Benfica Stadium Leverages NOS Services To Become 5G Equipped In Portugal

Sport Lisboa e Benfica and NOS announced that Sport Lisboa e Benfica Stadium became the first one equipped with 5G in Portugal.

Sport Lisboa e Benfica worked with mobile communications partner NOS to guarantee the famous stadium has been equipped with a fifth-generation coverage plan, which will allow fans to take advantage of the innovative features provided by this new technology.

The 5G network will allow more than 65,000 fans at the Sport Lisboa e Benfica stadium to experience mobile internet access that is, on average, 10 times faster than usual, with speeds of over 1 Gbps. This means that, even at full capacity, supporters can download and upload images and videos almost instantaneously. Fans can also look forward to having video calls without any interruption.

When supporters are allowed back into the Estádio Da Luz, this technological innovation will radically transform the experience of those watching Benfica matches. The club’s supporters will now have access to immersive content, provided by the combination of 5G and technologies such as virtual or augmented reality. Access to game or player statistics in real time, the possibility to choose the angle from which to watch the game, activating in real time one of the many cameras used in the transmission, or the possibility to transmit live video, in high quality and definition, are some of the countless innovations that football lovers will be able to experience in Portugal’s first 5G Stadium.

Manuel Ramalho Eanes, Executive Director of NOS, declared: “This is a technological milestone of enormous relevance for NOS, both for building our leadership path in 5G and for the transformation of the Sport Lisboa e Benfica stadium into a highly digital and intelligent sports venue, unique in Portugal. When 5G is a reality, we want to be the first to deliver it to people and businesses. Football is a natural territory for the technology to develop, and so this partnership with Benfica makes perfect sense.”

Rui Costa, Vice-President of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, said, “Sport Lisboa e Benfica is a club where innovation is at the heart of its strategy and being the first 5G stadium is a source of price. This is a game-changing project. We are constantly striving to build deeper connections with our loyal fanbase, and this new technology will bring Benfica even closer to its fans and supporters. It means an improved experience in this stadium, for all our supporters and for Benfica as an organization”.

FIFA Awards Italian Media Rights To Rai

Following the tender process for the Italian media rights to the FIFA World Cup 2022™, FIFA has awarded the exclusive rights to the competition to Rai, the Italian national public service broadcaster.

Rai has been awarded multi-platform rights across television, digital and radio, and will provide an extremely strong broadcast platform for the tournament. In addition to making all 64 matches available live in the territory, Rai will also offer extensive support programming, including highlights and magazine programming. At least 28 matches of the tournament, including the opening match, final and both semi-finals, will be shown on the broadcaster’s flagship channel, Rai 1, meeting FIFA’s objectives of providing large exposure for its competitions.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will be the 22nd edition of the competition, and it will be particularly unique as the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and the first to take place in November/December. With ultra-modern venues, optimal playing conditions and a compact event footprint, the host nation will provide a unique platform to celebrate the game and its ability to connect and inspire people around the world. The tournament will follow the traditional format, with 32 participating teams and 64 matches, offering a highly competitive group stage followed by an exciting knockout phase.

FIFA’s Director of Media Rights & Content Services, Jean-Christophe Petit, said, “After a very competitive tender process, we are pleased to have concluded a deal with a strong media partner in Italy for the FIFA World Cup 2022. We look forward to working with Rai to make this unique FIFA World Cup a great success and create an unforgettable experience for all Italian fans.”

Rights to the FIFA World Cup 2022™ are still available in certain territories. FIFA launched a tender for the competition’s media rights in Greece earlier this month, which is due to close on Tuesday, 20 April.

Through the sale of media rights for its tournaments, FIFA generates income which is essential to support and develop football around the world, for instance through the FIFA Forward Development Programme.

BLAST Premier Agrees Eight New Media Rights Deal

Esports tournament BLAST Premier has extended its international broadcast reach with eight new media rights deals for the rest of the 2021 season.

TV channels SportsMax, Nordic Entertainment Group and BOLT+, among other new deals, will take the world’s leading Counter-Strike tournament series to a number of new regions around the world, including: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland, Canada, Kosovo, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and the Caribbean.  

The new rights partnerships will extend the esports media network’s portfolio of media rights to over 35 partners, meaning BLAST Premier will be shown in 18 different languages and across 157 territories.

The announcement highlights a period of growth for BLAST’s TV and online distribution footprint after a year of increased viewership for esports. Newszoo’s 2020 report estimated a year-on-year increase in the total esports audience by 11.7% to just short of 500 million people, while revenue from media rights and sponsorships ($822.4m) was expected to account for three-quarters of the total market. 

Last season, BLAST Premier enjoyed increased viewership and more than 83 million hours of content watched across all seven of its Counter-Strike tournaments while posting the most watched CS:GO online match of all time during the Global Final.  

Alexander Lewin, VP of Distribution and Programming for BLAST, said: “We are thrilled to see so many new partners join the BLAST network of leading TV and online channels. These deals will offer even more fans the opportunity to tune in to watch BLAST Premier from around the world, which is now accessible in over 150 territories and 18 languages. We expect to continue our path of expansion during an exciting period of viewership growth at BLAST Premier and in esports.”

AutoNation Partners Inter Miami For Stadium’s Naming Rights

AutoNation, America’s largest and most recognized automotive retailer has partnered with Inter Miami CF, an American professional soccer club based in South Florida.

AutoNation will be the official and exclusive automotive partner of Inter Miami, which includes naming rights of the stadium and branding on training kits. This partnership amplifies AutoNation and Inter Miami’s commitment to driving out cancer by leveraging the power of soccer and its strong fan base.

In addition, the partnership includes extensive TV and digital exposure, with the entitlement of the Inter Miami Digital Live Stream via their Inter Miami App and the Inter Miami Spanish language streaming show. Aside from Spanish being one of the top 2 languages for its fans across social media during Inter Miami’s inaugural season, more than 60% of website traffic came from Latino dominant cities across the U.S. Also, 34% of Inter Miami’s registered mobile app users identified themselves as being of Hispanic/Latino descent.

As a part of the multiplatform media campaign, AutoNation will become the sponsor of the “Saves” feature during Inter Miami matches. For every Inter Miami goalkeeper save, AutoNation and Inter Miami will donate up to $100,000 towards cancer research annually.

“DRV PNK Stadium is about driving awareness of a proven mission that has raised over $26 Million in the fight against cancer. Our partnership with Inter Miami, one of the most dynamic soccer clubs, will help fund research. It allows for our collective support of organizations like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Cleveland Clinic, and Moffitt Cancer Center at the national and local levels,” said Marc Cannon, AutoNation’s EVP and Chief Customer Experience Officer.

“Inter Miami is a purpose-driven organization, and we take great pride in partnering with AutoNation, #154 on the Fortune 500 and a South Florida-based company that is positively impacting our community through a creative national campaign. It’s important as a sports club to take our time to partner with the right brands who not only represent our values but also help us use our platforms and reach to amplify good causes,” added Inter Miami Managing Owner, Jorge Mas.

Fuse Launches Ignite To Assist Right Holders In Sport

Fuse, part of the Omnicom Media Group has launched a new service, Fuse Ignite, designed specifically to enhance the commercial capabilities of rights holders in sport, entertainment, esports and lifestyle. 

The new service aims to support rights holders across critical elements of the commercial cycle by combining Fuse’s sponsorship expertise and in-house insights team with specialist consultants from Omnicom Media Group to create a simple ‘one stop shop’ suite of industry-leading solutions. This includes transforming sales propositions into more compelling investment opportunities for brand partners, and maximizing revenue streams through sponsorship, digital and ecommerce. 

The new service is formed of 4 key product pillars, based on key rights holder requirements: Proposition, Audience, Digital and Ecommerce, with a series of solutions on offer within each pillar. Rights holders are able to pick and choose solutions to create a bespoke package that meets their specific needs. 

Fuse has already built a strong client roster for the Ignite service across football, fashion, motorsport and entertainment. 

Louise Johnson, Chief Executive of Fuse, says: “Fuse Ignite is the culmination of many consultations with a wide range of sports and entertainment rights holders, who have expressed to us a need to future-proof commercial offerings, de-risk brand investment and make commercial packages more business focused and digitally oriented.”

“With smart application of Omnicom’s specialist teams and tools, we’re able to pull in the best expertise to develop integrated solutions, making Fuse Ignite a flexible and efficient option which averts the need for rights holders to bring in multiple shops.”

Fuse has already been delivering its Ignite solutions to a number of rights holder clients, including Arsenal FC, England Netball and the British Fashion Council. It has recently helped Formula 1 enhance its approach to partner acquisition, providing extensive intelligence on the sponsorship market and helping to identify sectors with extremely high investment potential.

Ben Pincus, Director of Commercial Partnerships at F1, says: “I have been really impressed with Fuse and their Ignite service offering, in particular their Category Intelligence Analysis suite of tools, which provided us with future-facing insights on the sponsorship market, identifying key sectors with high investment potential.”

England Netball used Fuse Ignite to better understand the size of their audience and the value of their rights packages.

Belinda Stevenson, Commercial Director at England Netball, says: “I have been really impressed with Fuse’s approach and methodology to deliver in-depth consultation work. They approached the brief with a truly commercial mindset, using Ignite’s tools to demonstrate the real value of our rights, and frame our offering in a much more business-focused context.”

The British Fashion Council recently worked with Fuse Ignite to understand the value of their entire asset portfolio, including their digital estate, following the first-ever digital London Fashion Week. 

Gemma Juviler, Commercial Director at the British Fashion Council, says: “Through Ignite, Fuse provided a full-scale audit of our assets and additional commercial consultancy, providing us with the tools and resources we needed to do what we do best, which is getting brands excited about partnering with British Fashion.

“Since working with Fuse we have brought on three new partners, with their work being instrumental to the sales and negotiation process, demonstrating the great value they provide”.

Manchester City Agrees Regional Partnership With Noon.com

Manchester City has announced a new regional partnership with noon.com – a homegrown digital marketplace created for local businesses in the Middle East and the largest GCC e-commerce company.

The new partnership will also see noon.com become the Club’s Official Online Marketplace Partner in the Middle East.

Starting in 2017 with noon.com, the Middle East’s homegrown e-commerce platform and leading online shopping destination, noon is now an ecosystem of seven products and services, all developed to help empower and inspire a generation of diverse digital-first consumers and businesses. These products and services include noon.com, noon Daily, and NowNow.

Building on shared values of innovation, excellence, and supporting local communities, the partnership will provide Manchester City with new ways to engage with fans in the Middle East and further grow the Club’s presence in the region.

Through the partnership, in addition to the use of matchday and digital assets, Manchester City and noon.com will collaborate to provide a number of experiences to engage with fans, customers, and local businesses in the Middle East.

Stephan Cieplik, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships Sales, City Football Group, said: “We are delighted to launch this new partnership with noon.com today. The team has impressed us with their ambition, innovation, and passion for the local communities and businesses they serve in the Middle East.

“The Club has a passionate and engaged fanbase in the region and we’re pleased that noon.com will be joining us as we continue on this journey. We look forward to working together throughout the partnership to provide experiences and activations to engage with new audiences in the region.”

Ali Kafil-Hussain, Chief of Staff, noon.com, said of the partnership: “One of the founding goals of noon.com was born to deliver exceptional experiences to support regional entrepreneurs and delight customers, giving our people a local digital champion to be proud of and support. We believe in redefining the norms of the industry, and through our platform, we have created a thriving ecosystem that supports our homegrown talents and gives all enterprises, no matter their size, a level playing field and a chance to compete better in their own market.

“This partnership with Manchester City, is a proud moment for noon,” Kafil-Hussain added. “We will work together to further amplify experiences for our customers and sellers, creating meaningful moments and even bigger wins for our communities. This is a vote of confidence not just in our platform but in our sellers, customers, and team. I’m excited to see this partnership grow.”

British Wheelchair Basketball Agrees Four-Year Deal With Irwin Mitchell

British Wheelchair Basketball has announced a four-year partnership with Irwin Mitchell, which will see the nationwide firm of legal and financial advisors become BWB’s Official Supplier for Wealth Management.

Irwin Mitchell is one of the UK’s largest and most respected legal and wealth management firms, operating from 15 locations across the UK, providing legal and financial services to businesses and individuals.

This new four-year partnership, effective from 1 April 2021, will see Irwin Mitchell join a growing network of commercial partners working with the NGB. The legal and wealth management firm will specifically be supporting the sport to develop grassroots community initiatives and grow access and participation for the sport. 

The agreement has been signed at an exciting time for wheelchair basketball in the UK with a period of unprecedented international success for the GB teams and participation and commercial growth domestically as BWB continue in its ambition to double participation and build continued international medal success.

Lisa Pearce, CEO of British Wheelchair Basketball, said:  “It is hugely exciting to welcome Irwin Mitchell as BWB’s Official Supplier of Wealth Management. As a sport we are about to enter one of our most progressive periods of change in our history, which will see British Wheelchair Basketball come ever closer to realising its ambitious five-year strategy goals. 

“It is critical to our continued success that we are working with like-minded partners, who are driven to deliver change, committed to equality and support the important aspirations of our organisation, our athletes and participants. I have no doubt that the team at Irwin Mitchell are well placed to support this, and we are extremely proud to welcome them to wheelchair basketball family.”

David Sollitt, Chief Operating Officer at Irwin Mitchell Wealth Management, added: “We have a proud history of supporting disability sports and recognise the positive impact that it can have on people’s lives.

“Many of our injured and vulnerable clients have used sports to help get their lives back on track and discover a new found independence, so we understand the value of enabling people to get involved at all levels from elite to grassroots. 

“British Wheelchair Basketball has been hugely successful and we hope to play a part in building on that success and helping the organisation to achieve its ambitions for the future.”

NRL Agrees Wellness Partnership With Therabody

NRL has announcement a partnership with tech wellness company Therabody.

The company is the creator of the first hand-held percussive massage therapy device, the Theragun.

The arrangement sees Therabody become the Official Recovery Partner of the men’s and women’s NRL Telstra Premiership. The business will also partner with reigning World Cup winners – the Kangaroos and Jillaroos – in ensuring the high performance and recovery of Australia’s best players.

As part of the partnership, the NRL will receive education on the importance of optimising player recovery between matches. 

NRL Head of Partnerships Jaymes Boland-Rudder said the partnership reflects a shared vision for innovation, player well-being and high performance.

“Effective recovery is critical for the well-being of rugby league players – whether they’re young guns or seasoned players. Just as the game has evolved, so has the technology our athletes use to play at the highest standard,” Mr Boland-Rudder added.

“Rugby League is known for being one of the most intense, full-contact sports and it has incredible demands on both the body and mind,” explains Dr. Jason Wersland, Therabody Founder and Chief Wellness Officer.

“We’re honoured to be developing the league’s recovery protocols to ensure that each athlete is not only performing at their highest ability on the pitch, but that they are optimizing their overall well-being far beyond the pitch.”

Formula E And UNICEF Collaborate To Create Sustainable Environment For Children

Formula E announced the all-electric racing series’ support for UNICEF’s Safe and Healthy Environment Fund, which aims to create a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment for children.

The three-year partnership builds on the success of the 2020 collaboration between Formula E and UNICEF focused on protecting vulnerable children and families affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Formula E will now be supporting UNICEF’s Safe and Healthy Environment Fund, created to deliver environmental programmes and policy actions for children and young people around the world.

Formula E, like UNICEF, wants to accelerate positive change around the world, with its #ChangeAccelerated campaign to ensure children and young people grow up on a cleaner, safer planet. The funding from Formula E will contribute to programmes and policy actions to improve the wellbeing of over three million children. Projects supported by the Fund include initiatives to provide schools with sustainable energy solutions and reduce child exposure to air pollution through increased monitoring and advocacy.

According to UNICEF, children are disproportionately impacted by the effects of climate change. Nearly 160 million live in areas of high or extremely high drought severity, over half a billion in high or extremely high flood occurrence zones and an estimated two billion in areas where air pollution levels exceed standards set by the World Health Organisation. A sport designed for fans of the future and aligned to the FIA’s PurposeDriven movement, Formula E feels a responsibility to protect this next generation and will use its global platform to raise awareness of and amplify UNICEF’s work.



Jamie Reigle, CEO of Formula E said: “We are delighted to initiate a long-term partnership with UNICEF’s Safe and Healthy Environment Fund. This collaboration is true to our founding promise to use our sport to counteract climate change. Together, we aim to improve the lives of millions of children and young people worldwide by offering new educational opportunities and reducing their exposure to air pollution. We are committed to tackling the effects of climate change and enable better futures for generations to come and are proud to partner with UNICEF on this journey.”

Interim Executive Director of the UK Committee For Unicef Steven Waugh said: “Children are already suffering from the negative impacts of climate change, and even under the most optimistic forecasts of emissions reduction, these impacts of climate change will increase in the near term.

This is why, at UNICEF, we think that it is critical to increase our efforts on adapting to new weather patterns and climate extremes, increasing resilience and tackling emissions and pollution. It is fantastic to see Formula E making this incredible support to UNICEF’s Safe and Healthy Environment Fund, to help protect and empower children and their futures.”

BLAST Premier Names L33T Gaming As Official Chair Partner

Esports tournament organiser BLAST Premier has agreed a long-term partnership with L33T Gaming to become Official Chair Partner of the Counter-Strike tournament series. 

As part of the deal, L33T will provide players and talent with high-end gaming chairs across the season. The partnership will include product giveaways, collaborative content opportunities and branding across the global CS:GO tournament’s digital and physical assets. 

L33T, based in Denmark, are best known for their series of innovative gaming chairs within their portfolio of gaming equipment for both the novice and more experienced or professional gamers. L33T’s quality gaming chairs will be used by talent, players and BLAST production staff throughout the partnership. 

Oliver Clarke, Head of Brand Partnerships for BLAST, said: “L33T has a clear focus on creating the perfect setup for gamers of all levels. We look forward to supporting them in showcasing their gaming chair products to the global BLAST Premier community. The length of this deal highlights the growth BLAST Premier has enjoyed over the last few years and our current standing in the industry.”

Adrian Langer, Owner of L33T Gaming and Head of Marketing for Aurora & Deltaco, said: “We’re really excited to partner with BLAST Premier. Their brand is one of the strongest in the world of entertainment, creating incredible broadcasts and live shows that L33T will now be a part of. We can’t wait to see the best CS:GO players compete in our chairs when LAN events eventually return. Our vision for L33T is global expansion and this partnership is an important part of that journey.”

The L33T gaming chair (L33T E-Sport Pro Superior XL) will make their first appearance at next week’s BLAST Premier Spring Showdown (13-18 April), which will take place from BLAST’s studio in Copenhagen. Further, BLAST and L33T plan to collaborate on a co-branded gaming chair that fans will be able to purchase in the future. 

BLAST Premier is a global Counter-Strike tournament series that unites all major events, offers opportunities to all regions across the globe and crowns the world champions of CS:GO. Up to 32 teams will take part in the seven BLAST Premier events this year with a combined prize pool of $2,475,000 on the line.