DAZN Joins Forces With Movistar+ For MotoGP And Formula One

Movistar+, the leading entertainment platform in Spain and DAZN, the leading global sports streaming platform have reached an agreement that will offer more sports content to their customers.

The agreement will see DAZN distributed through new channels on Movistar+. In addition, DAZN has acquired the exclusive exploitation rights to the Formula 1 World Championship for the next three years, until 2023. Coverage of F1 will be made available on DAZN and via the new DAZN F1 channel, available on both platforms from 1 March.

The agreement will see DAZN integrated with Movistar+ throughout the year. The new alliance with Movistar adds DAZN alongside others such as Netflix and Disney+ on the platform and reaffirms Movistar as the leader of the entertainment market in Spain with an unbeatable sports offer.

DAZN, which is available in more than 200 countries and territories, closed a number of strategic collaborations in 2020 that enhance the sports viewing experience. They include Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefónica O2 in Germany, Vodafone in Italy and KDDI in Japan.

Movistar’s Premium customers and those who already have Formula 1 content in their Movistar TV package will gain access to DAZN and the new channels DAZN1 and DAZN2 from 21 January, with additional multi-event channels planned to provide coverage of all competitions. DAZN’s multi-sport offering includes Premier League, MotoGP World Championship, Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Copa del Rey, UFC, CONMEBOL Libertadores, basketball EuroCup, WTA and Coppa Italia.

Emilio Gayo, President of Telefónica España: “This agreement with DAZN reinforces our sports offer and will enrich the experience of all sports fans. This relationship reaffirms our commitment to always offer our customers the best content of our own, through our original production and the most relevant content, through the partners who lead the audiovisual industry. A Movistar+ now comes DAZN, an alliance that will celebrate all the successes of sport.”

James Rushton, Co-Chief Executive Officer at DAZN Group: “The agreement with Movistar+ is a great example of how entertainment platforms and operators can collaborate to deliver more satisfying and intuitive viewing experiences for sports fans.

It’s also an important moment for the business as we execute on our strategy to drive further growth in our core markets. Starting in March, our customers in Spain will enjoy exclusive coverage of Formula 1 and with this acquisition, DAZN becomes the must-have platform for motorsport fans in Spain.”

McLaren And Garena To Collaborate For Gaming Experiences

McLaren Racing has announced a new partnership with Garena, a global games developer and publisher, for an upcoming in-game collaboration.

The partnership will deliver on both companies’ shared belief to offer creative and engaging experiences to its community of fans across racing and gaming. Fans can look forward to seeing McLaren’s Formula 1 racing driver, Lando Norris, playing a key role as part of the collaboration.

Jason Ng, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships of Garena, said: “McLaren is one of the most successful sports brands in motorsport. We are glad to be able to work with some of the best minds in the industry through this partnership.”

Mark Waller, Chief Commercial Officer, McLaren Racing, said: “2020 was a year that brought gaming to the forefront for many around the world. Both McLaren and Garena have a track record of creating engaging content for the gaming community. We are delighted to be working together to further our gaming capabilities and provide captivating content for our fan base around the world.”

FIFA And The Six Confederations To Not Recognise “Super League”

FIFA and the six confederations (AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) have reiterated that they won’t recognize a closed European “Super League”.

An official statement said: “In light of recent media speculation about the creation of a closed European “Super League” by some European clubs, FIFA and the six confederations (AFC, CAF, Concacaf, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) once again would like to reiterate and strongly emphasize that such a competition would not be recognised by either FIFA or the respective confederation. Any club or player involved in such a competition would as a consequence not be allowed to participate in any competition organised by FIFA or their respective confederation.

As per the FIFA and confederations statutes, all competitions should be organised or recognised by the relevant body at their respective level, by FIFA at the global level and by the confederations at the continental level. In this respect, the confederations recognise the FIFA Club World Cup, in its current and new format, as the only worldwide club competition while FIFA recognises the club competitions organised by the confederations as the only club continental competitions.

The universal principles of sporting merit, solidarity, promotion and relegation, and subsidiarity are the foundation of the football pyramid that ensures football’s global success and are, as such, enshrined in the FIFA and confederation statutes. Football has a long and successful history thanks to these principles. Participation in global and continental competitions should always be won on the pitch.”

EA7 Signed As Main Sponsor For The 2021 Cortina FIS Alpine World Ski Championships

 EA7, the sports brand of Emporio Armani, has been unveiled as the Main Sponsor of the 2021 Cortina FIS Alpine World Ski Championships which will take place in the queen of the Dolomites from 7-21 February.

The partnership was brokered by Infront, the exclusive media and marketing partner for the event.

EA7 will benefit from the global exposure the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships through on-course advertising. The brand will also have a presence onsite in the VIP area.

Giorgio Armani said: “EA7 Emporio Armani is synonymous with technical research and style, two fundamental elements for those who love and take part in sport. Cortina is one of the best locations in the world for skiing competitions and, for us, being present at such an important event not only underlines the spirit of the brand, which encompasses values of passion and fair play, but also sends out a message of confidence in these difficult times”

Valerio Giacobbi, CEO of Fondazione Cortina 2021, said: “We are proud to have an Italian brand that invests in a major international event such as ours. We have always hoped for the involvement of a leading Italian fashion brand at an international level: for Cortina this is certainly a further important sign of recovery and confidence despite the difficult situation.”

Michael Witta, Vice President Marketing Sales at Infront, said: “The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships is one of the highlights of the winter sports calendar and welcoming a brand as prestigious as EA7 reflects the event’s stature and reach. The brand has a history of aligning itself with the very best in sport and we are delighted to see them leverage this festival of skiing.”

Fortnite Launches ‘Kickoff Set’ With AS Roma, Man City, Juventus Among Others

Epic Games has agreed slew of partnerships with some of the biggest clubs in world football.

The latest Fortnite “kickoff set” involves 23 different club kits that players will be allowed to choose from and wear in the game, featuring teams from Europe, the United States, Brazil and more.

The full list of 23 clubs involved is:

  • AC Milan
  • Atlanta United
  • Bahia
  • Borussia Monchengladbach
  • Celtic
  • Cerezo Osaka
  • Inter
  • Juventus
  • LAFC
  • Manchester City
  • Melbourne City
  • Rangers
  • Roma
  • Santos
  • Schalke
  • Seattle Sounders
  • Sevilla
  • Sporting CP
  • Sydney FC
  • West Ham
  • Western Sydney Wanderers
  • Wolfsburg
  • Wolves

For 2021, the pinnacle of Fortnite Competitive, FNCS, will have $20,000,000 in prizes  – compared to $17,000,000 in 2020 – and format tweaks also after considering player feedback. Fortnite has also partnered with Legendary Brazilian superstar, Pelé, to bring his iconic celebration into the game.

St. James’s Place Wealth Management Renews Brand Sponsorship With Cheltenham Racecourse

St. James’s Place Wealth Management has renewed its brand sponsorship at Cheltenham Racecourse for a further five years, up to and including The Festival in 2025.

Cirencester-based St. James’s Place Wealth Management will be promoted at The Festival through the St. James’s Place Festival Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Steeple Chase. First contested in 1904, the St. James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase takes place on the fourth and final day of The Festival (Friday, 19 March in 2021).

The extended three and a quarter mile chase was previously run as the St. James’s Place Foxhunter Challenge Cup Open Hunters’ Chase and the updated race title is intended to strengthen the race’s identity as being a fundamental part of The Festival, while respecting its rich heritage as one of the leading hunter chases in the sport.

The St. James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase is unique in being the only race at The Festival open to trainers who are not full-time professionals. To secure a place in the field, previously race conditions required horses to have either finished in the first two in a hunters’ chase on two occasions or won two open point-to-point races, or one of each, within the previous two-and-a-half years. A condition has been added for this year only as a result of the pandemic to allow horses who finish in the first four on two occasions in a hunters’ chase between 20th January – 1st March 2021 to qualify.

Point-to-pointing on both sides of the Irish Sea plays a vital and complimentary role to racing under rules, often acting as a springboard for horses and jockeys to go on to achieve great success in front of a larger audience at the racecourse. The 2003 winner Kingscliff was a point-to-point graduate who went on to achieve G1 success in the inaugural running of the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park in 2005.

Further back in time, perhaps the greatest ever winner of the contest was Spartan Missile in 1979, a point-to-point graduate who was owned, trained, ridden and bred by John Thorne. Spartan Missile famously went on to finish a gallant second behind Aldaniti and Bob Champion in the 1981 Grand National at Aintree. The 1981 hero and fellow point-to-point graduate Grittar actually went one better at Aintree, going on to success in the Grand National of 1982.

Many famous amateur jockeys feature on the race’s roll of honour, including Lord Oaksey, Gay Kindersley, Ted Walsh and Nina Carberry. There are also numerous examples of winning riders going on to forge highly successful careers as professionals. Two recent examples are Sam Twiston-Davies and Bryony Frost.

The St. James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase acknowledges Jump racing’s grassroots, while also being the source of a number of successes for women at The Festival. Jockey Caroline Beasley’s success aboard Eliogarty in 1983 was the first victory at The Festival for a female jockey and the contest has been won by female jockeys a further nine times – most recently Maxine O’Sullivan aboard It Came To Pass in 2020.

Former champion, Nina Carberry who won the race in 2015 and 2016 with companion, On The Fringe, said: ‘I was thrilled to win it twice – it’s a special race, an amateur’s gold cup which holds a lot of fond memories for me. I really like the name St. James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase – it reinforces the race’s connection with the Home of Jump Racing whilst also keeping its tradition as one of the sport’s most iconic Hunter Chases.’

Ian Renton, Regional Managing Director for The Jockey Club, commented: “The Jockey Club is extremely grateful to St. James’s Place for extending its generous sponsorship at The Festival. All of us at Cheltenham look forward to working with St. James’s Place for the next five seasons.”

Ian Gascoigne, Managing Director for St. James’s Place Wealth Management added: “We have been a proud sponsor at Cheltenham Racecourse for a number of years and are delighted to continue our support of a flagship event in our local community. Cheltenham Festival provides the opportunity to reach a large audience and the team continuously offer St. James’s Place a fantastic experience.”

Eurosport Bolsters Its Offerings With UCI Partnership

Eurosport continues to cement its place as the go-to destination for millions of cycling fans across all disciplines in Europe in 2021 after securing a raft of rights to world-class Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) events from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

The agreement incorporates some of the UCI’s blue-chip events including the UCI Road World Championship, UCI Track Cycling World Championship, UCI Mountain Biking World Championship, BMX World Championship, Urban Cycling World Championship, Cyclo-Cross World Championship** as well as the conclusion of the Cyclo-Cross World Cup season with exclusive coverage in over 35 markets and territories across Europe***.

In 2021, Eurosport will also screen over 290 days of live men’s and women’s cycling as well as un-matched coverage of the sport’s most prestigious races including every Grand Tour, all five Monuments and over 35 UCI World Tour events screened across Eurosport, Global Cycling Network and Eurosport’s offering on discovery+ in markets where it has been introduced****.

In addition, Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will see the world’s elite cyclists compete for 22 medals across track and road cycling events over 16 days of top-class competition with every minute live and available to watch only on Discovery’s platforms.

Andrew Georgiou, President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, said: “The new UCI agreement secured through EBU is testament to our commitment serving the world’s largest community of cycling fans whether it be through Eurosport or GCN and strengthens Discovery’s ties with the UCI. Discovery is already working closely with the UCI on several initiatives, with Eurosport Events set to be a key partner in delivering the new UCI Track Cycling Champions League competition, due to kick off later this year.

“2021 will be a year to remember for cycling fans and we’re delighted to be able to follow the journeys of the world’s best cyclists year-round across multiple disciplines as they prepare themselves to compete at the Olympic Games. Our heritage in cycling is second to none and whether it be on Eurosport, discovery+ or on GCN for the most passionate cycling fans, Discovery will ensure the broadest audience enjoys a fully immersive experience of hundreds of events, meaning every story will be covered throughout the year.”

UFC Signs Broadcast Partnership With RMC Sport

UFC, the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization, has announced a new broadcast partnership with RMC Sport to show all UFC events in France.

Keenly anticipated by MMA fans in region, this partnership will cover all main events in France (including French Overseas territories) and Monaco exclusively and Andorra, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Mauritius non-exclusively. The prelims will also be aired when there is a local French athlete competing.

This last year has seen many considerable milestones for MMA in France, including the legalization of the sport and consequently the development of MMA training and coaching under the guidance of the French Boxing Federation (FFB), and the authorization from the French Broadcast Authority (CSA) to allow the broadcasting of MMA events in France. French UFC athletes continue to have huge success in the organization, demonstrating the strength of the sport.

David Shaw, UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content, said: “We have developed a great partnership with RMC over the years. They have shown great enthusiasm, the most marked interest and drive to promote and develop our sport. We are very happy to open a new chapter in our shared goal to support the growth of MMA in France.”

Arthur Dreyfuss, Managing Director of Altice Médias, added “RMC SPORT is the long-standing partner of the UFC and, with this new strong commitment, we are showing our dedication to the sport and the ever increasing fanbase in France. RMC SPORT responds to the strong expectations from subscribers and the desire to keep attractive sports rights. Combining RMC SPORT’s expertise in broadcasting sporting events with that of the UFC promises viewers exceptional moments of sport across our channels.”

Nicecactus Obtains The “Made in France” Certification, Awarded by Franck Riester

Franck Riester, Minister Delegate to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in charge of foreign trade and attractiveness, awarded the Guaranteed Service France certification to the start-up specializing in the esport Nicecactus on 01/15/2021.


“French excellence is an exceptional asset for international growth, even online,” said Franck Riester. The Made in France certification aims to enhance the value of service companies that employ in France. Yves Jego, former minister and president of the ‘Origine France Garanti’ and ‘Service France Garanti’ certifications, was also present at the event.

“Nicecactus is the first esports company to benefit from this certification,” said Grégory Bolle, chief revenue officer of the Valbonne-based (Alpes-Maritimes, FRA) startup, to News Tank. Nicecactus offers an “all-in-one'” platform dedicated on the one hand to the training of esports players, and on the other hand to companies wishing to invest in the discipline (sponsorship, media acquisitions, employer brand, etc.).

In 2020, Nicecactus was behind the creation of several esports events such
as the “Monaco Gaming Show”, a new annual event, the ASSE eFootball Cup, AS Saint-Étienne’s (Ligue 1 Uber Eats) esports tournament (broadcast on Twitch), and two gaming competitions organised as an employer brand within the French consulting firm Capgemini.

Mike Hessabi, CEO and co-founder of the company Nice- founder of the company Nicecactus said: “Competitive gaming is at the heart of the digital native generation. Esports is a phenomenon that the French economy cannot afford to miss. Esports and gaming are not only about video games, they are also part of learning digital skills and a taste for competition. Two virtues at the heart of 21 century education.

In a society where the real mingles with the virtual, it is important
for France to maintain its sovereignty over this type of activity,
which is constantly growing worldwide. Nicecactus will be the global
leader in the competitive gaming of tomorrow.”

iSportConnect Reveals edisn.ai As Newest Consultancy Client

iSportConnect, the world’s largest private sport business network, would like to announce news of our latest consultancy client, artificial intelligence fan-engagement platform edisn.ai.

edisn.ai is a patent-pending AI computer-vision powered fan engagement platform that delivers interactive and personalised content to viewers.

As the only platform in the world that can recognise players on screen in real-time and make them clickable, without the need for additional in-stadium cameras or chips on players, edisn.ai provide a one-off engagement driver for fans and additional monetisation tool for content owners.

edisn.ai CEO Ashok Karanth stated: “We are excited to work with iSportConnect and take advantage of the network they have within the sports industry in Europe and the US.”

“iSportConnect has a unique platform which we can leverage to our benefit as we look to expand further within the sector, it’s great to be working with them.”

Adding his thoughts, iSportConnect Chief Strategy Officer Sandy Case said: “From our first meeting with Ashok it was clear that edisn has developed a really relevant, exciting and commercial product and we look forward to helping them expand and create numerous success stories in the sports industry”

“Tech innovations within sport are more necessary than ever before, therefore we are delighted to be joining forces with a leader in this space. The use of artificial intelligence will be key for many in moving forward and we’re thrilled to be working with edisn for that.”

iSportConnect Consultancy

iSportConnect’s consultancy division works to help our clients with commercial development, marketing and communications and business strategy surrounding the world of sport. We help large and small brands with business intelligence, global sports market entry strategy and support. Our consultancy clients include LaLiga, Vindicia, Tata Communications, Tech Mahindra as well as several startups looking to access the sports industry.

About iSportConnect

iSportConnect was launched in 2010 with the aim of bringing together sports business professionals around the world in a sports business networking community enabling them to meet one another, find information and obtain access to a wide range of relevant services. The platform is now the largest global private network of sport business executives, where membership is exclusive and follows a strict door policy.