IPC Awards European Media Rights To Infront

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has awarded the European media rights to the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, following a public request for information.

The agreement, which covers 51 European territories (excluding the UK for 2022 and the UK and France for 2024), also includes a content creation element which will see Infront Productions work alongside Paralympic sport stakeholders in between the Games to maximise the storytelling potential of each event and provide athletes broader exposure.

Infront plans to leverage and replicate the huge success of the Paralympic Games broadcast coverage in the UK, where Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games reached more than two thirds of the population. The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games built on this success and the average audience share grew by 50% during the event, once again illustrating the massive opportunity for broadcasters to showcase top quality sport, while embracing social inclusion topics that resonate with their audience.

Philippe Blatter, Infront President and CEO said: “The Paralympic Games provide a fantastic platform to showcase outstanding and inspirational human stories. We believe in the transformational power of the Games to positively change perception of persons with disabilities. I am delighted that both the IPC and the local organising committees of the Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024 Games can see that Infront is the partner who will increase the reach and impact of the event.”

Andrew Parsons, IPC President said: “We are now one year in to arguably the most important decade yet for the Paralympic Movement, a decade whereby we want to unlock the potential of the Paralympic Games and do more to drive social inclusion for the world’s one billion persons with disabilities. Improving the broadcast offering and reach of the Paralympic Games is key for us and we were greatly impressed with Infront’s ambition and enthusiasm to work with the IPC and Organising Committees to further develop the Paralympic Games.”

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo To Rally For Online Sports Betting In New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has expressed his intention to commit to online sports betting in New York.

According to Denis Slattery of the New York Daily News, Cuomo will reportedly be centering this topic among his policy proposals in the upcoming State of the State address that will be given later in January.

“New York has the potential to be the largest sports wagering market in the United States, and by legalizing online sports betting we aim to keep millions of dollars in tax revenue here at home, which will only strengthen our ability to rebuild from the COVID-19 crisis,” the New York governor said in a statement.

Pittsburgh Steelers Extend Naming Rights Partnership With Heinz Field

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kraft Heinz Company have announced the extension of their stadium naming rights partnership for Heinz Field another year.

The home of the Steelers and Pitt Panthers will remain Heinz Field through at least the 2021 season.

“We have enjoyed a tremendous and beneficial partnership with the Kraft Heinz Company since Heinz Field opened in 2001,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said in a statement. “We are appreciative of the support Kraft Heinz has given the Steelers and the North Shore over the past 20 years with many marquee events taking place at Heinz Field.”

“Kraft Heinz is delighted to extend our naming rights agreement with the Pittsburgh Steelers for another year,” Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio said in a statement. “Over the years, this partnership has been a win-win for the Steelers — one of the NFL’s most storied and popular teams — and for Kraft Heinz. Both the Steelers and the Heinz brand are synonymous with Pittsburgh — the city where H.J. Heinz was born and launched what is now a global brand. We wish the Steelers the best of luck in the upcoming playoffs and look forward to our ongoing relationship.”

The Steelers and Heinz announced their 20-year naming rights partnership upon the stadium’s opening in 2001. The initial deal was set to end this offseason after 20 seasons.

Formula E Extends Partnership With Austrian Broadcaster ORF

ORF and Formula E have announced that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will remain on Austria’s largest free-to-air broadcaster for at least another three seasons.

Extending the partnership between Formula E and ORF established in 2016, the continued collaboration ensures that the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will be on free-to-air channels across Austria until at least the end of Season 9.

The network will continue to show every qualifying session and E-Prix live across ORF1 and ORF Sport+. A dedicated team will be on the ground at select races, going behind the scenes to provide fans the latest news, headlines and exclusive interviews with teams and drivers.

Aarti Dabas, Chief Media Officer at Formula E, said: “Formula E has built a firm fanbase in Austria, so it was paramount for us that we continued our successful partnership with ORF.

“Allowing both existing fans and new audiences to engage with our sport and our purpose is core to our continued growth as a business. We are delighted to continue our partnership with ORF into and beyond our first season as an FIA World Championship.”

Hans Peter Trost, Head of ORF-TV-Sports, said: “Motorsports and ORF, that’s a long-term history. Formula E and ORF, that is a much shorter history, but thinking of climate change issues, it’s an important one and therefore an ongoing one. Awareness and exciting motor racing is a perfect mixture for a public broadcaster.”

Comcast Appoints Dana Strong As CEO Of SKY

Dana Strong, president of consumer services at Comcast Cable, the US’s largest broadband and pay TV operator will replace Jeremy Darroch as CEO of SKY.

Strong will be reporting to Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts. Jeremy will become Executive Chairman through 2021 to ensure a smooth transition and will then act as an advisor to the company.

Jeremy is one of the longest-serving leaders of a major British company, having been CEO of Sky since 2007, and Group CFO before that since 2004. During that time, he has led the transformation of the company into Europe’s largest multi-platform TV provider with nearly 24 million customers. Alongside the growth of the business, which has tripled in size, Jeremy has championed Sky’s broader contribution to the society and communities in which it operates, overseeing the expansion of its commitment to sport, UK and European originated content, in-depth news, the arts, young people and the environment.

Under Jeremy’s leadership, Sky’s innovation and investment has revolutionised the television viewing experience with award-winning products like Sky+, Sky HD, Sky Go, Sky Q and NOW TV. Sky has also brought competition and choice to British consumers in broadband, telephony and mobile services.

During Jeremy’s tenure, Sky has made one of the largest and most significant contributions to the British creative and sports industries. Jeremy has supported the development of Sky Arts, which has recently been made available free to air, and Sky News as an independent and impartial voice in UK news provision that makes a vital contribution to media plurality. Sky has also invested significantly in British sport over the last 13 years, changing the way sport is covered on TV, and allowing sports organisations to attract the best talent, build world-class facilities and develop grassroots programmes.

Jeremy was awarded the inaugural MIP United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Award in 2020, recognising Sky’s leading role in working towards ambitious environmental goals. Sky’s environmental commitment has been substantial during Jeremy’s tenure and Sky has this year become the first major media company in the world to commit to becoming Net Zero Carbon by 2030 and pledged to use its reach and voice to help governments and society tackle global warming.

Jeremy has served as Chairman of Business in the Community for the last three years. He was also the Senior Independent Director of Burberry Group plc and serves as an Ambassador for WWF. He was previously a Non-Executive Director of Marks and Spencer plc and a Trustee of the Youth Sport Trust.

He will be succeeded by Dana Strong, who has been responsible for Comcast’s largest business and has led innovative new product and market launches in broadband, video, home security and mobile. During her tenure, the company achieved record subscriber and broadband growth and the company’s highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Dana has over 25 years of international experience in global telecommunications and media and deep knowledge of the UK and European markets. Before joining Comcast, she served as President and COO of Virgin Media in the UK as well as Chief Transformation Officer of Liberty Global, CEO UPC Ireland, and COO AUSTAR in Australia.

Dana has driven Comcast’s digital equity efforts through Internet Essentials, which is the largest broadband adoption program for low-income families in the US, connecting over eight million people in need to the Internet since its inception. She has served on a number of boards, including the Economic and Community Advisory Council for the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, the Board of Telenet in Belgium, and as Chairman of the Irish Telecommunications and Internet Federation in Dublin.

Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast, said: “I would like to thank Jeremy for his exceptional leadership of the company over thirteen years, and his partnership in the last two years since we acquired Sky. Sky’s values have been a perfect fit for ours at Comcast and that is very much due to Jeremy. He and his team have built a world-class brand and a strong, well-run business that will continue to flourish.

Jeremy has been a terrific colleague to me and everyone at Sky, but I respect his decision that now is the time for him to make a change. I am pleased that he’s agreed to stay on to help with the transition to new leadership, and will continue to advise me and the company.

I am delighted that Dana Strong will be taking the helm at Sky. Dana is an accomplished executive with an extraordinary ability to transform, inspire, and drive positive change. She quickly made her mark on our US business, driving growth and innovation with an unwavering commitment to our customers. Her global experience and vision coupled with her leadership and track record at some of the largest media and telecommunications companies in the world make her the perfect leader for Sky.”

Jeremy Darroch said: “It has been a privilege to lead Sky for 13 years, and an experience that I have looked forward to every day, so the decision to leave has not been easy. But with the business firmly settled into the wider Comcast Corporation and a strong plan in place, now is the right time. I feel incredibly lucky to have been surrounded by colleagues who care as deeply as I do about this business and our customers and work tirelessly every day to make their lives better. I would like to thank all of my colleagues at Sky and also Brian and the team at Comcast who I have thoroughly enjoyed working with.

I am proud of the business we have built together. We are winning in all our markets, with a strong brand, exceptional products and services, and high levels of customer and employee satisfaction. We have an outstanding and experienced leadership team who I know will continue to evolve the business in the years to come. Together we have always seen the bigger picture at Sky, and I am particularly proud that Sky was an early corporate pioneer in helping to tackle environmental issues, using our reach and influence as a major media company with a presence in millions of homes to mobilise action on the environment.

I have always believed that successful, sustainable businesses have a vital role to support thriving communities and can contribute much more to wider society. This thought has guided me through the last 13 years at Sky and will continue to so in whatever I do next. I have no doubt that Dana will take Sky into a new and exciting future. Her proven record for leading telecommunications and media businesses coupled with her experience in the US, UK and Europe will be great assets to Sky and I look forward to working with her as she takes the reins.”

Dana Strong said: “There are few businesses that have the track record of Sky, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the company. I’ve always admired Sky’s innovation, brand, and exceptional focus on the customer. I look forward to working with this incredible team to continue to grow the business and shape the next chapter for Sky.”

PGA Tour Signs WHOOP As Official Fitness Wearable Partner

The PGA TOUR and WHOOP, the human performance company have signed a multi-year partnership naming WHOOP as the “Official Fitness Wearable of the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions” and a “Sponsor of PGA TOUR Active.”

To activate the partnership, WHOOP and the TOUR will implement a WHOOP Live for Charity initiative to highlight player biometric data and heart rate during defining moments throughout the season with those real-time metrics integrated into video content. Featured players will receive a $10,000 contribution to the charity of their choice on behalf of WHOOP and the TOUR. Fans can follow these moments at #WHOOPLIVE beginning in 2021.

“We are excited to grow our partnership with WHOOP and utilize their health technology to optimize the way our athletes train, recover and sleep,” said Brian Oliver, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President of Corporate Partnerships.

“Our athletes understand the importance of maintaining their health to ensure peak competitive performance, career longevity and overall well-being. The WHOOP Strap will help our athletes unlock actionable insights via physiological data to help them understand and prepare their bodies for competition. We’re eager to begin a first-of-its-kind activation at the TOUR that will incorporate player biometric data with defining moments from the golf course to create fascinating content for fans.”

Last summer upon the TOUR’s return to golf over 1,000 WHOOP Straps were distributed for players, caddies and other essential personnel at PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Champions events, with accompanying membership for health monitoring. WHOOP collects physiological data that helps an individual optimize workouts, recovery and sleep – and can identify changes in respiratory rate with industry-leading third party validated accuracy. This official partnership is a natural evolution from the collaborative efforts to find new solutions to support TOUR athletes at all levels.

“WHOOP has organically grown amongst the world’s best golfers for years and we are proud to take our relationship with the PGA TOUR and all athletes to the next level,” said Will Ahmed, WHOOP Founder & CEO. “This partnership is particularly new and innovative in that it will bring heart rate and other engaging physiological metrics directly into the fan experience.”

WHOOP will activate and create custom content within PGA TOUR Active (www.pgatour.com/active), a new TOUR initiative highlighting health, fitness and lifestyles of professional golfers, where fans get an inside look into the techniques and activities helping the best players in the world perform at their peak.

Throughout the partnership, PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and Korn Ferry Tour players and trainers will receive the latest products and technology from WHOOP to assist in monitoring their health. WHOOP will have an amplified onsite presence at all PGA TOUR events to provide VIP support and incorporate that technology with training and recovery staff on the PGA TOUR’s state-of-the-art Player Performance Centers that travel to PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions events and bring state-of-the-art fitness equipment and care to its athletes throughout the season.

MLS Requests For Extension Of CBA Till 2027

MLS has presented its revised labor agreement to the MLS Players Association post the league invoked its force majeure clause that obligates the league and the MLSPA to negotiate modifications to the existing CBA in good faith for 30 days.

The league is proposing that players receive their full salaries after they agreed to a 5% pay reduction as part of a renegotiated CBA in June when the league returned with the MLS is Back tournament. As part of the new proposal, MLS wants the current CBA extended through 2027.

“According to public health officials, the restrictions on attendance at live sporting events will continue far into the 2021 MLS season,” MLS president and deputy commissioner Mark Abbott said in a statement.

“In 2020, despite MLS and its clubs suffering extraordinary and unsustainable losses, players received 95% of their salaries. To address the ongoing impact of the pandemic in 2021, MLS is proposing to extend the term of the existing collective bargaining agreement for two years rather than seeking any salary reduction. This proposal will help ensure the long-term health of the league while paying MLS players 100% of their salaries.”

If an agreement on the modifications cannot be reached, the CBA from June could be terminated. The league invoked the force majeure clause following a season where it says it had nearly $1 billion in losses due to the pandemic as it played in mostly empty stadiums and with increased costs for testing and charter flights.

Sacramento Kings Becomes First NBA Team To Feature Mixhalo-Powered Games

The Sacramento Kings announced the team will be the first NBA team to partner with Mixhalo, the wireless networking technology that delivers pristine, high-quality audio and other data in real-time to guests at sporting events and concerts.

The free-to-use technology will be accessible via the Sacramento Kings + Golden 1 Center App, and the Mixhalo experience at the arena will span across Kings games and other live events.

“When it is time to safely welcome our loyal fans back to Golden 1 Center, their audio experience will be more immersive than ever before,” said Kings President of Business Operations John Rinehart. “We are excited to partner with Mixhalo to deliver this cutting-edge technology to our guests as we continue to focus on reimagining how fans enjoy live events.”

“The Kings are at the forefront of delivering an exceptional fan experience through the use of innovative technology, and Mixhalo will be the perfect addition to further elevate that experience,” said Mixhalo CEO John Vars. “We look for partners with an unrelenting focus on the fan experience, and we have certainly found that with the Kings. Now, with their embrace of Mixhalo, they are setting a trend that we anticipate the rest of the League will soon follow.”

Once guests return to Golden 1 Center for Kings basketball and concerts, Mixhalo technology will supplement the PA and ADA systems enabling fans and concertgoers to access crystal-clear audio, including enhanced real-time radio play-by-play commentary. Mixhalo’s no-latency, network-based technology delivers real-time audio to all attendees and, as a result, every seat has access to more immersive audio, transforming the live event experience.

Golden 1 Center is the world’s most connected indoor sports and entertainment venue and the Kings have a long history of using technology to enhance the fan experience in and outside of the arena. In November, the team announced the first-ever official professional sports team Discord server enabling fans to gather online to share in community, interact, and expand access to exclusive experiences.

In February 2020, the team announced a partnership with Intel® to launch the NBA’s first research and development (R&D) site at Golden 1 Center. In 2019, the Kings announced a partnership with Imagination Park Technologies to deliver augmented reality (AR) engagement opportunities to fans, such as giveaways, scavenger hunts and in-arena photo opportunities with digital players. In 2018, the team was the first United States sports franchise to use Verizon’s 5G technology to deliver a live, in-game, 360 virtual reality (VR) experience to fans. In 2017, the Kings streamed the NBA’s first Facebook Live game broadcast to India and became the first team to stream a game to India using VR in 2015.

Le Mans Endurance Management Appoints Frederic Lequien As New Head

Frédéric Lequien has been appointed as the new CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management (LMEM), succeeding previous CEO Gerard Neveu.

Lequien, 48, has previously worked for asa project manager in charge of negotiations with local promoters and circuits at Eurosport International and would later act as deputy general manager and spokesman of the Dakar rally at Amaury Sport Organisation.

As the head of LMEM, Lequien will oversee day-to-day running of both the WEC as well as the European Le Mans Series.

“I am proud and honoured to join LMEM,” Lequien said. “The WEC and the ELMS are both world-renowned championships. We intend to continue attracting a mix of factory and private teams and are ready to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.”

“I extend a warm welcome to Frédéric Lequien, on behalf of the ACO and LMEM,” said Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. “This appointment is excellent news for the world of endurance racing. With 20 years in motorsport, Frédéric brings valuable expertise to this position.”

“I would like to wish Frédéric Lequien all the best in his new role as the CEO of Le Mans Endurance Management,” added Richard Mille, FIA Endurance Commission president. “In many ways, 2021 marks a new chapter for the sport and I’m sure that with new management at the helm the FIA World Endurance Championship will go from strength to strength.”

Williams To Expand Technical Partnership With Mercedes From 2022

Williams have announced that they are expanding their technical collaboration with world champions Mercedes from 2022, with the team set to use gearboxes supplied by the Silver Arrows in addition to other transferable components.

Williams have enjoyed a strong relationship with Mercedes since the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, running their power units and, for the last two seasons, Silver Arrows junior George Russell. But the Grove-based team had traditionally always designed and built their own gearboxes in-house.

That will change with F1’s shift to a radical new rules set in 2022, when the team – which is no longer run by the Williams family having been sold to Dorilton Capital in August – will use Mercedes gearboxes and other related hydraulic components in a move that somewhat mimics Haas’s relationship with Ferrari.

Williams say the increased partnership with Mercedes, who have won seven straight constructors crowns, will “enable them to implement a more efficient design and manufacturing process in-house in the long-term, allowing the team to focus its resources more effectively in other performance areas.”

The team added that they will continue to design and manufacture other chassis parts internally, with Williams Team Principal Simon Roberts and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff saying the move made sense for both parties.


Mercedes have set the F1 standard in the turbo-hybrid era, and from 2022 Williams will benefit from an integrated Silver Arrows power unit for the first time.


“I’m pleased to see our great relationship with Mercedes extend beyond the supply of engines,” said Roberts. “Williams is an independent team, but Formula One is always evolving, and as a team we must be agile to react to the current climate in order to put the team in the best position to be competitive on track.

“This long-term agreement with Mercedes is a positive step and forms part of our strategic objectives for the future whilst we will still retain our design and manufacturing capabilities in-house.”

Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal of Mercedes added: “We are pleased to expand our technical cooperation with Williams through this new agreement. For Williams, it makes sense to acquire the integrated powertrain after running our power units since 2014 and for our team, it makes sense in terms of economies of scale to supply another team under the new rules.

“This is a project we have been discussing with Williams for some time and I am glad we have been able to bring this extension to fruition.”