Industry Shorts: Euro 2020, Lions, Lpga, La Liga
Football’s European governing body UEFA has revealed that more than 300,000 applications from 109 different countries were submitted within the first hour of tickets going on sale for Euro 2020 on 12th June.
At the start of the month-long window for initial applications, UEFA said that its ‘Fans First’ strategy would ensure that 82% of tickets will go to supporters rather than corporate visitors, with one million available for €50 or less across 44 matches.
The tournament will take place across Europe before the semi-finals and final are staged at Wembley Stadium in London, where a total of 40,000 tickets across the three matches will be available for under €100.
The official hospitality programme for the competition has also been launched, with IMG serving as the exclusive sales agent for such packages covering private suites and shared lounges.
Hackett London has been appointed as the official premium outfitter for the British & Irish Lions.
The fashion brand has agreed a three-year partnership that will run until the Lions’ tour of South Africa in July 2021.
Under the deal, the Lions and the representative team’s executive board members will be dressed in ‘Hackett Made to Measure’ outfits. A series of limited-edition products will also be available to buy in selected retail outlets.
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) has announced it will implement an integrity programme in partnership with Genius Sports.
The programme will feature sports betting-related monitoring, education and structures for the management of investigations.
Genius Sports is already an integrity partner for golf’s PGA Tour and European Tour.
La Liga, which operates Spain’s football league, has been fined €250,000 after falling foul of national data protection agency AEPD.
According to the watchdog, amongst other issues, La Liga failed to provide adequate information for users of its official app that the platform could monitor the user’s location.
The AEPD has also called for the app to be removed by the end of June.
However, La Liga said in a statement that it “disagrees profoundly with this decision” and “rejects the penalty imposed as unjust, unfounded and disproportionate”.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games medal podiums will be made from recycled plastic, organisers have announced.
Collection boxes for the plastics will be placed at more 2,000 AEON supermarket outlets throughout the country.
Procter and Gamble, a Tokyo 2020 partner, will collect and recycle 45 tonnes of plastics into around 100 podiums.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and IBM have unveiled a series of technological innovations ahead of the start of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.
Enhanced Artificial Intelligence-powered automated video highlights will be provided for fans, with Watson Acoustics’ sound analysis allowing packages to be cropped down to rallies that attract special levels of noise and excitement. Additionally, a progressive web app has been created for audiences in territories where there is lower bandwidth and less developed mobile hardware.
Meanwhile luxury car manufacturer Jaguar has launched an Ace Pace Wimbledon Edition app, which will offer fans the chance to win tickets to this year’s edition of the tennis grand slam.
Jaguar, the official car partner of Wimbledon, has linked up with Journey Digital to launch the app, which will also test fans’ serving ability by simulating the serve of a pro as users swap a racket for their smartphone.
