SPONSORSHIP & PROMOTION
Digital football community 90min locked in partnerships with Budweiser, Hyundai, Right Guard, Listerine, Caliente, Samsung and BOSS Fragrance for its World Cup content, while will offer fans localized World Cup storylines tailored exclusively to their fan passion. Employing a team of “FanVoice captains” (fan reporters) to report on-the-ground at Russia, the platform will provide street-level video reporting that focuses on the fan journey, the fan culture in Russia and the “combustion moments that happen on and off-the-pitch.” “BOSS Fragrance, part of the Coty Luxury portfolio, is excited to be partnering with 90min to position the brand front and center during the most pivotal football event of the year—The World Cup. Through engaging videos, interactive digital tools and inspiring messaging, we are confident that 90min will create meaningful connections between BOSS fragrance and the passionate football fan base, #BOSS United,” Susie Thompson, Head of Media & Digital, Coty UK & Ireland.
Meanwhile, Clamato and Omar Gonzalez are offering soccer fans tips for how to enjoy the authentic Clamato Michelada at game viewing parties in a new campaign ahead of the tournament. Gonzalez shares his tips on the most authentic way to enjoy the games all summer long
All-natural performance-lifestyle apparel company tasc Performance inked its first partnerships in professional golf, partnering with two upcoming PGA TOUR events, The Northern Trust and TOUR Championship in addition to signing Scott Stallings to serve as a brand ambassador.
DIGITAL & STREAMING
ESPN locked in a deal with Conference USA to bolster its content on ESPN+, singing on for a multi-year agreement to deliver more than 175 C-USA games to fans each year, including more than 125 combined football, men’s and women’s basketball games, with more than 100 of the total games on ESPN+ and the remaining games on ESPN3. In addition, ESPN’s digital platforms become the primary home of multiple C-USA Conference Championships. This season, 45 Conference USA football games will be available on ESPN’s digital platforms, with 32 streaming on ESPN+. Among the games carried on the subscription service are the home openers of UAB, Charlotte, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Rice, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, and Louisiana Tech and eight conference games in the season’s final three weeks.
Telemundo and Google announced a partnership that will bring Telemundo’s Spanish-language World Cup content to Google and YouTube for soccer fans across the US. For the first time ever, World Cup fans searching on Google for their favorite teams, matches and scores in Spanish in the US will see close to real-time video highlights from Telemundo Deportes including in-game clips featuring goals, halftime highlights and major moments in the match as well as match previews, winning probabilities, line-ups and news – all within Google Search. In addition, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia games on Telemundo will be offered in markets where YouTube TV is available.
Amazon announced a deal to broadcast live Premier League matches and weekly highlights packages in the UK starting with the 2019-20 season. The three-year deal marks the first time that Premier League TV rights have been acquired by a non-traditional broadcaster where Amazon will livestream the matches on its Prime Video service.
WENN Digital, creator and operator of the blockchain-based KODAKOne Image Rights Management Platform and the KODAKCoin cryptocurrency, announced a partnership with Oak View Group to bring the KODAKOne Platform and KODAKCoin Token to six OVG Arena Alliance venues, including four NBA teams and two NHL teams. Participating arenas and teams include: AT&T Center, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Golden 1 Center, Xcel Energy Center, Prudential Center and Talking Stick Resort Arena. As part of the partnership, WENN Digital and the six Arena Alliance members will collaborate to build a platform that allows fans to use KODAKCoin Token for an array of in-venue transactions and promotions. To promote the use of both KODAKOne Platform and KODAKCoin Token, each venue will develop a number of arena and product promotions for attendees who use the platform.
FloSports struck a deal to carry the Union Cycliste Internationale World Championships for Canadian viewers, along with the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, and UCI Track World Cup, which will all stream live on FloBikes.com. Coverage of the UCI events kicks off this weekend with the UCI BMX Supercross World Championships in Azerbaijan.
ESPORTS
AOC, specializing in high performance gaming monitors, debuted their global esports sponsorship program in North America by partnering up with G2 Esports. “We are really thrilled about our partnership with G2 Esports”, said David Ray, Director of Marketing for North America, AOC. “Working with top-notch esports teams inspires us in the way we think about product design and helps us identify which feature sets suit the respective genre or title best. G2 provides superb training facilities and excellent conditions for their players, and we’re looking forward to living up to those standards with our premium AGON series.”
Evo 2018, running Aug. 3-5 from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, will have a new presenting sponsor, with Cygames, producers of the Shadowverse digital card game, signing on. Plans include a booth at Evo 2018 to showcase Cygames Beast and Shadowverse game. “We are thrilled to partner up with Cygames for Evo 2018,” said Director of Global Business Development, Mark “MarkMan” Julio. “The Cygames brand across their products and their Cygames Beast gaming team are synonymous with quality and care. We’re excited to have new layers of support for players, the community, and the overall event from such a prestigious company.”
Have a knack for building under fire? FNATIC revealed that attendees at this year’s E3 in Los Angeles will have the opportunity to audition for scouts recruiting for FNATIC’s Fortnite team. The team will be hosting tryouts for the team. The tryouts will be located within DXRacer’s booth at the main E3 show.
THE MAIN EVENT
Warriors/Cavaliers on ABC at 9p.
