Bubka to Challenge Coe For IAAF Presidency

Sergey Bubka has revealed that he will announce his plans to stand for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Presidency “in due time”.

Bubka took to Twitter to confirm his intentions after he tweeted: “Congratulations to my friend @sebcoe on his announcement. Colleagues and Friends within the @iaaforg family know about my plans.”

“Will make them public in due time,” he added.

This news follows on from the announcement by Sebastian Coe last week that he will stand to replace long-serving IAAF president Lamine Diack when he steps down next August.

Coe will officially be launching his campaign manifesto in London tomorrow and the Ukrainian Bubka is now seen as the biggest challenger to Coe for the position.

The Brit’s successful overseeing of the London 2012 Olympic Games as Chairman could potentially be a deciding factor, as he has edged ahead of Bubka in recent years as many people’s first choice to get the job.

The IAAF is expected to elect a successor to Diack before next year’s World Championships during its Congress in Beijing on August 18 to 20, where all 213 National Federations will have a vote.

iSportconnect Directors’ Club Ends the Year in Style

The final iSportconnect Directors’ Club of 2014 went out in style with a hugely successful event in London yesterday.

The wonderful Grange St. Paul’s hotel was a fitting venue for the occasion.

Delegates from major organisations in the world of sport attended the event such as The Football Association, apoplectic Chelsea FC, symptoms Tottenham Hotspur FC, NBA, UFC, ATP World Tour Finals, England and Wales Cricket Board, Formula E, the World Olympians Association, Team England Commonwealth Games, Team SKY and many more.

The event was kicked off with a Q&A session with Bryan Healy, Director of Commercial at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

LondonDC1

Bryan (pictured above, right) discussed the growth of the sport globally and the current commercial success of UFC and the plans to continue the expansion of the sport.

This was followed by the Question Time session with our four panellists; Paul Barber, CEO of Brighton & Hove Albion, Phil Lane, Head of Sport and Participation at GLL, Jennie Price, CEO of Sport England and Dave Castell, Global Head of Marketing and Brand Partnerships, Entertainment at Microsoft.

LondonDC_Panel

One of the many topics discussed by the panel was the impact of technology, such as digital and connectivity, within sports and sports stadia.

The event was followed by a Christmas dinner held in the beautiful sky bar of the hotel, perfectly overlooking St. Paul’s cathedral.

LondonDC_Cathedral

Panellists’ Views on the Event and Question Time Format:

Jennie Price said: “It was really interesting, there were very good questions, very wide-ranging and it was really interesting the way in which grassroots sports really got connected with broader spectator sport and elite sport and the fan experience.

“I think we’re all wrestling with the same thing which is how to give the customer a great experience.

“The audience joined in very well, when you’re on a panel you don’t just want to be consistently talking to the panel members or just talking yourself so I think the fact that we did get a lot of feedback and a lot of really interesting factual information back from the audience as well, it really demonstrated what a high level of people were being involved in the process.”

Dave Castell said: “It was a great event full of stimulating debate and conversation with some interesting questions. I enjoyed the debates specifically around digital and especially grassroots and the future of infrastructure and technology, great panellists and good discussion.

Having the audience each say a question and then bring in the audience more was really good. It worked well and the balance of the panellists’ views and then feeding off the response from the audience was good as well.”

Paul Barber said: “It was a really good event, good audience, very good questions, some thought-provoking debates and overall people seemed to enjoy it.

The format is good, it’s just the right balance between panellists being able to create a debate and the audience being able to interact and get something from their questions as well as contributing to the debate itself.”

Phil Lane said: “It was a splendid event, a really good audience, very insightful and quite challenging with some of the questions.

It’s a well-established and useful format, it evokes the right sort of response from the audience and the interaction is very good, it was perfect for us and for the audience too.”

More pictures below

LondonDC_PreNetworking

Pre-event networking

LondonDC_Networking2

Panellists Jennie Price (centre) & Phil Lane (right) networking with delegates

LondonDC_Audience

A question for the panel from Adrian Bevington (Managing Director & Group Communications Director, FA)

LondonDC_NetworkingPost

Post-event networking

LondonDC_PostNetworking2

More post-event networking in the beautiful sky bar at Grange Hotel

Please visit our website to keep up to date with upcoming events here.

Exclusive: RFL Chief Hints at 2021 Rugby League World Cup Bid

The Chief Executive of the Rugby Football League (RFL) Nigel Wood has hinted that the UK may bid to host the Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) in 2021.

The 2013 RLWC, pills which was hosted by England and Wales, finished on the 30th November when Australia were crowned champions.

However, Wood is already looking to the future and has hinted that the RFL will place a bid to host the tournament again in 2021.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, when asked if future bids were likely, Wood said: “The next World Cup will be in 2017 and the application process for that has already commenced.

“Moving forward to 2021, I am sure there is every likelihood that the RFL will want to be considered as a potential host.”

In regards to the 2013 RLWC, Wood commented: “When we won the right to host the tournament we set the goal with the national bodies to stage the greatest Rugby League World Cup there had ever been.

“We therefore wanted more people to attend, more people to watch on television and more revenue to be generated. I think we have achieved that.”

A joint bid from Australia and New Zealand is being considered alongside a South African bid for the 2017 RLWC, with a decision due in the early stages of 2014.

Stay tuned to iSportconnect for a full interview with Nigel Wood on the 2013 RLWC coming soon.

Associate Vice President of IT, Customer Experience – NBA

Location: Secaucus, USA

Closing date: 2nd November 2016

Overview: 

The Associate Vice President of Information Technology (IT) Customer Experience will be a consultative evangelist and champion for the value of technology across the NBA’s IT user community. The AVP reports to the Vice President of Customer Experience and will be tasked with enhancing how NBA employees use and interact with technology, with the goals of optimizing the user experience and maximizing employee satisfaction, efficiency and productivity. This role will work with all systems users, business leaders, and other peer disciplines within the NBA’s Information Technology department, both domestically and internationally, to further the NBA’s goal of growing user adoption, raising user technical proficiency, and expanding the use of the NBA’s world-class end-user technologies to cultivate employee collaboration across departments and international offices.

Major Responsibilities:

The Associate Vice President of IT Customer Experience will be accountable for the following:
– Manage a team of IT professionals responsible for global IT Customer Service, Desktop Support, Desktop Engineering, Mobile Device Management, Asset Management and Telecom Expense Management.
– Assist in defining policies and procedures for the use of NBA systems; support the implementation and maintenance of these policies and procedures.
– Assess business needs and ensure technology is keeping up with demand; proactively identify and address customer technology needs through strategic assessments and ongoing communications with stakeholders.
– Assist in the creation and delivery of technology-based experiences that delight end-users; provide a consistent, seamless and robust end-to-end IT user experience.
– Oversee implementation, communication and adoption of cutting-edge technology, including best practices, across the workplace.
– Identify, evangelize and advocate customer-centric technology and designs.
– Develop and implement best practices for program management and end-user service delivery; focus on improving the use of the hardware, software and other technologies that the NBA makes available to its users.
– Define policies, procedures and best practices for the use of NBA systems; support the implementation and maintenance of these policies; perform regular audits to ensure IT policies and procedures are maintained and meet their intended goals. Develop metrics-oriented dashboards to assess and report on IT performance and service delivery on both a periodic and ad hoc bases.
– Provide direction and guidance for the internal/external operation of the Customer Service Desk, Desktop Support and other IT services.
– Support and assist in planning and overseeing development of Training programs to facilitate employee use of technological programs and platforms; drive consumption of IT Training to further increase technology adoption and utilization.
– Focus on and evaluate regional office and international users’ experience.

Required Experience & Knowledge:

The Associate Vice President of IT Customer Experience will be or possess:
– Information Technology experience including leadership positions within a technology environment.
– Experience in a service-driven organization; knowledge of best practices in IT customer service and end user support, service level agreements (SLAs), customer relationship management, and business relationship management.
– Practical experience leading teams responsible for IT user experience and service delivery; a customer-focused mindset with a passion for providing superior service.
– Experience leading the works of others; the ability to foster high standards and to coach, inspire and lead team members.
– A proven track record of success in influencing the agenda of senior level management and enacting change within a complex environment.
– The ability to balance high level strategy with attention to tactical detail.
– A process-oriented leader who can drive process improvement techniques and methodologies.
– Proven experience working with current and new technologies to facilitate business goals.
– Experience building, maintaining and leading operational teams responsible for trouble management, escalation and resolution practices.
– Ability to manage budgets and timelines.
– Strong research, analytical, financial, and creative problem-solving skills.
– Strong verbal and written communications skills.
– Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills.

Educational Background Required:

A bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business or related field is required and a master’s degree, ideally an MBA, is strongly preferred. Project management certification (e.g. PMP) is also preferred.

Apply HERE

 

Juventus sign partnership with EA Sports

Juventus and Electronic Arts Inc. have agreed a three-year partnership making EA SPORTS the exclusive and official video game partner of the Serie A Champions, starting with FIFA 17.

In addition to new player faces and creating Juventus Stadium through FIFA 17’s brand new engine Frostbite™, the partnership will see a range of  cross-marketing activities during the 2016/17 season including EA SPORTS gaming pods with FIFA 17 located in Juventus Stadium, accessible before the matches and at half time, fan competitions hosted on EA and Juventus digital channels and a dedicated EA SPORTS sponsorship of the Juventus MVP of the month, supported by exclusive FIFA 17 digital content.

Juventus will also play a significant part in the overall marketing campaign of FIFA 17, including featuring on the FIFA 17 demo as well as in upcoming global marketing content, featuring Juventus players rendered in-game.

Giorgio Ricci, Head of Global Partnerships and Corporate Revenues said: “Juventus’ agreement with EA SPORTS is of great importance because it represents the first time that an Italian football club has signed a partnership with the video gaming giant and allows us to truly reach out to the entertainment industry on a worldwide scale given the popularity of FIFA 17 among young people and indeed the rest of the market.”

 

FC Bayern Munich Extend Deal With One World Sports

German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and American global sports network ONE World Sports have agreed a multi-year partnership extension.

The renewed agreement will see the network retain its rights to carry the club’s content exclusively in North America.

The content includes FC Bayern’s international magazine show, matches, highlights and interviews.

Executive Board Member of Internationalization and Strategy of FC Bayern Munich, Joerg Wacker, said:  “As we continue building our fan base in the U.S., renewing our partnership with ONE World Sports gives us access to a large audience of passionate American soccer fans.”

Alexander “Sandy” Brown, President & CEO, ONE World Sports added: “We are thrilled to extend our relationship with FC Bayern Munich, one of the most popular brands in all of sports.

“The allure of sports, especially global sports, is not only about the wins and losses but learning about the personalities on the pitch and what drives their passion to compete, which is exactly the content our collaboration provides our audience.”

{jcomments on}

Registration Now Open for the International Sports Convention 2016

The International Sports Convention will take place again in Geneva, bronchi | Switzerland. The world’s largest b2b sports convention will consist of:

– 18 Sports conferences over 2 days

– 200+ speakers

– 200+ exhibitors

– 2000+ delegates

December 7th and 8th are the dates, taking place at the prestigious palexpo.

The International Sports Convention which traditionally has been every 2 years will also go annual from 2016. The 2017 International Sports Convention will also take place in Geneva, Switzerland. (with similar dates to be confirmed)

Nigel Fletcher, Chief Executive, International Sports Convention comments: “Many of our previous delegates, partners insisted that our event went annually and based on this feedback and evidence, we decided the time was right to go annually. In addition more bespoke networking events will be created to ensure the social side becomes more prominent”.

There are a range of commercial, marketing and partner packages. Some countries for 2016 will also have country pavilions and country zones, where companies from the same country will be placed together. Over 100 speakers are now confirmed.

Find out more:

www.iscgeneva.com

http://iscgeneva.com/prices-and-register/

info@iscgeneva.com

New FEI President to be Named This Week

The 14th Internation Equestrian Federation (FEI) President will be named this Sunday 14 December by the FEI General Assembly which gets underway this week in Baku.

The five Presidential candidates in the running are Pierre Genecand (Switzerland), vcialis 40mg Ulf Helgstrand (Denmark), story John McEwen (Great Britain), Pierre Durand (France), and Ingmar De Vos (Belgium).

Full story HERE.