively. All participants were open and ready to share their experience. That is why I think this event was very successful and we are going to keep organising it.”

iSportconnect chairman Michael Cunnah said: “The event successfully continued the discussion from the last meeting in considering the opportunity provided by the launch of a new sports channel in Russia. I look forward to the next meeting to review its impact.”

Stay tuned to iSportconnect.com for announcements on our next Directors’ Club.

More pictures below

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AFC Bournemouth Extend With Cedar Group and Bring in New IT Supplier

English Premier League club AFC Bournemouth have signed an extended partnership deal with Cedar Group.

The company will continue as the club’s Official Match Programme Supplier and the renewed sponsorship will also include corporate hospitality and matchday sponsorship.

STATS Extends Award-Winning NFL Fantasy Projections to Daily Fantasy

Sports technology, apoplectic data and content company STATS has announced it has extended its product offering for daily fantasy sports.

STATS is introducing a package of NFL daily fantasy tools for media clients, health including weekly projections for every player that will enable value plays, ailment | optimal lineups and player rankings.

Daily fantasy sports is one of the fastest-growing segments of the industry. STATS’ projections are tied to the scoring and player values of the leading daily fantasy contest providers. STATS’ content will be available through APIs, custom data feed and hosted solutions. Earlier this year, STATS launched daily fantasy projections for Major League Baseball and will continue forward with a roll out of daily projections for NHL and NBA later this year.

“The reaction from clients and partners to our baseball rollout was overwhelmingly positive, so it was only natural to continue with NFL projections. Daily fantasy sports continues to grow stronger and our there is a strong desire by media companies to provide content that will attract this audience throughout the season,” said Bill Squadron, Executive Vice President of Global Strategy at STATS.

With its acquisition of BSports in September 2014, STATS set the standard in predictive analytics by integrating a new wave of data-driven models for team and player performance. Bolstered by this predictive modeling, STATS swept the Fantasy Sports Trade Association awards for fantasy football and baseball projections this past January.

British & Irish Lions Appoint New Chief Operating Officer

The British & Irish Lions have announced the appointment of Charlie McEwen as Chief Operating Officer.

In his new role Charlie will be responsible for the day to day growth and management of the business balancing the business requirements with ensuring the team are best prepared for winning on the field.

John Feehan, CEO, said: ‘I am delighted that Charlie has accepted the role of COO. Charlie has been intimately involved in the success of the Lions over a number of years most recently responsible for businesses commercial affairs and this promotion reflects on his outstanding performance and contributions.

“The appointment of Charlie as COO is to upskill the ever expanding business and interest in the Lions, he will bring a greater focus on the Lions and will be able to develop the culture within the organisation to ensure success in 2017 and beyond.

Charlie McEwen added: “I am thrilled to have been appointed into this new role and look forward to working closely with all our stakeholders.

“The Lions are unique in both rugby and sport, the Lions command a very special place in people’s hearts, it is incumbent on all those in the business to ensure the Lions continue to thrive and I look forward to ensuring this is the case.”