Industry Shorts: Sky Group, Efl, Leeds United
Jeremy Darroch steps down as Group CEO, Sky, after 13 years in the job, with President, Consumer Services for US organisation Comcast Cable, Dana Strong, taking over in the role.
Darroch led the organisation, which includes its suite of sport channels and OTT platform NOW TV since 2007, having served as its CFO for three years before that.
He will become Sky’s Executive Chairman until the end of 2021 in order to ensure a smooth transition.
The EFL and the PFA will re-introduce twice-a-week coronavirus testing for players from Monday 11th January in a bid to uncover asymptomatic cases within the league.
The move will complement the league’s current protocols, which – up until a round of mandatory testing this week – have required clubs only to test players when they show symptoms.
The EFL says the tests have initially been sourced from the private sector and will be’ fully funded’ by the PFA.
Leeds United have appointed Aaron Duckmanton as their new Global Head of Content and Digital Strategy.
Duckmanton, a Sport Industry NextGen Leader, joins the Premier League side from video editing and publishing platform Grabyo where he spent four years as Global Head of Marketing and Content.
The IOC could look to secure COVID-19 vaccinations for athletes to allow the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to go ahead safely.
The news comes as IOC Member Dick Pound told media outlets he felt there would be no ‘public outcry’ if athletes were to be given the vaccine in the second or third wave of the roll-out. IOC sources told The Guardian that they hope athletes will be high up on vaccination list, but ‘do not want to jump the queue’.
BOA CEO Andy Anson told the Press Association: “There will come a time, hopefully ahead of the Olympic Games when the athletes can be considered for vaccination, but we’ll only do that when it’s appropriate.”
Japan has announced a new state of emergency which places new restrictions on its population in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Super League Triathlon has appointed sport rights and marketing consultancy Sport Collective GV6 – a joint venture between former FA commercial heads Peter Daire and Sean McAuliffe and former EFL Head of Commercial Development Steve Maddren – to support the development and roll out of its commercial strategy.
As part of an expanded commercial offering, Super League Triathlon will work with Sport Collective GV6 to develop its commercial strategy and partner outreach.
