Industry Shorts: The Fa, England Athletics, Puma…
West London-based sports production firm Input Media has confirmed that it captured and delivered complete live broadcast feeds of all 32 FA Cup third round matches for the first time.
Input Media, part of the Gravity Media Group, made the games available as world feeds on behalf of The FA’s international rightsholders and additionally offered a new digital clips service which culminated in 46 million views on social media.
It was revealed that a digital clip, involving Manchester United’s Alexis Sanchez being asked to move after sitting in Ole-Gunner Solskjaer’s dugout seat, was viewed 6.2 million times.
England Athletics has appointed digital innovation agency Skylab as its long-term digital partner.
The membership and development body for grassroots athletics and running in England announced that Skylab will be tasked with creating the new England Athletics digital strategy, along with the design and build of the new website.
Chris Jones, CEO of England Athletics, said: “Our new website reflects the key principles of our digital strategy and is fully responsive, easy to navigate and presents information in a user-friendly format.
“We are continuing to work to evolve our website. This will then bring together other parts of our digital pathway to give our member clubs and athletes the best possible experience of our work.”
Sportswear manufacturer Puma has announced its first significant move into the esports market, with an apparel deal with tier-one LCS team Cloud9.
The deal will see Puma become the official apparel and official game-day pants/shoes provider of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) squad.
The partnership kicks off from 26th January, with the Puma logo appearing on the breastplate of the team’s jersey and will initially only cover the 2019 LCS spring split.
Adam Petrick, Puma’s Global Director of Marketing, said: “Esports is becoming increasingly popular with our consumers, so this is a very exciting deal for us.”
Panini has become the first major collectibles and trading card brand to enter esports, agreeing a one-year deal with compLexity Gaming, the Jerry Jones-backed team.
CompLexity comprises eight competitive teams across titles including Fortnite, Madden and Rocket League.
The deal, which includes traditional collateral of trading cards and posters for the compLexity franchise, will also see compLexity manage a new Panini Twitch channel where traditional sports athletes with Panini relationships will be able to participate in games together and create other content with compLexity athletes and streamers.
Marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge is to return to compete in this year’s edition of the Virgin Money London Marathon.
It was confirmed that the defending champion will join British athlete Mo Farah on the start line on Sunday 28th April.
The Kenyan, named the 2018 IAAF Athlete of the Year, secured his third Virgin Money London Marathon title at last year’s race and went on to set a new marathon world record of 2:01:39 at the BMW Berlin Marathon.
