Shorts: Frank Warren Boxing, Two Circles, NHL

Global sports, events and talent management company IMG has announced the renewal of its long-standing, worldwide video archive partnership with Queensberry Promotions Limited (QPL), the parent company of Hall of Fame boxing promoter and manager, Frank Warren.

Under the latest three-year agreement, upcoming matches and events produced and promoted by Queensberry will be made available on IMG’s digital archive platform, IMG Replay.

IMG will also hold the rights to sublicense this content to territories across the world.

Frank Warren, Chairman of Queensberry Promotions, said, “IMG Replay is a fitting host for our ever-growing stockpile of memorable fights. Our archive is one of the deepest in world boxing and it is a source of personal pride to have these great occasions digitised and distributed to new and existing audiences across the globe.

The beauty of our business is that the next big fight is always the most important one and our archive will continue to increase with more and more major fights, year on year.”

The Frank Warren Boxing archive includes some of the biggest fighters in boxing history, including Mike Tyson, Naseem Hamed, Frank Bruno, Joe Calzaghe, Nigel Benn, and Ricky Hatton, as well as modern-day boxers Tyson Fury, Joe Joyce and Daniel Dubois.

London-based Sports marketing and data technology company Two Circles has appointed Wyndham Richardson as Group Executive Director.

Richardson is best known for his role as Founder and Chief Executive of Pulselive, the sports technology company spun out of Hawk-Eye Innovations.

In the newly-created Group Executive Director role – which will report to Two Circles Co-Founder and CEO Gareth Balch – Richardson will lead Two Circles’ global technology team, working with technology partners to accelerate the development of new digital products that grow the value of sports rights.

Richardson will also lead Two Circles’ fast-growing regional businesses and client relationships in new markets.

Wyndham Richardson, commented, “I’ve collaborated on projects with Gareth and the Two Circles team for over a decade and in that time become a close friend and admirer of the business. Two Circles knows fans best and those insights fuel the best products for fans, enabling sports properties to make more money. 

“I’m excited to be a part of the next phase of Two Circles’ journey, with a focus on leveraging best-in-class technology to create even more value for clients.”

Gareth Balch, added, “I’ve seen Wyndham create market-leading digital products that deliver transformative change for sports properties first-hand, and he has a reputation for inspirational leadership that brings the best out of individuals and teams. He is the perfect person to join Two Circles as we continue to invest at scale in streaming, marketing, fan data and sales technology solutions that enable our clients to grow their audiences and revenue.”

National Hockey League (NHL) has selected sports technology and data company Sportradar to power its refreshed NHL.TV, the league’s direct-to-consumer international OTT subscription service.

The product is available to hockey fans in certain countries and territories outside of the US and Canada, providing live and on-demand NHL games.

Ed Blonk, Chief Commercial Officer at Sportradar, commented, “Today’s sports fans expect a viewing experience that is highly personalized and tailored to their unique interests. By utilizing our truly dynamic and trusted data-driven, end-to-end OTT solution, which have been developed and refined over the last 15 years, NHL.TV has the ability to meet and exceed viewer demands.

“We look forward to working closely with the NHL to deliver an innovative product that will deepen fan engagement now and in the future.”

This builds on the relationship between the pair after announcing global 10-year agreement in June 2021. Sportradar is the NHL’s official betting data rights, official betting streaming rights and official media data rights partner, distributing the league’s official data and statistics to media, technology and sports betting companies worldwide.