McLaren Racing Signs Analytics Automation Brand Alteryx As Official Partner

McLaren Racing has signed a new multi-year partnership with Alteryx, Inc. , the analytics automation company who will become an official partner of the McLaren Formula 1 team, from this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.


Alteryx excels in unifying data, analytics and automating business processes in a single platform. The Alteryx analytics automation solution will bring cutting-edge analytics and data science capabilities to deliver new insights and intelligence at speed.



The Alteryx brand and ‘Alteryx Analytics’ will be represented on the McLaren MCL35M race cars and will also feature on the race suits of McLaren F1 drivers, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, the McLaren pit crew, and across the team’s digital and social media platforms.

Mark Waller, Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Racing, said: “Alteryx transforms the way data is collected and analysed at speed through intelligent analytics automation, helping us make decisions faster. In racing, we are always looking to refine our learning in ways that help us go quicker. The partnership marks the union of two brands who pride themselves on spearheading innovative technology to enable everyone to achieve excellence in their performance.”


Sharmila Mulligan, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, Alteryx, said: “With some of the fastest drivers in the world competing to win, every advantage matters and fast data analysis gives you an edge, as proven with many sports teams. McLaren’s relentless focus on leveraging innovation to win, combined with Alteryx’s analytics automation software, will support the team’s ability to harness and digest complex data to drive insights at tremendous speeds. We are honoured to partner with McLaren through the 2021 season and beyond.”   

Harlequins Appoint Steve Morton As Chief Commercial Officer

Harlequins has appointed Steve Morton in the role of Chief Commercial Officer

As part of the Club’s ambitious commercial plans, it has appointed Morton, a proven commercial leader in the sports and events space with extensive experience with Premier League football team Wolverhampton Wanderers, as the Club’s new Chief Commercial Officer.

Beginning his new role with the Club this week, Morton joins Harlequins having spent the last eight years with Wolverhampton Wanderers, most recently holding the position of the club’s Head of Commercial.

Welcoming Morton to the Club, Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple said: “I’m delighted to be able to welcome Steve into the Quins fold. He has extensive experience and a proven track record within the sports and events commercial space and will bring huge value to our talented internal team at a crucial period of growth for us.

“Steve will be responsible for the management of all commercial activities at the Club, including overseeing our existing family of premium brands that have a longstanding relationship with Harlequins. Steve will also be responsible for driving incremental commercial value through new partnerships across all areas of the Club, both on and off the pitch.

“Following over a year of matches being played behind closed doors and the cessation of almost all income generating activities, the Club has faced huge financial challenges. As we can now see a path back to our business model returning to normality in the autumn, we are putting the building blocks in place to not only spring back from the challenges posed by COVID, but spring forward and take advantage of the new landscape. These are exciting times for the Club and Steve will play a critical role in our development.”

Commenting on his move to Harlequins, Morton said: “I’m thrilled to have joined Harlequins. This is a Club with a great history, an incredible global supporter base, and a fantastic brand – the most famous rugby club in the world.

“This is an extremely exciting time to join the Club as we look forward to the return of supporters this week for our Women’s Allianz Premier 15s semi-final, and then for our Men’s final matches of the season as they seek to seal our Semi Final berth in the Gallagher Premiership. There is a real buzz around the Club right now and I am looking forward to beginning my work with a fantastic team at The Stoop.”

SportAccord 2021 Virtual Launch Celebration On 25 May To Whet The Appetite for Ekaterinburg

 Individuals, businesses and organisations that have registered for the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 will have the opportunity to learn more about the event during a Virtual Launch Celebration following the International Federation (IF) Forum on 25 May 2021.

Those who have signed up as delegates, exhibitors or partners for SportAccord 2021 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, will be invited to the special event, which will take place from 15:45-16:45 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on 25 May, immediately after the conclusion of the fully virtual IF Forum.

The Virtual Launch Celebration will be available on the SportAccord 2021 digital web platform and will provide SportAccord 2021 participants with important information about the event less than six months before Ekaterinburg welcomes the sporting world for a week of networking from 7-12 November.

Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, President, SportAccord and GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Evgeny Kuivashev, Governor, Sverdlovsk Region, will be among those to welcome attendees at the virtual launch.

There will also be messages from SportAccord 2021’s Gold Partners and further details about the conference programme for sport’s most influential global gathering in Ekaterinburg.

“The SportAccord 2021 Virtual Launch Celebration will whet the appetite for the World Sport & Business Summit in stunning Ekaterinburg,” Dr. Raffaele Chiulli said. “The IF Forum is an invitation-only event specifically designed for International Sports Federations, but the Virtual Launch Celebration will open the door to a wider audience, increasing anticipation ahead of SportAccord 2021.

“This launch event represents an outstanding opportunity to learn more about a vital gathering on the calendar as the world of sport steers towards recovery and growth in the coming months and years following an extremely challenging time.”

SportAccord confirmed last month that the IF Forum 2021 had been brought forward to 25 May from its traditional autumn slot to allow the World Sport & Business Summit 2021 to be rescheduled for 7-12 November.

Registration is open for SportAccord 2021 in Ekaterinburg, the 19th edition of SportAccord’s flagship annual event. Organisations interested in becoming an official partner or exhibitor can contact SportAccord by emailing sales@sportaccord.sport, with SportAccord also offering an interactive exhibition floorplan and 3-D flyoverof the SportAccord 2021 exhibition space.

LaLiga And Microsoft Strike Tech Partnership To Transform Sports Experience

LaLiga, Spain’s premier football association, and Microsoft Corp. on have announced an expansion of their partnership focused on digitally transforming the sports experience globally.

The companies will also collaborate on developing technology solutions to the media and entertainment industry through LaLiga’s technology offering, LaLiga Tech. 

As LaLiga’s global Tech and Innovation Partner, Microsoft will help develop new and leverage existing solutions that will drive innovation across the sports industry including: 

  • For sports fans: Azure Event Hubs, Azure Data Lake, Azure Databricks and Azure Machine Learning will provide data-enhanced match coverage, personalized OTT streaming options such as camera angle selection in matches. LaLiga will offer new experiences such as augmented reality, virtual reality and 3-D replays.
  • For rights holders, broadcasters and commercial partners: Azure, Dynamics 365, Power BI, SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Machine learning will enable an enhanced OTT streaming platform that features personalized recommendations and enhanced experiences with relevant content, games and services.  
  • For venue managers: Power BI and Azure will streamline stadium operations through innovations in security, and leverage 5G for unified in-stadium experiences. 

As part of the collaboration, LaLiga will utilize Microsoft Azure, including AI and machine learning for its LaLigaSportsTV OTT platform and Mediacoach (match stats and visualization) platform, to reinvent interactive audiovisual experiences and formats. 

“We value Microsoft as our technology and innovation partner and appreciate how they collaborate deeply to build innovative solutions aimed at solving business challenges specific to our industry,” said Javier Tebas, President of LaLiga. “We are moving into a new era in which technology will become the center of the fan experience and data insights will power the next stage of global growth.”

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with LaLiga as it makes further bold moves to deepen engagement with its hundreds of millions of fans, while bringing new business models to market with Microsoft cloud and AI capabilities,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, EVP and President Global Sales, Marketing & Operations, Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft is proud to help accelerate LaLiga’s digital innovation and empower exciting new business opportunities in the sports and entertainment industries through LaLiga’s technology portfolio.”

The collaboration is key to the growth and development of LaLiga Tech, through which LaLiga will package its full range of existing technologies into a commercial offering for the sports industry, from match-day stats and analytics to the next generation of OTT streaming services, to the most advanced content protection services and venue access management systems. This will help LaLiga expand into a new era in sports and beyond and enhance the fan experience by creating new data-driven technology solutions, powered by Microsoft Azure, Power BI, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365, and provide customized technology platform, services and solutions to third parties. 

The offerings build on LaLiga’s rich history of investing and focusing on the development of innovative technology aimed at enhancing the fan experience, including a robust app ecosystem on top of Microsoft Azure services. LaLiga’s family of official apps have had more than 113 million downloads globally. LaLigaSportsTV, which provides a free OTT video streaming platform for multiple sports beyond football, has had over 1.5 million registered users.

The solutions leverage a powerful data and AI to deliver personalized content based on fan preferences as well as games and video that engage casual and hardcore fans on match day and beyond. 

In addition, LaLiga utilizes Microsoft Power BI dashboards to provide data visualization for TV audience, fan360, social media, brand favorability and engagement, web and app performance per country, helping LaLiga and its clubs create more engaging and tailored experiences. 

With the enhanced partnership announced today, LaLiga and Microsoft will focus on co-innovation and cloud acceleration using Microsoft Azure and its AI capabilities. The collaboration will continue providing LaLiga, through LaLiga Tech assets, with new growth and business opportunities by leveraging the best innovations emerging across the sports market, entertainment companies and other commercial companies around the globe.

LaLiga And beIN Media Group Strikes Broadcast Deal Until 2024

beIN MEDIA GROUP (“beIN”) and LaLiga have agreed an exciting new deal in France for the broadcast of the scintillating Spanish league on beIN SPORTS until 2024.

The renewal extends the exclusive and trusted partnership between beIN and LaLiga in France to more than a decade. 

LaLiga fans in France will continue to celebrate every goal of one of most successful and most watched leagues in the world live and exclusively on beIN SPORTS, including the matches of European giants FC Barcelona,
Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Seville FC; and at present French national stars Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema, Ousmane Dembélé and Samuel Umtiti all playing in Spain. 

Outside of Europe, beIN SPORTS continues to be one of LaLiga’s most important overseas partners, broadcasting the league in 35 countries worldwide, including the 24 countries of the Middle East & North Africa and 11 countries in Asia Pacific (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, East Timor and the Philippines). 

beIN and LaLiga will also continue their renowned alliance and partnership on anti-piracy – where they are industry-leading – together with various activations ahead of the Qatar World Cup 2022.

Following the recent consolidation of the French media landscape, this deal further strengthens beIN’s long-term ambition in France as it keeps LaLiga in its industry leading portfolio of premium rights. beIN SPORTS’ stellar rights portfolio in France includes UEFA EURO 2020, FIFA World Cup 2022, NBA, NFL, Wimbledon, FA Cup, Bundesliga, Serie A, handball, rugby and much more; together with the UEFA Champions League from this coming September onwards. 

Laurent de Camas, Managing Director of beIN SPORTS France, said “We are delighted to extend our partnership with LaLiga in France to 2024, allowing our subscribers to watch the best Spanish clubs and talent both in the domestic league and in a range of European competitions too. This renewal deal with LaLiga – our trusted partner in France since 2012 – supports our rational business strategy of bidding proportionately for premium rights while focusing on growth and profitability in France. The Spanish 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 starting next season, Bundesliga, Serie A, NBA, NFL, Wimbledon and more.” 

Melcior Soler, Audiovisual Director at LaLiga, said: “We are very pleased to renew our trusted partnership with beIN SPORTS in France through to 2024, extending our relationship to over a decade. As our longstanding and valued partner across the world, we trust beIN to continue inspiring fans of Spanish football – and help grow our brand – both in France and globally with its dedicated programming and promotion of LaLiga, its clubs and players. This is another very important international rights deal secured for LaLiga in recent weeks.” 

Engelbert Strauss Named As Official Sponsor For IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship

Engelbert Strauss, Europe’s leading workwear and utility brand,  has been named Official Sponsor of the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

The German company reached an agreement through Infront, the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) exclusive media and marketing partner.

Engelbert Strauss’ new logo and branding will emblazon the tournament ice machines that clean the ice. They will also benefit from sponsorship placement on rink board advertising. 

Michael Witta, Infront Vice President Marketing Sales and Services said: “Engelbert Strauss is looking to broaden its brand reach to new audiences and recognised that the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship is the ideal platform to achieve this. We know them well, are fully aligned with what they are looking for in a sponsorship and know that this opportunity offers huge potential.”

Henning Strauss, Engelbert Strauss Managing Director said: “The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship provides us a chance to engage ice hockey fans around the world, perfectly fitting our new international approach. We have been offered a unique opportunity to have our brand front and centre of the event and are excited to properly leverage this occasion to strengthen the relationship we have with the supporters.”

The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship begins on 21 May in Riga, Latvia. The sponsorship broadens Engelbert Strauss’ presence in hockey following its involvement in the Champions Hockey League as a Presenting Sponsor since its debut season in 2014/15.

Extreme E X Prix Garners 18.7 Million Worldwide Audience

Extreme E’s inaugural X Prix – the Desert X Prix – broadcast garnered a cumulative worldwide audience of 18.7 million, highlighting the appetite for this new sport for purpose.

The series has worked alongside YouGov Sport – global sports, sponsorship and entertainment research company – to gather data and insight into the audience of Extreme E’s first ever event, and the report has made for exciting reading.

In total, the broadcast audience was 18.7 million covering close to 900 million households in over 180 countries. There were more than 1,500 hours of broadcast coverage with China topping the table, closely followed by Europe and Asia.

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E said: “We’ve seen a phenomenal success for Extreme E’s first ever event.  Our strategy of attracting strong free-to-air partners, and a digital first, always on approach, when combined with our exciting and innovative racing format and a sporting platform with pitted males and females racing equally together created a truly winning combination.


“The diverse nature of Extreme E meant there was plenty of action across the weekend, with some truly memorable performances, with our female driver line-up coming out as clear winners.  These numbers demonstrate the massive appeal, not only of our racing format, but also our wider messages around the climate crisis, both of which featured heavily in our broadcast.

“As a sport without spectators on site, these figures are fantastic as they show our broadcast only model really does work to engage people on so many levels, whether that be through broadcast, social or press. We are looking forward to building on these statistics as we continue through Season 1 and bringing the messages of our series around environment, electrification and equality to as many people as possible.”

Frank Saez, Managing Director of YouGov Sport, said: “For a first-time event, these figures are incredibly promising and show that Extreme E has tapped into something that looks to have real potential for growth. When we watched the event, what leapt out immediately was the shareable content it would produce – and that’s exactly what the data has shown. A billion social impressions for an inaugural race tells us that Extreme E could be on to something very special here, especially with the strong broadcast partners they have.”

ASX Tech Firm IXUP Acquires DataPOWA

The DataPOWA Board has entered into a binding Share Sale Agreement with Australian Securities Exchange listed technology company IXUP . 

The transaction is subject to shareholder approval by IXUP shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting that will be convened in due course. 

The acquisition of DataPOWA affords IXUP access to the expected benefits of the commercialisation of DataPOWA’s POWA index, as well as important product integration and new product development opportunities, and strategically positions IXUP within the large and growing international digital sports data and related digital sports betting markets. 

The IXUP Data Engine provides the DataPOWA business with a compelling competitive market advantage, new products, a unique point of difference and is set to accelerate sales of both the POWA index and IXUP’s Secure Data Engine to deliver early revenues for IXUP.

Technical collaboration between IXUP and DataPOWA in recent months has led to the development of the POWA index 2.0 (which combines DataPOWA’s POWA index with IXUP’s Secure Data Engine) and has recently secured its first commercial customer, the prominent international FIFA sporting confederation Concacaf.

Under IXUP ownership, DataPOWA operations are planned to be significantly expanded; and Michael Flynn (CEO) and Ian Penrose (Non-Executive Chairman) will continue in their current roles for DataPOWA.

Michael Flynn, the founder and CEO of DataPOWA said: “We are excited to be working with the IXUP team with a focus on the aggressive commercialisation of the POWA index and POWA index 2.0, our joint technology offering, which is already gaining market traction, adoption and interest with key international customers and has created a world first in the sports data sector. Incorporating our POWA index platform with IXUP’s industry leading consumer database encryption technology will enable us to deliver rich insights across datasets not previously capable of being utilised, safely and securely.

As data becomes increasingly important in the business of sport, rights holders and brands will now be able to track and optimise their sponsorships in a new, relevant, and very effective way. “

IXUP’s Managing Director & CEO, Marcus Gracey, commented: “The DataPOWA acquisition was a logical progression from the recently activated collaboration agreement between IXUP and DataPOWA, particularly as it quickly became clear that together we could create a market leading sports sponsorship valuation platform with deep analytics capabilities that the market would adopt. 

The acquisition provides IXUP with valuable aligned technology, domain expertise with key personnel, an accelerated pathway to market for IXUP technology and accelerated revenues in the fast-growing global sports data and related digital sports betting markets.”

UCI Unveils Track Champions League

A new chapter in the history of track cycling, set to elevate the sport to a new level of global prestige, was unveiled today with the launch of the UCI Track Champions League. 

Details of the innovative new series were announced via a live digital event, streamed in duplex from Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, near Paris, and Bath, UK.

UCI President David Lappartient, Eurosport & Discovery Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions President, Andrew Georgiou and Fran֧֦cois Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, revealed all aspects of the high adrenalin, short format racing series optimised for mainstream TV viewers. They were joined by ambassadors Kristina Vogel and Sir Chris Hoy MBE, plus key event promoters.

Featuring the world’s highest profile riders, the series includes a unique, condensed international race calendar, gender-equal participation and prize fund, and worldwide broadcast schedule.

The elite fan-focused competition, designed to build the global profile of track cycling beyond the four-year Olympic cycle, will debut on 6 November with the first of six action-packed-international events. It will bring a fresh new approach to the track cycling format rooted in driving accessibility and excitement amongst existing and new fans alike.

The launch comes as part of a new eight-year partnership between cycling’s world governing body the Union Cycliste Internationale  (UCI) and Discovery alongside its dedicated event promotion business Eurosport Events, with the objective to develop a year-round narrative for track cycling and further grow engagement around the sport.

The UCI Track Champions League is a league format where every round will feature the same race programme. Riders score points across the six rounds in either the Sprint or Endurance category. Each category has two different types of races in which competitors can accumulate points: Sprinters will race both the Sprint and Keirin while Endurance riders will race both the Elimination and Scratch. 18 riders will compete in each category, totalling 72 riders — equal numbers male and female — to take part in the inaugural UCI Track Champions League. 

Rankings within the UCI Track Champions League will be determined by points allocated to riders from their performance in each race. Points will accrue in a league table and the overall winner in each of the categories will be the rider with the most points at the end of the series. At the end of each round the four current leaders of each category (two male, two female) will be awarded the  leader’s jersey to wear at the next event.


The 36 male and 36 female riders competing for victory in the League’s Sprint and Endurance categories will be motivated by a prize pot totalling more than €500,000. Furthermore, the allocation of prize money will be equal for both male and female riders as part of the League’s commitment to gender equality in the sport, and in line with the UCI’s equal prize money policy across all its events.


Prize money will be awarded for places 1-10 in every race throughout the series, with race winners receiving €1,000. The overall winner of each category will also receive €25,000, with prize money allocated for each place in the overall standings. 

Wigan Warriors Agree Multi-Year Deal With The Skinny Food Co.

Rugby League’s Wigan Warriors have signed a major multi-year partnership with fast-growing Nottingham based healthy nutrition brand The Skinny Food Co.

Marking the brand’s first sports partnership, The Skinny Food Co. logo will appear on the collar positions of the first team playing shirts across men’s and women’s teams.

The Skinny Food Co.’s vast product range will also be incorporated into the club’s high-performance programme to support player diet and nutrition, whilst the two parties will collaborate on a series of fan engagement and community initiatives to encourage healthy eating and wellbeing.

Founded in 2018, The Skinny Food Co. is stocked in major high street retailers including Morrisons, Co-Op, Home Bargains, TK Max, SPAR, B&M Bargains and Lidl, plus in excess of 30 countries worldwide.

Through a growing product line of over 210 products, The Skinny Food Co. is committed to producing great tasting, healthier food and drink alternatives for all – from fitness and sports enthusiasts to parents and their children, diabetics, vegetarians and vegans, and those with food intolerances.

Wigan Warriors executive director, Kris Radlinski, commented: “We are delighted to welcome The Skinny Food Co. into our growing family of commercial partners.

“Health, diet and nutrition are a significant part of modern-day sport, so we are excited by the opportunity to integrate The Skinny Food Co.’s range of great tasting, healthy foods and ingredients into our performance programme.

“Equally important is the opportunity to spread the word of healthy nutrition to the wider population which we will seek to do through content, fan engagement initiatives and community programmes.

“The Skinny Food Co. are clearly on a tremendous growth trajectory so we look forward to supporting their expansion for many years to come.”

Wayne Starkey, co-founder of The Skinny Food Co., added: “Wigan Warriors are an iconic Rugby League team as well as my local team, so it’s an honour to be announcing an official relationship working together.”

“The Skinny Food Co has always been about helping others to live healthier, more active lifestyles and we’re excited to work with Wigan Warriors to truly make a difference in the community.”