Global telecommunications company Vodafone has agreed a deal with the Australian Rugby Union to sponsor the Super Rugby competition.

The two parties have signed a four-year deal beginning with the 2017 season. The agreement grants Vodafone naming rights to Super Rugby in Australia.

Under the agreement, Vodafone will also serve as the back-of-shirt sponsor for Australia’s women’s 15s team.

Vodafone served as naming-rights partner for Super Rugby in Australia from 2001 to 2003, and has previously sponsored the men’s national team. The new season starts next week on February 23.

Modern Pentathlon will be beamed out live on TV across Europe this summer after the UIPM signed a contract with continental network Eurosport.

The agreement will include the 2017 World Cup Final in Vilnius (LTU) in June and the Senior World Championships in Cairo (EGY) in August, where the finals will be broadcast live to a vast audience of sports fans across Europe and beyond.

In addition to the broadcast rights, Eurosport will work closely with the UIPM to promote its sports and help activate the governing body’s commercial partnerships through a dedicated promotional platform, comprising both TV and digital activations.

Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton said: “Modern Pentathlon is widely regarded as one of the most challenging and traditional sports in the Summer Olympic program and we are delighted to be able to bring this year’s biggest events to our viewers. Eurosport already dedicates over half of its schedule to Olympic sports and this agreement further strengthens our portfolio as we start our journey towards the next Summer Games in Tokyo.”

“The Modern Pentathlon in Rio last summer provided some of the most iconic moments of the Olympic Games with records tumbling in both the men’s and women’s events. The sport has a rich Olympic history and, as the new Home of the Olympics in Europe, we look forward to following these remarkable athletes and sharing their stories on our screens throughout 2017.”

Dr Klaus Schormann, President of UIPM, said: “UIPM’s development programmes have enabled our sporting movement to grow right across the world and we have seen the results with the Rio 2016 Olympic medallists in Modern Pentathlon coming from three different continents.

“However, the traditional heartland of Modern Pentathlon is the continent of Europe and today is a day for celebration for the many fans of our sport who will be able to watch our most important competitions on television through Eurosport. This is another major step forward for our core Olympic sport, which has benefited in recent years from great advances in media coverage and marketing.”

Shiny Fang, UIPM Secretary General, said: “Eurosport is exactly the match we have been looking for and we are excited to be part of their portfolio. We hope to increase awareness of the UIPM and our six multi-discipline sports, especially the Modern Pentathlon which is a cornerstone of the Olympic movement.”

Introduced into the Summer Olympic program at the Stockholm Games 1912, modern pentathlon comprises five disciplines – fencing, swimming, horse riding and Laser-Run (running and shooting) – all of which take place in one day.

The 2017 UIPM World Cup series begins on February 24-26 in Los Angeles and culminates with the World Cup Final in Vilnius on June 23-26, which will be the first event broadcast on Eurosport under the new deal.

 The Manchester-based home of the Great British cycling team has been renamed HSBC UK National Cycling Centre. The velodrome was opened in 1994, and hosts a number of prominent national and international cycling events.

The Team GB cycling team have topped the medals table at the last three Olympic and Paralympic Games, with Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome also having triumphed in the Tour De France.

In September, HSBC UK replaced Sky as British Cycling’s lead partner. The eight-year partnership, featuring joint local community based programmes and free-to-enter mass participation events, aims to encourage millions of people to take up cycling.

“We are incredibly proud to have the HSBC UK name above the door at the home of British Cycling,” added HSBC’s global head of sponsorship, Giles Morgan.

British fighter Anthony Joshua will face off against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in front of the biggest post-war British boxing crowd in history.

The bout, which sees the vacant WBA Super and IBO heavyweight belts be contested for along with Joshua’s IBF title, will take place on April 29 in front of 90,000 fans at the London venue.

Crowds are normally capped at 80,000 for transport reasons, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has facilitated an agreement which will allow the limit to be raised for the event. The crowd will match the 1939 record set by Len Harvey and Jock McAvoy.

The current post-war record was set by the 2014 rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves, which was witnessed by 80,000 and created £22m in revenue.

Klitschko was unbeaten in 11 years before his defeat to Tyson Fury in 2015, while former Olympic champion Joshua has 18 knockouts from his 18 professional fights.

Bernie Ecclestone has been removed from his role running Formula One, after Liberty Media formally completed its $8bn takeover of the sport.

Ecclestone, 86, has been in charge of the racing series since 1978. However, he has been replaced as Chief Executive by F1 Chairman and 21st Century Fox Vice-Chairman Chase Carey, and will revert to a role as chairman emeritus and advisor to the board.

Former Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn has returned to F1, heading up the sporting and technical division of the franchise.

Liberty Media began its takeover of F1 in September and completed the deal on January 23. Liberty Media is due to be renamed The Formula One Group following their acquisition of the sport.

Ecclestone had his first involvement with Formula One in 1958, and in the following decades moved into a position of relative autonomy within the sport. After taking over commercial rights from the teams in the mid-90s, he then paid $360m to Max Mosley in a TV rights deal.

Liberty Media are reportedly ready to engage digital media in ways Ecclestone never did, as well as secure the futures  of flagship F1 races and generate interest in new markets.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) today jointly announced a long-term partnership through 2028. Joining The Olympic Partner (TOP) worldwide sponsorship programme, Alibaba will become the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” Partner, as well as a Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel.

The partnership was announced today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with IOC President Thomas Bach, Alibaba Group Founder and Executive Chairman Jack Ma and Alibaba Group Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang.

Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, said: “In this new digital world, Alibaba is uniquely positioned to help the IOC achieve a variety of key objectives outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020, while positively shaping the future of the Olympic Movement. This is a ground-breaking, innovative alliance, and will help drive efficiencies in the organisation of the Olympic Games through 2028, whilst also supporting the global development of digital opportunities including the Olympic Channel.”

“Alibaba’s partnership with the IOC is built on a foundation of shared values and a common vision for connecting the world and enriching people’s lives,” said Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group. “We are proud to support Olympic Agenda 2020, using our innovations and technologies to help evolve the Olympic Games for the digital era.”

Through this partnership, Alibaba’s contributions to the Olympic Movement will include:

• best-in-class cloud computing infrastructure and cloud services to help the Olympic Games operate more efficiently, effectively and securely, including supporting big data analytics requirements;
• the creation of a global e-commerce platform for Olympic stakeholders to engage and connect with fans seeking official Olympic licensed products manufactured by the Olympic parties’ official licensees, and selected sports products, on a worldwide basis; and
• leveraging Alibaba’s leading digital media technologies and know-how to develop and customise the Olympic Channel for a Chinese audience.

“Alibaba is proud to empower the International Olympic Committee in a game-changing digital transformation, while moving another step closer toward our goal to serve 2 billion consumers,” said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. “We will leverage our experience in serving a young user base to help connect more young people to the Olympic Movement, helping to strengthen our brand through this historic partnership.”

Tsunekazu Takeda, the IOC’s Marketing Commission Chair, said: “We are delighted to be working in the long term with Alibaba for the benefit of the Olympic Movement. This strategic partnership underlines the global appeal of the Olympic values and opens an exciting new chapter in this digital age.”

Alibaba is the first company to make a long-term commitment to the IOC through 2028 and the first Chinese company to commit to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Alibaba will support the organisers of each edition of the Olympic Games, and the Olympic Movement around the world. These rights will include advertising and promotional use of Olympic marks and imagery from the Olympic Games as well as marks from the National Olympic Committees.

Alibaba’s global activation rights will include the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Olympic and Olympic Winter Games in 2024, 2026 and 2028 in cities yet to be selected by the IOC.

National ticketing agent, The Ticket Factory, has strengthened its sporting credentials after securing partnerships with national governing bodies, British Swimming and England Squash.

The Ticket Factory has secured a four-year contract with British Swimming – the national governing body responsible for the high performance representation of swimming, para-swimming, diving, high diving synchronised swimming, water polo and marathon in Great Britain.

British Swimming strives to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

The Ticket Factory will be responsible for ticketing more than five of its national events per year.

Adding to its success, The Ticket Factory will be the official ticketing partner for England Squash. Established in 1928, England Squash organises and supports competitions for both amateur and professional squash players across the UK. It currently works with more than 400 affiliated clubs to create thriving squash communities on a national and local level.

The Ticket Factory will be responsible for ticketing some of its major events including The British National Squash Championships and the Allam British Open Squash Grand Prix.

The Ticket Factory will also build a white label website to maximise conversion and drive ticket sales, as well as help raise the profile of England Squash through its sports database, affiliates, social media and leading marketing partners.

British Swimming and England Squash are the latest names to join The Ticket Factory’s growing sports audience which includes Lawn Tennis Association, European Aquatics Championships, Matchroom Sport and Yonex Badminton.

Stuart Cain, managing director of The Ticket Factory, said: “Over the last 12 months, we have strengthened our position within the sports sector, and winning these contracts put us one step ahead of our competitors yet again.

“One of the reasons we have won these contracts is because we’ve showcased how committed we are to putting the customer first. We believe ticketing is central to the customer experience and is often the first and most interactive touchpoint with the event.

“Thanks to our experience of working with national governing bodies and marketing reach, we have built up a large database which we have no doubt will allow England Squash and British Swimming to reach a new sporting audience and profile their events to a larger database.”

British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes said: “The Ticket Factory’s bespoke service and unique approach to reaching new fans is what stood out for us. We are keen to grow our audiences and we know that The Ticket Factory’s expertise will allow us to do just that.”

Darren Bernstein, Director of marketing and communications for England Squash, said:

“The Ticket Factory’s experience of working with other national governing bodies is second to none. We were impressed with the full programme of support offered by The Ticket Factory. Our partnership with The Ticket Factory will allow us to engage with new customers who might already play squash but don’t realise they can watch it competitively – a factor which is crucial to the success and growth of England Squash.”

For more information, visit www.theticketfactory.com

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), ask the national governing body (NGB) for cricket, has joined forces with Advanced to spearhead a new digital transformation process.

Advanced has been chosen to implement and manage the Microsoft Dynamics CRM project which will lie at the heart of the ECB’s drive to increase participation in cricket. The digital upgrade is designed to help ECB better connect with recreational players, coaches, umpires and volunteers as well as broaden interest in domestic and international cricket. As part of the project, Advanced will work hand-in-hand with the ECB to ensure the Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution brings together every touchpoint with any person engaging with cricket.

Damian Smith, Head of IT at ECB, comments: “Our raison d’etre is to drive participation in cricket. By making sure everything is captured on the CRMplatform, we have the opportunity to provide a seamless and connected experience for anyone who interacts with any aspect of cricket. Advanced is working with us to make CRM the digital face of our work, which will drive a connected cricket experience and help us realise our ambition to bring even more people into the game. 

“The digital transformation process aims to deliver detail around business intelligence (BI) by interrogating the data. It is hoped the innovative way in which the Microsoft CRM Dynamics platform will be integrated into the ECB’s current infrastructure will help to achieve this.

Damian continues: “We want to make sure every single opportunity to increase engagement and improve loyalty is explored. Advanced’s expertise in delivering successful CRM projects will ensure we have access to real-time data to identify trends and a better understanding of cricket’s position in the sports marketplace. “

The project will take a phased approach, prioritised firstly by those areas which will have the greatest impact on customer experience, as well as by level of complexity. Providing a unified and seamless experience will be top of the agenda, followed by new services such as memberships which will reward loyalty. It will also look to increase productivity and effectiveness within the ECB team, by providing them with the tools to focus on value add activities to drive participation. 

Mark Dewell, MD, Specialist Solutions – Advanced, concludes, “We’ve talked about the value of the connected fan in personalising engagement with clubs, as well as the connected stadium in driving an enhanced experience and incremental revenues. The work that the ECB is undertaking takes this vision a step further, putting data and analytics at the centre of its operations with every stakeholder, participant or fan. Our partnership will place CRM technology at the hub of its operations, ensuring that the ECBtransforms cricket into a connected sport, with real-time data across all its processes, operations and touchpoints. We are proud to partner with the ECB on this exciting journey to help them transform and reimagine every opportunity for participation in cricket.”

In recognition of a passionate and growing UK fan base, view the NFL has announced four new games in London in 2017, the league announced today.

The playing of four games in the UK capital for the first time – half of a home schedule of regular-season games – is a milestone moment in the continuing rise in popularity of NFL football in the UK and beyond. 

“We continue to be incredibly excited by the passion and love for the NFL shown by our millions of UK fans,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “London is an amazing city.  We have had tremendous support from our fans, from Mayor Khan and other government leaders and business partners, and we are looking forward to taking the next step in the UK by playing four games in London next season.”

The NFL has played three games in London to sellout crowds in each season since 2014.  With four games in 2017, the league will have played 21 games in the UK since the first regular-season game in London in 2007.  Teams and venues for 2017 will be announced on Tuesday, December 13.

“London staging a fourth NFL game is fantastic news – not only for the millions of sports fans who get to enjoy our iconic stadiums – but also because it confirms our status as the go-to choice for hosting the world’s biggest sporting events,” said the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

“London is the international home of the NFL and staging the equivalent of what would be half an American football team’s home games in the city is a huge step towards my ambition of bringing a franchise to the capital.

“I am really excited to welcome more NFL teams to London next year, as well as thousands of American football fans from around the globe, showing that London is open to the very best sporting events and the world’s greatest athletes.”

Since 2007, the NFL has achieved accelerated growth in the UK. Sunday viewership of NFL games has more than doubled and the Super Bowl audience has increased more than 75 percent. This season, the NFL is on pace to reach a record number of unique TV viewers in the UK.  The league also has developed new and stronger business partnerships and, according to internal research, has a UK fan base of more than 13 million, including close to four million avid fans.

Participation in amateur football in the UK has risen by approximately 15 percent per year since 2007, with the latest figures from Sport England showing that 40,000 people age 14 or older play regularly. American football is now an officially recognised sport in UK universities and schools.

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