As part of a new series, Ashwyn Lall takes a look at the key sports business stories from the last week that you may have missed.
Generation Z continues to influence the digital sports landscape; tyre manufacturers continue to fuel sports sponsorship, Formula 1 looks to expand in South America, women’s sports sponsorship is on the uprise and Paris 2024 remains ambitious throughout COVID19. Here’s a round up of sports business news from the last week.
PSG become the latest club involved in revolutionising fantasy football
Sorare is a blockchain-based fantasy football game that’s exclusively launched in the US, and French football giants are the 100th club to sign on the platform. This initiative is significant for PSG to strengthen its global engagement strategy amongst Gen Z audiences across the US and Asia. At the same time, Sorare strives to become the go-to fantasy game to expand the enjoyment of live football.
This week, PSG stars Kylian Mbappé, and Neymar made Sports Pro Media’s top 50 list of the most marketable athletes, meaning this is a perfect time to have released this announcement as it will further prosper Sorare’s growth. Thus far, Sorare has experienced a $770,000 increase in revenue since December 2019, while currently obtaining 40,000+ monthly users growing at a rate of 52% each month.
The tyre industry continues to ride smart in the sports sponsorship world
India tyre specialists BKT add EuroLeague Basketball to their illustrious portfolio of sports sponsorships, seeing the automotive brand unlock rights towards EuroCup and EuroLeague competitions until 2023.
BKT will find their brand exposed inside multiple touchpoints where the above tournaments are hosted while being noticeable through LED systems, Television and the Euro competitions social media channels.
BKT withhold a distinguished reputation across the sports industry, as they hold current sponsorship deals with LaLiga, Serie B, Australia’s T20 tournament alongside six Indian Premier League Teams. The incentive to sponsor EuroLeague Basketball keeps the tyre industry ahead of the curve to elevate their brand awareness further in becoming global sponsorship leaders.
Formula 1 looks to accelerate its profile in South America
F1 has agreed a five-year rights deal for Rio Motorsports to take over from current commercial broadcasters, Globo, alongside F1 launching their premium Over-The-Top (OTT) platform in Brazil. This agreement will likely see Rio Motorsports sublicence to pay-TV, free-to-air (FTA) and digital broadcasters across Brazil, expanding F1’s presence in the Brazilian market.
While broadcasting negotiations are underway, Rio Motorsports have ambitions to bring an F1 race over to Rio De Janeiro next season. F1 and Rio Motorsports partnership opens a realm of opportunity not only to bring world-class entertainment to South America, but it also unlocks a new International demographic for F1 to engage with which adds further inclusion to the sport.
CSM Sport & Entertainment is set to capitalise on women’s sports sponsorship
UK-based Sports agency CSM Sport & Entertainment (CSM) has been appointed by The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LGPA) to sell the LGPA’s sponsorship packages. CSM aims to explore like-minded partners that are committed to ensuring the LGPA’s global fanbase is provided with value on and off the course.
CSM has also been appointed as The Women’s Six Nations exclusive sponsorship agency where they’re tasked to identify new commercial partners for the event. Currently, the Women’s Tournament hasn’t found a title partner since the Royal Bank of Scotland’s departure in 2018, meaning this is a new chapter for Women’s rugby under the strategic direction of CSM’s illustrious sporting portfolio.
Only 7% of corporate sports sponsorships are invested in women’s sports properties, which demonstrates that it is an excellent time to capitalise in an open but fast-growing market of women’s sport.
Paris 2024 remains ambitious to hit €1.1bn sponsorship target despite COVID19
Paris 2024 has announced French telecoms corporation Orange as the games latest domestic sponsor. This makes Orange the third sponsor in the games premium partner category sitting with banking firm BPCE and energy supplier EDF.
Paris 2024’s Chief Executive Étienne Thobois is confident that the games sponsorship revenue will contribute to a third of the entire budget for the competition, while ticketing and merchandising income are forecasted to contribute to 97% of the event costs.
Thus far, Paris 2024 is €500m into its sponsorship revenue which is very impressive considering the pandemic provisions causing concerns around current sponsorship prospects. With the Tokyo games being delayed until 2021, this provides the Paris games with some more leeway to recruit personnel staff, allows them more time to learn through an observer programme which is hugely beneficial to Paris 2024’s Human Resources Budget.
That’s a wrap for the sports business round up this week! Will Sorare’s growth continue to soar throughout the pandemic? How will EuroLeague Basketballs profile prosper under BKT’s sponsorship? What difference will Rio Motorsports make to Formula 1’s fan engagement strategy? Could CSM spark a new era for corporate sports sponsorship in the Women’s game and when do you think Paris 2024 will reach their target for sponsorship revenue?
If there are any sports business stories we may have missed let us know on our social media platforms!
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