Industry Shorts: Dazn, FA Cup, Matchroom
DAZN has announced that it will dramatically increase its global presence, expanding its output to more than 200 countries including the UK.
The online broadcaster will release an English-language service focused on boxing, building on the company’s portfolio of international rights from the likes of Golden Boy Promotions, Matchroom Boxing USA and GGG Promotions.
The first global event on DAZN will be Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez’s soon-to-be-announced fight during Cinco de Mayo Weekend, on Saturday, 2nd May. The broadcaster says pricing will be announced at a later date. READ MORE
The FA has announced that two FA Cup games will be exclusively streamed on Facebook Watch in the UK, in a first for the federation. That means all eight of the fifth round fixtures will be broadcast live, with the other six shown on TV by broadcasters the BBC and BT Sport.
The two UK-only Facebook Watch broadcasts will take place on Tuesday 3th March and Wednesday 4th March and will feature Reading’s match against Sheffield United and Birmingham City’s trip to Leicester City respectively. The FA says that games can be streamed on TV through the Facebook Watch TV app, while highlights of all eight games will be available after the final whistle of the other matches. READ MORE
Matchroom, meanwhile, has launched it’s own new global OTT platform to stream live coverage of its darts, pool and snooker events in ‘non-broadcast territories’, as well as on-demand video content such as highlights and full replays .
The StreamAMG-produced platform will also be available in other territories where the events do have broadcast partners – such as the UK – but only the on-demand content will be available.
Championship Horse Racing has launched a new flat racing series, Racing League, which will see the creation of a new team-based format.
12 teams consisting of two to four trainers working together, three jockeys, stable staff and a squad of 30 horses will fight for £1.8m in prize money across six evening race meetings in July and August 2020.
Races will take place at Doncaster, Lingfield, Newcastle and Royal Windsor. Each race will be worth £50,000 and will be shown live on Sky Sports. The winning team will also earn a bonus prize shared between its participants as well as one ‘Super Fan’. Super Fans will be picked at random from a ballot before the start of the competition, and one will be included in the overall prize money if their team wins the league.
Nike and ukactive Kids have announced the return of Active School Hero, expanding the programme from London to Birmingham.
The initiative recognises ‘physical activity champions’ in schools, rewarding the teachers and volunteers who improve children’s activity levels.
The debut year saw Innogen Fryer, a Year 3 teacher from Hackney, crowned Active School Hero for 2019, and the second year will see the programme take place in Birmingham as well.
