Industry Shorts: Matchroom Boxing, EA Sports
Matchroom Boxing has partnered with StubHub UK in an attempt to bring key workers and boxing fans closer to their idols during lockdown.
Members of the public can nominate inspirational members of their community, who may be chosen to participate in a one-on-one video call with some of the sport’s biggest names, with Eddie Hearn, Kell Brook, and Tony Bellew taking part in StubHub UK’s #TicketForward initiative.
In addition to the personal calls, those chosen will also be given a pair of VIP tickets to an upcoming fight of their choosing.
Meanwhile, Matchroom’s OTT platform has gone live featuring archive content from the last 30 years across 12 sports including boxing, snooker, pool and darts.
Working with StreamAMG, the platform will feature classic on-demand content as well as live action in ‘dark’ territories where broadcast rights deals are not in place.
EA SPORTS has confirmed that it intends to release the updated 2021 versions of its sport titles FIFA, Madden NFL and NHL as normal this year.
Both FIFA 21 and Madden NFL 21 are planned for releases later this year, however the releases are subject to further disruption by the coronavirus pandemic.
A study from 90/24 Media and sports marketing agency Redtorch has shown that, during the coronavirus pandemic, athletes have gained an 82% increase in social media video views.
According to the pair, who have published their findings in a report into the pandemic’s impact on social media in football, 44% of fans are spending longer on social media platforms while athletes are seeing large increases in views and engagement, despite producing just 15% more video content than before lockdown.
The LTA has released its LTA Youth schools content online to enable children and families to learn together at home while in lockdown.
Designed to develop children mentally and physically both on and off the tennis court, the content features active challenges and tennis-themed lessons covering subjects such as numeracy, literacy, geography and science.
The released content also includes tennis-themed activities, where children can participate in sessions to teach academic subjects through tennis, with each lesson featuring simple ‘warm-up’ activities which take around 15 minutes to complete.
David Graham has been appointed CEO of World Sailing, and is set to begin in the role on 13th July 2020.
Graham, whose most recent role was at Oman Sail, a national initiative using the power of sport to contribute to the development of the Omani people, replaces former CEO Andy Hunt, who left the role in October 2019.
Chip Ganassi Racing has become the latest team to announce its entry into Extreme E.
The outfit becomes the second major American team – after Andretti Autosport – to commit to the all-electric SUV off-road racing series.
The entry marks Chip Ganassi’s first foray into electric motosport in a year where it marks its 30th anniversary. In that time, the team has claimed 19 major titles and more than 220 race wins across a wide variety of motorsport disciplines.
Health and fitness agency Action PR has rebranded to become Action Group.
The agency says the new name will encompass all eight divisions of the business including Action Advertising, Consultancy, Content, Design, Events, Models, PR and Web, better reflecting what it offers as a business.
