Just like that, January is virtually done and February is upon us. It hasn’t been the most hectic of weeks in the world of sports business but there were some interesting stories that caught my eye. Sport wise, the Australian Open finished this weekend and the January transfer window also drawing to a close early next week.
Here are some of the key things you missed last week…
Monday
Sky Sports x DP World Tour x Ryder Cup
The week started in the world of golf as Sky Sports signed an extension to their broadcast deal for the Ryder Cup and DP World Tour. The deal means that Sky will remain the UK and Irish home of DP World Tour until 2024 and the Ryder Cup until 2025.
Viewers will be able to watch a minimum of 32 live events each season, including the new featured group coverage during Rolex Series events. For the Ryder Cup, the extension now covers the 2023 and 2025 editions of the Ryder Cup in Rome and New York.
This partnership between Sky, the DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup has been going for nearly 30 years now. Jonathan Licht, managing director of Sky Sports said “As we kickstart a record-breaking year of golf on Sky, we are thrilled to be extending our long-term partnership with the DP World Tour, further cementing Sky Sports as the home of golf in the UK and Ireland.”
Wednesday
IQONIQ goes in to liquidation
I’ve covered a lot of crypto news over recent months (well I feel like I have anyway…) and it’s fair to say it’s all been positive news which makes sense because it’s a really interesting space with lots of people flocking to it. However, this bit of crypto news isn’t so positive.
A major sporting cryptocurrency-based fan platform, IQONIQ, have gone into liquidation leaving thousands of fans with worthless tokens.
IQONIQ had deals with LaLiga in Spain, several football clubs around Europe including Crystal Palace and also the McLaren Formula One team. It was used as a social media engagement platform for fans with fans buying tokens in exchange for perks and other things such as being able to vote on events taking place.
Their chief executive, Kazim Atilla admitted that the millions of tokens and coins bought by supporters were now practically worthless but the value could still go back up. He also denied that IQONIQ had been liquidated so I’d maybe not trust him about the value rising thing…
The Times have also reported that the company owes Real Sociedad €820,000 and Crystal Palace have begun legal action against IQONIQ over missing payments.
This new era of sports business is interesting to say the least…
Thursday
Six Nations x TikTok
As we got towards the end of the week, it was announced that Six Nations Rugby and TikTok had signed a four-year partnership which spans the Women’s Six Nations, Guinness Six Nations and Autumn Nations Series. TikTok will also become the Title Partner of the Women’s Six Nations.
This is the first time in the history that the Women’s Six Nations will have a Title Partner and although the partnership is not solely limited to the Women’s game, it is going to help each Union to develop this area of the game.
Six Nations Rugby CEO, Ben Morel said “The significance of our partnership with TikTok cannot be understated. The very first Title Partner in the history of the Women’s Six Nations Championship, as well as support for the Guinness Six Nations and Autumn Nations Series is something to be incredibly excited about. TikTok shares our ambitions for providing fans with the best possible experience and has the perfect platform for fans to access and engage with rugby throughout the year.”
Friday
Real Madrid x AR
For the final story this week, something really interesting caught my eye. Real Madrid have added an augmented reality viewing option to their in-house steaming service.
Real Madrid TV views can now experience an immersive viewing experience via a virtual HD screen of up to 220 inches provided by AR glasses. This is possible due to a link up between US company, Cinedigm and AR innovator Nreal.
The glasses will connect to an Android smartphone which is used as a controller. Real Madrid regularly broadcasts full-match highlights from the first team’s LaLiga, Champions League and domestic cup fixtures. There are also Women’s team games and games from the academy so it will be interesting to see how this new AR element of the viewing experience will be implemented and where it will sit in the Real Madrid TV broadcast model.
Content you need to watch…
There’s a couple of things I’ve watched this week that will be worth your time.
UFC 271 Fight Camp | Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya Ep.3
Israel Adesanya is the UFC’s Middleweight Champion and is currently in camp for his rematch with former champ Robert Whittaker. His YouTube channel is a great example of athlete branding and opening up his personality to his audience. Not only does he take fans behind the scenes of his fight camps, he will also film watch alongs of other UFC events and also do breakdowns of fights, both his own and other fighters. Well worth checking out.
Neymar: The Perfect Chaos
Now, I’m only one episode in to this (there are three in total) but so far so good. This is very much a classic football documentary but it’s a good insight in to the life of one of the world’s most recognised footballers.
You can watch Neymar: The Perfect Chaos on Netflix.
Thank you for reading this weeks edition of the Sports Business Weekly Wrap-up. If there are any sports business news stories we may have missed this week then make sure you hit us up on Twitter @BehindSport! If you want to read previous editions you can click here.
