beIN MEDIA GROUP (“beIN”) and Bundesliga International have agreed a new deal for the broadcast of the prestigious German football league on beIN SPORTS in France and Turkey until the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
In both countries, the four-year agreement includes exclusive access to all Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches every season, as well as the German Supercup and relegation play-offs. The renewal also extends the trusted partnership between beIN SPORTS and Bundesliga in France to more than a decade.
Bundesliga fans in France and Turkey will be able to celebrate every goal of one of the most successful and most watched leagues in the world live and exclusively on beIN SPORTS, including the matches of European contenders FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. The Bundesliga is well-known as one of Europe’s highest scoring leagues and, in keeping with this, its players provided more goals in Euro 2020 than any other league. With such attacking football, the new season already looks like it will be action-packed.
The Bundesliga is currently home to three of the French FIFA 2018 World Cup winning squad (Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernández and Corentin Tolisso) and a total of five players from the Bundesliga competed for France at the Euro 2020 UEFA European Championships. Furthermore, Turkish players have shaped the Bundesliga since it began in 1963, when Aykut Ünyazıcı was one of the very first foreign players in the league. Generations of Turkish players have followed suit, including stars such as Hamit Altintop and Nuri Şahin.
Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein said: “Having worked with beIN for many years, we know the world class production that comes with each broadcast, alongside the comprehensive digital and social coverage, and we were eager to continue this journey with them. The Bundesliga is no stranger to phenomenal French players, such as Lucas Hernández, Kingsley Coman and Christopher Nkunku. But we are also renowned for showcasing the next generation of stars, and Turkey’s Ali Akman and Ömer Faruk Beyaz are just two more examples of young talents in Germany. Our joint commitment with beIN is to provide the best possible product, which starts with exclusive and locally relevant story-telling and on-site reporting, to innovative approaches to the live match coverage, so that fans in France and Turkey are able to enjoy their national heroes shine on the world stage.”
Martin Aurenche, Vice-President of Sports Content & Acquisitions of beIN MEDIA GROUP, said “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Bundesliga in France to 2025 and begin a new partnership in Turkey, allowing our subscribers to watch the best German clubs and talent both in the domestic league and in a range of European competitions too. The German league is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, and perfectly complements our incredible portfolio which includes UEFA EURO 2020, FIFA World Cup 2022, UEFA Champions League, LaLiga, the NBA, NFL, Wimbledon and much more.”
Grifols , a leading global producer of plasma-derived medicines with a history of more than 110 years contributing to improve the health and well-being of people has become an official partner of the Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) Women’s Football beginning with the 2021/22 season and until the end of the 2025 competitions.
Under the four-season partnership, Grifols becomes the exclusive healthcare company partner of women’s football at all tournament levels, including the UEFA Women’s Champions League, the UEFA Women’s Euro, the UEFA Women’s Under-19 and Under-17 Championships, and the UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO, as well as UEFA’s Together #WePlayStrong initiative, which aims to encourage more girls and women to play football.
Women account for 60% of the workforce at Grifols, which in early 2021 was included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for its commitment to the advancement of women in the workplace.
“Sport is one of the most powerful platforms for promoting gender equality. It develops skills and qualities that inspire girls and empower women in the workplace and in all areas of community life,” said Teresa Rione, Grifols Chief Communications Officer and former Olympic athlete.
“Grifols is extremely proud to support UEFA’s Women’s Football and contribute to building the foundations for a more equal and sustainable future,” said Raimon Grifols, co-CEO of Grifols.
For years the company has supported a range of women’s sports as part of its sponsorship of local social initiatives, including volleyball and field hockey.
“Our partnership with UEFA is exciting for our employees and for all of Grifols,” added Víctor Grifols Deu, co-CEO of Grifols. “We’re looking forward to watching thrilling matches.”
As part of its agreement, Grifols will be able to undertake multiple branding and promotional activities across its own internal and external channels as well as UEFA properties. Activations could include in-stadium fixed and rotating LED boards, matchday and on-site promotions, premium giveaways, hospitality and digital actions on social media platforms.
The beginning of the Grifols-UEFA partnership comes as women’s football continues to grow in popularity and reach across Europe, with a participation growth rate quadruple that of the men’s game, according to UEFA. Starting with the 2021/22 season, UEFA Women’s Champions League is introducing a new format, including a 16-team group stage, resulting in a 20% increase in the number of matches as well as more competitive games and increased visibility.
“We are delighted to welcome Grifols to our exclusive family of UEFA Women’s Football partners,” said Guy Laurent-Epstein, UEFA Marketing Director. “We’re ready for even greater excitement and action on the pitch as women’s football reaches new levels.”
“This is such an exciting time to be part of UEFA Women’s Football as our game is developing at such a tempo and we are delighted to welcome Grifols on this exciting journey with us,” said Nadine Kessler, UEFA’s chief of women’s football.
“For years Grifols has demonstrated its commitment to women’s sport as part of its sponsorship of local social initiatives, including volleyball and field hockey. Therefore, we believe they are the perfect partner to be joining us and we are looking forward to closely working with them over the upcoming seasons.”
Genius Sports has signed a new strategic partnership with MEDIAPRO Canada, a leading independent broadcast services, rights distribution and production company.
The agreement will help grow the domestic and international addressable market for Canadian soccer, through Genius Sports’ leading official data, streaming and marketing solutions.
In 2019, MEDIAPRO Canada sealed a 10-year partnership with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the enterprise that represents all commercial interests of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) and Canada Soccer. Through the partnership, MEDIAPRO Canada was tasked with promoting the sport, including the management of the global and domestic media rights to all CPL and Canadian Championship games.
OneSoccer, MEDIAPRO Canada’s dedicated soccer streaming platform, will now integrate Genius Sports’ live data and content into its live viewing experience for fans. Genius Sports’ data-driven marketing technology will also help to expand MEDIAPRO Canada’s domestic audience by driving OneSoccer subscriptions through personalized promotions and offers.
Genius Sports has also been granted the exclusive worldwide rights to distribute live video streams for all CPL and Canadian Championship games, which will help reach new soccer fans worldwide and drive further in-game engagement. Sportsbooks can also access official data rights to Canadian soccer through Genius Sports’ existing partnership with CSB.
Oscar López, CEO of MEDIAPRO Canada, commenting on the partnership, said: “We’re delighted to seal this agreement with Genius Sports, one of the leading data and technology companies in the sports media landscape. We are confident that Genius will help unlock the value of our digital assets and extend the reach of our brands across new markets. The partnership also strengthens our commitment to transparency at a time when Canadian soccer is reaching new heights on both the domestic and international stage”.
Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports, said: “The convergence of official data, betting, streaming and marketing is rapidly changing the sports landscape across North America. Our technology is driving this convergence and at a time when Canada is embracing single-event sports betting, we are proud to have partnered with MEDIAPRO Canada to deliver the fan experiences of the future and grow Canadian soccer.”
Burnley Football Club and AstroPay have agreed for the online global payment solution to join the club as the Clarets’ sleeve sponsor for the 2021/22 season.
AstroPay is returning to the sleeve after last partnering with the club in the 2018/19 season, when the Official Payment Solutions Partner supported the Clarets’ return to European competition for the first time in more than half a century.
The company will again have their logo on the sleeve of the new-look first-team strip for the upcoming campaign, when Sean Dyche’s men will play their sixth successive season of Premier League football.
Fans will be able to get their first look at the 2021/22 kit when it is revealed next week – and players will wear it for the first time in a pre-season game against Oldham Athletic on July 24.
The Clarets are preparing for their first full season under the ownership of ALK Capital during an exciting stage in the club’s history, and Head of Commercial Partnerships Ella Cummins is delighted to welcome back AstroPay.
“We’re really pleased to be welcoming AstroPay back into the Clarets family,” said Cummins.
“They were with the club for one of our greatest recent seasons, so there is some added history to this partnership which I’m sure fans will appreciate.
“We’re excited to get the new season underway and look forward to bringing AstroPay and our family of commercial partners with us on the journey.”
AstroPay is the global leader in online payment solutions providing more than 2,000,000 users with memorable experiences and CEO Mikael Lijtenstein said they were delighted to be back on board at Turf Moor.
He said: “It’s great to be joining forces again with Burnley Football Club as a major sponsor.
“We see the club as continuing to head in the right direction and we’re glad to be part of the team for another season of competing against the elite of English and world football.
“Turf Moor and the Premier League is the perfect stage for us as brand leaders in our field and we look forward to more joint success together.”
Carl Sanderson, Burnley FC Head of Business Partnerships, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome AstroPay back on board as sleeve partner to Burnley Football Club and we’re looking forward to working with them throughout the season.”
Bundesliga International, a subsidiary of DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga, has extended its broadcast rights agreements with Eleven Sports to show Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 in Portugal, Belgium and Luxembourg for the next four seasons.
The new deals come into play from the start of the 2021-22 season, which begins on 13 August. In addition to rights to show Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 matches, Eleven Sports will also hold broadcasting rights for the German Supercup and relegation play-offs each season. The 2021 Supercup will take place on 17 August 2021, with DFB Pokal winners Borussia Dortmund entertaining Bundesliga champions FC Bayern München at the Signal Iduna Park.
With three of Europe’s top six scorers coming from the Bundesliga, including Portugal’s André Silva who finished the season with 28 goals, the Bundesliga is renowned for its fast, exciting football, and remains a cornerstone of Eleven Sports’ offering. In Belgium, the country’s leading sports broadcaster will have the exclusive rights to show all Bundesliga matches in both French and Dutch across its linear and digital platforms. The offering is also available in Luxembourg, for which Eleven Sports acquired non-exclusive rights. In Portugal, Eleven Sports maintains its position as the exclusive home of Bundesliga and will likewise continue to entertain local Bundesliga fans with its comprehensive coverage of the German top-flight from all angles.
As well as live match action, Eleven Sports will continue to keep fans up to date with all the latest developments from the Bundesliga, incorporating the Bundesliga Highlights Show and Bundesliga Weekly into its programming schedule and featuring the Bundesliga comprehensively across its range of digital and social media platforms.
Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein said: “Eleven Sports is a trusted partner with the shared ambition to constantly innovate the broadcasting experience for our fans. Extending our agreement in these markets is a great signal of intent to continue building the local Bundesliga following, and with players such as André Silva, Raphaël Guerreiro, Thorgan Hazard and Koen Casteels, we have the star power that local fans tune in for every matchday.”
Guillaume Collard, Eleven Sports Belgium & Luxembourg Managing Director and Group Chief Rights Acquisition Officer, said: “At Eleven we want to serve fans with the greatest live sport in the world. Securing the rights to the Bundesliga for another four years is an important step in us delivering on that mission. From Der Klassiker to following all the action of Belgian players like Thorgan Hazard and Koen Casteels – the Bundesliga has lots to offer fans in Belgium and Luxembourg. Our new deal is testament to the partnership we have built with the Bundesliga over the past few years and we’re looking forward to continuing to work together in the seasons ahead.”
Jorge Pavão de Sousa, Eleven Sports Portugal Managing Director, added: “This renewal is part of Eleven’s strategy to consolidate and grow our portfolio of leading sports rights in Portugal. The Bundesliga has enjoyed a double-digit growth in popularity in Portugal over the last rights cycle, as Eleven has championed the league and the great performances of players like André Silva, Raphaël Guerreiro and Gonçalo Paciência. We would like to thank the Bundesliga for the trust they’ve placed in us and look forward to continuing to bring our audience the best of German football in the seasons ahead.”
McLaren Racing and Stanley Black & Decker have announced a multi-year partnership that will make the world’s largest tools and storage company the Official Tools and Storage Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team.
The McLaren and Stanley Black & Decker relationship combines two leading brands who share a dedication to innovation and technological advancement in their purpose.
Stanley Black & Decker will support the McLaren Formula 1 team at and away from the track by outfitting the team with a range of iconic Stanley Black & Decker tools. The partnership will include engagement events and experiences to bring the partnership to life for Stanley Black & Decker’s customers and celebrate the work they do to “Make the World.”
As the team’s Official Tools and Storage Partner, DEWALT, a Stanley Black & Decker brand, will be visible on the rear wing endplates of the McLaren MCL35M race cars and the racesuits of McLaren F1 drivers, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing said: “Stanley Black & Decker is renowned for excellence and providing their customers with products to achieve great things. We are delighted to welcome another global brand in DEWALT to our family of partners and look forward to working together to bring our relationship to life through the global stage of Formula 1.”
Jim Loree, CEO, Stanley Black & Decker said: “We are excited to partner with McLaren Racing, a brand that is best-in-class in innovation and drives its purpose on and off the racetrack. At Stanley Black & Decker, we share the same values – innovation and excellence have powered our success and we live our purpose each day, ‘For Those Who Make The World.’
“Our partnership will help us engage with the world’s most passionate motorsports fans, celebrate the makers who help build the world and bring our admired DEWALT brand to the international racetrack with world-renowned drivers, Lando and Daniel.”
Roma decided to promote their new shirt with the sponsor name earlier than the due announcement date for the upcoming campaign before the start of their pre-season training camp in Portugal.
MEDIAPRO Group, the leading international audiovisual rights agency and international sales partner of Liga MX, has entered an exclusive broadcast agreement with OneFootball to stream live matches and highlight clips from the Liga MX Apertura 2021 and Clausura 2022.
Each match day, OneFootball, the world’s leading football media platform, will provide its 85 million monthly active users across the world with free-to-air coverage of between two and five live matches from teams such as Club América, Cruz Azul, Pumas, Toluca, FC Juárez, Necaxa and Tigres.
The partnership will see the Liga MX shared via the OneFootball platform with audiences in numerous countries across Europe, incl. France, Italy, Germany and UK, as well as Latin America, Africa and Asia. The addition of Liga MX to OneFootball’s streaming offering builds on previously announced partnerships with leading domestic top-flight competitions including the Bundesliga, Scottish Premier League and Belgian Jupiler Pro League, as well as trusted broadcasters, such as Sky Germany and ELEVEN.
The new agreement with OneFootball, which adds to MEDIAPRO Group’s extensive experience in the sale and distribution of audiovisual rights of global sports competitions, will extend the international broadcast reach of Liga MX to a vast userbase of young and highly engaged football enthusiasts around the globe.
The MEDIAPRO Group is the global media rights sales agency of the Spanish LaLiga, the Chinese Super League and the Belgian Jupiler Pro League.
Discovery today unveiled their new look ‘Cube’ technology that will form the base of their Tokyo 2020 coverage across Europe, iSportConnect were in attendance to witness the unveiling and spoke to Discovery Sports’ President, Andrew Georgiou, and Senior VP of Content and Production, Scott Young.
Discovery, the official broadcaster of the Olympic games across Europe, has strengthened its broadcast offering by introducing the extended reality Cube studio which will be the centre-piece of Discovery’s coverage of Tokyo 2020 showcasing new software and motion graphics thus giving viewers the chance to deep dive into the details of why an athlete won gold.
With no spectators allowed at the Tokyo 2020, and a much more minimal media presence allowed within the Japanese city, Discovery have been looking to create new, innovative ways to watch sport, the latest being through the Cube.
The launch complements International Olympic Committee’s plans for ensuring unprecedented broadcast coverage and digital innovation to connect fans around the world to Tokyo 2020.
The multi-location Cube studio for Tokyo 2020 will also feature up to seven different immersive real-time video environment locations, bespoke 360-degree beauty shots of Tokyo as visually stunning backdrops, newly-released 3D Zoom software to allow viewers to see wider and more spectacular panoramic views of Cube locations and a virtual set extension with cameras able to roam around the digital environment.
iSportConnect’s content team was part of the virtual launch which took place this morning where Andrew Georgiou, President of Sports, Discovery was joined by Scott Young, Senior VP of Content and Production, Discovery Sports to explain about the immersive technology.
“Our mission for Tokyo 2020 is to unlock the power of the Olympics.” – Andrew Georgiou
Andrew Georgiou said: “After a challenging 18 months, all eyes will be on Tokyo next week, as the most eagerly anticipated Games in recent history finally get underway; and Team Discovery will be working hard to deliver the ultimate Olympic experience for all our viewers across Europe.”
“Our mission for Tokyo 2020 is to unlock the power of the Olympics. Innovative, immersive technology such as the Cube is one of the ways that Discovery will enable the audience to take this journey with us. The Cube will be a significant part of what makes our coverage unique, alongside an unrivalled line-up of sports stars and experts, spanning our key markets.
“As the Streaming Home of the Olympics across Europe, we’ve been building up the excitement with a stunning array of Road to Tokyo content; and in Tokyo we will be broadcasting every unmissable moment of every sport throughout the Games so fans can create a personalised Tokyo 2020 experience live and on-demand.”
When asked by iSportConnect’s Ben Page as to how the Cube technology has allowed Eurosport to be able to keep the numbers on the ground in Tokyo down, Scott said: “I think the ability of remote production, signal distribution around the world and a little bit of common sense has started to play into this. Tokyo was delayed by a year and we had a chance to look at what we were doing.
“What is the best way to connect the Games to our different platforms for different audiences. Sending the most people to an event doesn’t necessarily get you the best sporting connection with the athletes. We’ve got very strong production bases in key markets across Europe, and to not rely on that and to not rely on those people seems to be missing an opportunity, so sport around the world now is about connecting the sport back to the main production hubs, and then creating the best distribution possible.”
“There was a lot of conversation about virtual fans, in audio and in vision. They’re working on this pretty quickly, we’re having meetings about every day reacting to the current situation here in Japan.” – Scott Young
“I think the pandemic has accelerated the ability for where remote production can really help, but I think it’d be remiss to say that we’re doing all this because of COVID and the remote production, it creates a far better opportunity for us to create more content across more platforms.”
Discovery have also worked to secure partnerships with a number of high-profile partnerships with a number of high-profile social media platforms, with Georgiou stating: “We’ve launched a partnership with YouTube just recently, we’ve got partnership with Twitter and Snap. We’re working with these platforms, that’s part of our ambition to give access to the games to the biggest audience ever in a European context for Summer Games.
“If you think about our platforms, how they complement the national broadcasters, or our own commercial free to air networks in some markets where we’re covering the games ourselves, there’s the opportunity to think about the different demographic of audience, where they like to consume and how we then might tease them back onto our own platform.
London, 14 July 2021: Discovery, home of the Olympics in Europe, launches its enhanced Cube studio technology for Tokyo 2020 with on screen talent Greg Rutherford & Alex Corretja.
“So working with these social partners does give us access to an audience which is different to the kind of audiences we traditionally get. I think we can give them a taste of the Games and entice them back onto our platforms, so the social partners are fundamentally important.”
When asked by iSportConnect if there was to be virtual crowds during the games, Young added: “There was a lot of conversation about virtual fans, in audio and in vision.
“That is not a small undertaking, that amplifies the complexity of the Cube off the charts. Everybody was confident that there would be enough fans in the venues that it would create an atmosphere. We didn’t expect it would be the atmosphere of a full Olympic games, but there would be an attendance, and unfortunately that has changed for the safety of the local people here.
“The IOC and OBS have looked at how they’re going to introduce virtual crowd noise, it’s going to be done a little bit differently to football matches. It’s not an additional audio channel we will add. It’s going to be something that’s going to be introduced as an effect that will be part of the overall atmosphere mics that would have been there to capture the audience anyway. They’re working on this pretty quickly, we’re having meetings about every day reacting to the current situation here in Japan.”
Discovery’s coverage of Tokyo 2020 will be broadcast on multiple platforms, including discovery+, Eurosport and Eurosport App. Discovery also boasts of partnerships with YouTube, Twitter and Snap to give access to the games to the audience of the games.
ELEVEN Belgium has reaffirmed its commitment to international football by agreeing a new rights deal to broadcast the UEFA Nations League, alongside the UEFA Euro 2024 and FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
ELEVEN’s UEFA Nations League coverage will get underway again in October with the semi-final clashes Belgium v France and Italy v Spain. ELEVEN will go on to bring fans all the action from the UEFA Nations League until 2025. Coverage will include the 2022 and 2024 UEFA Nations League campaigns and the 2023 and 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals.
ELEVEN will also bring the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers and FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers to fans in Belgium across their linear and digital platforms.
Guillaume Collard, ELEVEN Belgium & Luxembourg Managing Director and ELEVEN Group Chief Rights Acquisitions Officer, said: “This new agreement further strengthens our premium football offering at ELEVEN Belgium. In addition to being the Home of Belgian football, we are also proud to bring fans the best action from LaLiga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, the FA Cup, MLS and more. We’re delighted to have extended our deal with UEFA to ensure ELEVEN’s audience can continue to enjoy top international football alongside their favourite club competitions.”
