Industry Shorts: Channel 4, Incrowd, Ds Techeetah

Channel 4 has won the rights to broadcast England’s Test cricket series in India, according to multiple reports.

The move would see live Test cricket screened on free-to-air TV in the UK for the first time since the 2005 Ashes series, and would build on the broadcaster’s recent coverage of the sport, having simulcast the final of the one-day Cricket World Cup 2019.

England’s cricketers are already in India ahead of the series, which is set to begin on Friday 5th February.

InCrowd has appointed Michael Jones as Chief Operating Officer.

Jones joins from sports marketing agency Goodform where he served as Managing Director, specialising in data and insights and working with major sports organisations. He also previously served as Head of Business at Watford Football Club. 

He will become COO at InCrowd, leading on facilitating internal commercial operations and ensuring clients are able to drive their own commercial growth and fan engagement using InCrowd’s platform.

Formula E Champions DS TECHEETAH have signed a multi-year strategic partnership with Verizon Media which will see the latter’s Yahoo brand featuring on the team’s livery and across. 

The news sees Yahoo enter into Formula E for the first time, a move it says aligns with its commitment to ‘innovative, sustainable technology that will drive the world forward’. 

SweetSpot – the organiser of cycling races the Tour of Britain and Women’s Tour – have announced a new five-year partnership with Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN).

The deal will see the Discovery brands host exclusive coverage of the events for the next five years, and will also see the Women’s Tour produced for live coverage for the first time. 

Enhanced content – including previews, features and analysis of both events from the best cycling experts – will also feature across Eurosport and GCN platforms. 

World Rugby and its global master licensee, IMG, have announced that a consultation process to select a Global Sports Apparel Supplier for all its competitions during the 2021-24 period will launch this month. 

The supplier will, for the first time, have access to rights and assets for all of World Rugby’s international competitions, including Rugby World Cup 2021 and 2023. 

Major new investments in health care, regeneration and sporting projects – totalling more than £200m – have been unveiled at the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, the only Olympic legacy park outside a host city.

The developments – which include a National Centre for Child Health Technology and groundbreaking diagnostic imagery research hub – aim to generate over 5,600 jobs as well as housing the planned National Centre for Child Health Technology (CCHT). 

The centre which will be the first of its kind in the world, and will aim to develop technology to address child health issues such as childhood obesity, mental health, long term conditions, and prevention.

BT Sport has continued its broadcast partnership with MotoGP in a new deal which will take the relationship over the 10-year mark.

The news will see BT remain the home of MotoGP in the UK, and will continue its race coverage, which includes every practice, qualifying session, and race across the MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, and MotoE series.

Fan engagement agency Snack Media has announced a rebrand which will see it focus on the strapline ‘Making Content Count’.

Focused on ‘honouring the fan’ the rebrand will aim to put an emphasis on increasing revenue and brand metrics for advertisers, as well as its network of publishers – which includes the likes of Give Me Sport – and its Snack Labs product, which develops solutions and products designed for content creators.