Amazon Web Services Named As Official Cloud, Learning Provider Of Ferrari

Amazon Web Services has entered into an agreement with Ferrari SpA to become its official cloud, learning provider of machine and artificial intelligence. 

Together, the companies will accelerate the pace of innovation across the Ferrari organization, including its automobile department, GT competitions, the Ferrari Challenge, and the Scuderia Ferrari FORMULA 1 (F1) team. Ferrari will use the range and breadth of AWS’ proven global infrastructure and services, including the AWS Europe (Milan) region, to simplify the design and testing of its cars, offering customers the most exciting driving experiences possible. In addition, Scuderia Ferrari will leverage AWS to launch a digital fan engagement platform,

“Both Ferrari and AWS represent excellence in their fields. As our official cloud provider, I firmly believe that AWS will enable our company to become a data-driven organization that harnesses the power of technology to improve our products, increase engagement with Ferrari enthusiasts worldwide, and deliver ever-increasing driving experience more exciting,” said Mattia Binotto, director of Scuderia Ferrari. “We chose AWS because of its relentless focus on innovation, unrivaled portfolio of resources, and proven experience supporting partners in the automotive and sports industries. Throughout our famous history, Ferrari has racing and innovation at its soul, and now we hope to apply machine learning,

As a maker of some of the world’s highest performing automobiles, Ferrari will rely on AWS’ advanced analytics, machine learning, computing, storage and database capabilities to quickly gain insight into the design and performance of cars on the road and on the track. Ferrari will leverage the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), with a range of specialized instance types for efficient high performance computing (HPC) to run complex simulations that test the car’s performance under a wide variety of conditions driving and racing scenarios. 

As part of this work, Ferrari will utilize AWS Graviton2-based instances — which consistently deliver up to 40% better price performance over comparable current-gen x86-based instances. Furthermore, by exploiting the virtually unlimited scale of AWS HPC resources, Ferrari can run thousands of simulations at the same time to gain insights far faster than before, running simulations in an on-premises environment. As a result, the company’s engineers can look for a quick approach to experimenting with new designs and strategies to accelerate their pace of innovation.

As Ferrari moves from simulation to assembling its new car prototypes, it will apply AWS analytics and Amazon SageMaker (AWS service that helps developers and data scientists quickly build, train, and implement cloud and perimeter learning models). machine) to guide testing and gain deeper insights into the performance of your parts and cars under real-world conditions. 

To support this work and its simulations, Ferrari will build a data lake with the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and use AWS Lake Formation to quickly and securely gather, catalog and clean hundreds of petabytes of data. Ferrari will examine factors that impact car performance and driver handling, such as engine temperature at different vehicle speeds, vehicle vibration patterns on different road surfaces, and suspension loads that affect how the vehicle adheres to the road. Using AWS services to gain a holistic view of car performance, Ferrari can offer its customers more exciting driving experiences, as well as safer and more reliable driving experiences.

Ferrari will also leverage AWS to make it easier for current and potential customers to create, buy and maintain their automobiles. Using the Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) and Amazon DynamoDB (AWS fully managed key-value database), Ferrari will be able to quickly create, implement, and scale enhanced digital experiences like the Ferrari Car Configurator . Consumers can use the configurator to create their custom car and then dive into it using high-resolution 2D and 3D views. AWS will also feed Ferrari’s Vehicle Information Center, which centralizes and manages customer car information, providing proactive and personalized information related to service and maintenance.

In addition, for F1 racing fans, Scuderia Ferrari will utilize AWS computing, containers and media services to power a new digital fan engagement platform through its mobile app that will inform, educate and entertain its fans. By creating personalized profiles, fans will receive exclusive content such as virtual access to the Scuderia Ferrari workshop and hospitality suite on race days. 

Moving forward, Ferrari plans to create virtual and augmented reality experiences on AWS that take fans to the garage to interact with drivers and crew. Ferrari will also create a virtual fan community among the app’s millions of users and engage fans with app-based quizzes on race days.

“AWS offers iconic global brands like Ferrari the breadth of services, expertise and agility they need to maintain leadership in their fields through innovation and deepen their connections with loyal customers and fans,” said Matt Garman, senior vice president Sales and Marketing at Amazon Web Services, Inc.

“Ferrari can trust AWS to help it take driving and racing to the next level, while generating new excitement in its global community through more personalization and new digital experiences . What’s more, as its official cloud provider, we look forward to helping Scuderia Ferrari maintain its record as the greatest racing team in the world.”

Zwift Joins Inaugural Tour de France Femmes Avec Sponsorship List

Zwift, the global online fitness platform will be the presenting partner of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

The inaugural edition will start on Sunday the 24th July 2022 with Stage 1 finishing in Paris on the Champs-Élysées. 

The four year partnership will spearhead Zwift’s broader strategy to grow women’s cycling and lay solid foundations, as the race seeks to establish itself as the pinnacle of the UCI Women’s World Tour cycling calendar. 

The Tour de France is the most watched annual sporting event in the world. The aspiration of Zwift and the A.S.O. is to elevate the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to the same heights, providing teams and riders a greater opportunity to showcase their talent on a global stage. Tackling the most challenging routes, taking on the most iconic climbs in France, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will establish a legacy that will help inspire the next generation of cyclists, year after year. The next generation of female champions will soon be displaying the camaraderie, strategy and grit it takes to put on the iconic yellow jersey. 

The A.S.O. and Zwift already have a history together, last year joining forces in July to successfully host the first Virtual Tour de France, a race that allowed the best male and female cyclists in the world to compete. The race was broadcast to over 130 countries with each race receiving equal broadcast time. 

Anna van der Breggen, Professional Cyclist for UCI Women’s WorldTeam SD Worx: “This is a huge moment for professional women’s cycling. The Tour de France is the most famous race in cycling and it’s long been a dream for many of us in the women’s peloton to compete in such a race. I’m hopeful that the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will help us grow our sport even more by providing us with a media platform to take the excitement of women’s cycling to new audiences.”

Eric Min, CEO & Co-Founder of Zwift: “This is an incredibly important announcement for us as we look to build on our investment in women’s cycling and really help grow and develop the sport. Building on the success of the Virtual Tour de France on Zwift last year, this has been many months in the making and both Zwift and the A.S.O are delighted to make the dream a reality. I’ve long been a fan of the attacking style of women’s racing. I really believe the women’s peloton puts on some of the most exciting bike racing to watch and it deserves a much bigger platform to exhibit these talents and skills. I’m proud that we can play a big part in making the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift a reality in 2022. Together we can bring women’s cycling to a larger audience and inspire new generations of female cyclists for years to come.”

Yann le Moënner, General Director of Amaury Sport Organisation: “We are particularly glad to launch this new women’s race with a partner like Zwift, who have considerably developed cycling around the World thanks to their connected platform. We constructed a Virtual Tour de France together last year which turned out to be an immense success. Our respective teams learned to work together and now target the same objective: to develop women’s cycling by introducing an unmissable event, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.”

600 Websites Illegally Streaming UEFA EURO 2020 Championships Blocked By Italian Authorities

A major anti-piracy operation has been successfully concluded by Italian authorities, seizing more than 600 websites that were illegally streaming the ongoing UEFA EURO 2020 Championships.

The operation, conducted by a collection of Italian anti-piracy organisations, identified and shut down the websites routing from servers across Europe with audiences worldwide, and imposed criminal prosecutions and heavy fines on the website administrators.

Furthermore, end users will face a fine of €1.032 each in a landmark action against viewers of illegal sports streaming online.

“UEFA welcomes and supports the ‘Euro Strike 2020’ anti-piracy operation which has been undertaken by the Guardia di Finanza and coordinated by the Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office. We would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts in fighting audiovisual piracy,” said a UEFA spokesperson.

“Financial revenue generated from media rights sales is vital for the wellbeing of football, both professional and amateur, and in particular football development and grassroots investment throughout Europe. Therefore, it is important to protect our broadcasters for the good of the game including by bringing actions such as this against pirates.”

Jacob’s Creek Named As Official Wine Partner For ICC World Test Championship Final 2021

Jacob’s Creek, Australia’s bottled wine brand, has been announced as the official wine partner for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship Final 2021 taking place in Southampton, 18 – 22 June.

As the official wine partner for the hugely anticipated ICC World Test Championship Final between India and New Zealand, Jacob’s Creek will have exclusive pouring rights for the event, branding at in-stadia bars, stadium and digital broadcast advertising.

The event will kick-start a long-term strategic partnership for Jacob’s Creek with the ICC for the next three years.   

Eric Thomson, Global Marketing Director for Pernod Ricard Winemakers says: “Jacob’s Creek has a long-standing connection to the world of sport, and we’re excited to be working with the ICC to connect with cricket fans and wine lovers through this inaugural event.”

“As we progress into 2021, sport has never been more important, and supporting sport has also never been more important. As a wine brand that is all about connecting people, Jacob’s Creek is proud to partner with the ICC to bring people together in a celebration of cricket.”

Talking about this partnership, Kartik Mohindra, Chief Marketing Officer, Pernod Ricard India, said, “India’s fervour around cricket is well known and Jacob’s Creek partnership with ICC is the perfect opportunity to celebrate Indian Cricket Team’s success of reaching the finals of World Test Championship. We are excited to be a part of this momentous occasion in cricketing history and for our association with ICC in the years ahead.”

Anurag Dahiya, ICC’s Chief Commercial Officer says: “We are delighted to partner with Jacob’s Creek for the ICC World Test Championship Final as we kick start our long-term partnership. With its rich heritage and award-winning portfolio, Jacob’s Creek joins leading global brands that have benefitted immensely from their association with our events.”

Cazoo Expands Partnership With Matchroom

Cazoo, the UK based online car retailer has expanded its partnership with Matchroom to become the principal sponsor of snooker’s Masters, UK Championship and Champion of Champions.

Cazoo has extended its deal with the World Snooker Tour (WST) and added the Masters, the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions to its current portfolio of snooker properties where it is currently the main sponsor of the Players Championship, Tour Championship and World Grand Prix.

The Champion of Champions, promoted by Matchroom Multi Sport, brings together 16 tournament Champions from the past year. The UK Championship is snooker’s longest running ranking event other than the World Championship, and is part of the sport’s Triple Crown series, as is the Masters in London which boasts an elite field of the world’s top 16 players.

Each of these prestigious snooker tournaments, broadcast to a global television audience of up to 500 million fans, will see Cazoo branding on the main set, players’ waistcoats and interview and media conference backdrops.

Cazoo has also become the principal sponsor of the Grand Slam of Darts, World Cup of Darts and European Championship. Under a new multi-year deal with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), the trio of high-profile darts events will see prominent Cazoo branding on the stage, players’ shirts, in the playing arena and on interview backdrops with extensive live TV coverage through Sky Sports and global broadcasters.

The Cazoo World Cup of Darts will take place from September 9-12 in Jena, Germany, where 32 nations will compete in two-player teams. The Cazoo European Championship, live on ITV4, and Sky Sports-televised Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts will follow as two of the highlights of the Autumn’s darting calendar.

Cazoo will also become the headline sponsor at this year’s FishOMania event, to be staged on Saturday July 24.

These latest tournaments add to Cazoo’s growing portfolio of sports sponsorships which now includes football (Everton, Aston Villa & the EFL), cricket (The Hundred), rugby (Welsh Rugby Union & 2021 Rugby League World Cup), golf (European Tour) and horseracing (Epsom Derby & St Leger).

Cazoo is pioneering the shift to online car buying and, since launching in 2019, has sold over 25,000 cars to consumers across the UK who have embraced the selection, transparency and convenience of buying quality used cars entirely online. Cazoo is planning to launch in France & Germany by the end of 2021.

Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO of Cazoo said, “We are excited to be expanding our partnership with Matchroom to launch the Cazoo World Cup of Darts, Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts and Cazoo European Championship with the Professional Darts Corporation later this year and to be extending our deal with the World Snooker Tour to launch three additional Cazoo snooker tournaments. This wider partnership with Matchroom will help to further grow our audience as we build Cazoo into a household brand and continue to deliver the best car buying experience to darts and snooker fans across the UK and Europe.”

Barry Hearn OBE, President of Matchroom said: “It’s fantastic to have a brand like Cazoo involved with us in both snooker and darts and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with Alex and his team, who have proven to be creative and innovative partners. We are now partnering with Cazoo on nine of the most prestigious tournaments and eagerly-awaited events on the snooker and darts calendars as well as for FishOMania. We look forward to introducing the Cazoo brand to our loyal fanbase and to a long and productive relationship.”

Discovery Expands Coverage Of 24 Hours Of Le Mans

Discovery has further expanded its coverage of the historic 24 Hours of Le Mans for the largest global audience as part of a renewed agreement with the FIA World Endurance Championship and its exclusive media rights partner, Infront.

Through Discovery’s portfolio of motorsport brands and channels, the partnership comprises coverage from every round of the FIA WEC including qualifying, available live and on-demand for viewers in more than 100 markets across Europe, North America and Asia.

Eurosport, Discovery’s leading multi-sport brand, will provide exclusive coverage of 24 Hours of Le Mans – motorsport’s oldest race – across its channels and digital platforms in more than 50 markets across Europe*. Discovery’s MotorTrend TV will show exclusive coverage for US viewers with the action available on Velocity in Canada. Discovery’s recently launched global streaming service discovery+ will also screen the race via Eurosport and MotorTrend TV in available markets.

Trojan Paillot, VP Rights Acquisitions and Syndication, Eurosport said: “24 Hours of Le Mans is steeped in history as one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events and is a race that forms a key part of our live motorsport offering for fans.

“Combining our deep sports expertise and storytelling ability with Discovery’s global scale, we’re pleased our renewed agreement with Infront will see us continue to screen the best motorsport events to millions, further expanding the reach of Le Mans and the WEC to the widest possible audience.”

Discovery will also harness the world’s best motorsport talent to front its coverage of 24 Hours of Le Mans with record nine-time champion Tom Kristensen continuing in his role as expert for Eurosport for the 2021 season, bringing viewers closer to the action. 

Discovery’s comprehensive motorsport portfolio provides world-class coverage of the biggest championships and races globally, offering something for everyone. As well as Discovery’s stake in Formula E, Eurosport Events’ deep motorsport expertise includes organisation and promotion of series on two and four wheels including the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC), FIA World Tour Car Championship (WTCR), the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) and PURE ETCR (FIA eTouring Car World Cup from 2022). MotorTrend is the world’s largest automotive media company serving passionate fans with original automotive shows, live motorsport and car enthusiast programming.

McLaren Racing To Build NFT Experience With Tezos Partnership

McLaren Racing has selected Tezos to become the team’s Official Technical Partner in a new multi-year technical partnership across Formula 1, INDYCAR and esports.

McLaren will use the energy efficient and upgradeable Tezos network to create a non-fungible token (NFT) platform with fan experience at the heart. 

Tezos, an open source blockchain for assets and applications, is a continuously evolving blockchain that upgrades itself through efficient on-chain governance. McLaren will build a dedicated platform that brings its illustrious racing heritage and renowned driver line-ups across its multiple teams to offer an unrivalled NFT fan experience.

For Tezos and McLaren, sustainability through innovation is key. Embracing clean NFTs and energy-efficient networks ensures that the impact of this new medium to share creative expression is not offset by unnecessarily high energy consumption. Unlike traditional Proof of Work blockchains, Tezos’s pioneering Proof of Stake mechanism is a significantly more energy-efficient approach to securing its network, using two million times less energy than Proof of Work networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This allows Tezos to operate cleanly, with minimal energy consumption and a negligible carbon footprint.

As part of the partnership, the Tezos brand will be represented across the McLaren Formula 1 and Arrow McLaren SP teams, including on the race suits of McLaren F1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Riccardo, and AMSP drivers Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. Tezos will also be presenting partner of the McLaren Shadow esports team. 

Lindsey Eckhouse, Director, Licensing, ecommerce and esports, McLaren Racing, said: “Tezos and McLaren Racing uniting to create a unique fan-focused NFT platform is an innovative step in an exciting and rapidly developing industry. At McLaren we are known for putting fans at the heart of everything we do, and this is another partnership which allows us to enter a space where fans can own key pieces of our team. We are looking forward to launching the platform with Tezos to create bespoke NFTs with our Formula 1, INDYCAR and esports teams.” 


Hubertus Thonhauser, Chair, Tezos Foundation, said: “McLaren Racing has one of the longest and most illustrious legacies in racing, and we are excited that they have chosen to bring it to the Tezos blockchain through their NFT Fan engagement platform.

“The concept of blockchain is evolving, becoming faster, more secure, and more efficient. This requires a blockchain that can keep up with this rapid pace of innovation. As brands everywhere look to engage with their fans in new ways, Tezos, the original and fastest evolving blockchain, remains at the forefront of innovation, providing real-world solutions in a thriving and fast growing ecosystem.”

OneFootball Joins Forces With Sportdigital Fussball To Broadcast Copa América

SPORTDIGITAL FUSSBALL and OneFootball have joined forces to broadcast all matches of the Copa América, where superstars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are fighting for the title.

The Copa América, the South American equivalent of UEFA EURO 2020, is taking place in Brazil from 13 June to 11 July. The hosts started the continental championship with a 3-0 win over Venezuela, led by superstar Neymar, who scored one goal and was involved in the other two.

All Copa América matches, which could not previously be seen in Germany, will now be available live on pay-TV channel SPORTDIGITAL FUSSBALL, as well as free of charge on the football media platform OneFootball.

The partners will start broadcasting the competition from 17 June. The first live matches will be Colombia against Venezuela (from 22:55 CET live) and Brazil against Peru (18 June, from 01:55 CET live). On the night of 19 June, the eagerly anticipated Argentina vs Uruguay match will be live from 01:55 CET. A game that will see Argentina’s Lionel Messi take on former FC Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez and his Uruguay team.

Through the agreement, the pay-TV channel and football media platform will enable football fans to follow this exciting competition in Germany, along with Austria and Switzerland. While SPORTDIGITAL FUSSBALL will broadcast the matches live on the pay-TV channel with German commentary, OneFootball will show all Copa América matches with the original English sound in a free live stream on its own platform.

This means 24 exciting live matches will be offered to fans through this cooperation, including the final on 11 July. In addition, OneFootball will provide its users with highlight clips of all matches on the platform after the end of each game. The deal was brokered by London-based advisory firm JL Sports Investment, which is led by former CEO of MP&Silva and President of TRAFFIC Sports, Jochen Lösch.

It is not the first time SPORTDIGITAL FUSSBALL and OneFootball have cooperated; since the end of 2019, selected live matches from the SPORTDIGITAL FUSSBALL programme have been available on a pay-per-view basis on the OneFootball platform through a distribution partnership.

Maro Itoje Becomes The Latest Athlete To Join Therabody

Therabody, the global leader in tech wellness and the creators of  the Theragun®, announced today world-class rugby player Maro Itoje as its newest athlete ambassador. In addition to being a Therabody Athlete, Itoje is part of Therabody’s roster of athlete and celebrity investors who incorporate wellness solutions into their routines.

Itoje monitors his body every day and uses his Therabody devices to target strained areas that may  require intervention. Because rugby is such a physically demanding sport, he often experiences varying degrees of soreness on any given day. He moves the Theragun across harder-to-reach areas of his body, using different grips on the device’s patented ergonomic triangle design that reduces the strain on his joints. He also wears RecoveryAir pneumatic compression boots even during his at-home recovery routine to improve blood circulation, help decrease swelling and stiffness, and alleviate muscle fatigue.

“I am excited to join Therabody as an ambassador, after investing earlier this year, because it’s a brand I truly believe in,” explains professional rugby player Maro Itoje. “Rugby is an extremely physical sport and recovery is an integral part of the process. Therabody allows me to recover more quickly and efficiently, helping me stay in great shape and providing me with that extra 1% to compete at the highest level.”

A seasoned veteran of the game at only 26 years old, Itoje’s combination of strength, athletic ability, and intellect have allowed him to rise to the top of his game. He is constantly searching for new ways to improve himself and his performance, such as his pursuit of the best training solutions  like Therabody, maintaining a healthy diet and sleep regimen, and furthering his wellness education. The company will equip Itoje with several devices from across its ecosystem of therapies that he plans to leverage while he is on tour in South Africa this summer.

“When we first started working with Maro, we immediately noticed how excited he was to learn about our solutions, how they enhance his body’s natural ability to perform and recover, and how he could integrate them into his wellness regimen,” says Dr. Jason  Wersland,  Founder  and Chief Wellness Officer of Therabody.

“He understands that he must work just as hard off the pitch as he does during matches and training sessions, and dedicates time to ensuring his recovery incorporates a diverse set of products and techniques. We’re thrilled that Maro has chosen to include Therabody in his routine.” Itoje participated in educational sessions with performance and wellness experts from Therabody University, the company’s educational division.

LA28 Games Taps Salesforce As Official Partner

The LA28 Games has announced Salesforce as a new official partner to help make the Olympic and Paralympic fan journey to 2028 the best one yet.

As a founding partner of LA28, Salesforce will help deliver an engaging fan and athlete digital experience over the next seven years as Los Angeles prepares to welcome the world in 2028. 

“Partnering with Salesforce brings the most cutting-edge technologies to engage fans in the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Kathy Carter, Chief Executive Office, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties. “They’ll enable LA28 to connect with fans in the most personal way, curating connections and content like never before.” 

In addition to their partnership with LA28, Salesforce will also work with NBCUniversal to build the Olympic and Paralympic fan communities. 

“At Salesforce, our mission is to change the world for the better through technology that helps our customers achieve success from anywhere, and we’re proud to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles,” said Sarah Franklin, President and Chief Marketing Officer, Salesforce. “We’re thrilled to partner with LA28, Team USA and NBCUniversal and look forward to creating the most innovative digital experience in sports for engaging athletes and fans.”