ITV

Tag: Football

  • Viacom18 Sports launches ‘Isse Bada Kuch Nahi’ campaign for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

    Viacom18 Sports launches ‘Isse Bada Kuch Nahi’ campaign for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

    Mumbai: The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 campaign “Isse Bada Kuch Nahi” was launched by Viacom18 Sports. The promotion, which was developed to heighten anticipation for the opening of the show, is now active on television and online.

    All of the matches will be live streamed on JioCinema, which is currently accessible for download for all telecom service subscribers. It will also provide specially selected content related to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022. From 20 November to 18 December, all viewers will be able to watch the competition on the pay-TV channels Sports18, 1 SD and HD.

    Ogilvy developed and conceptualised the campaign film, which tells the story of a fun heist carried out by a group of football fans at a world-famous puppet show in a carnival. A large audience has gathered to watch the puppet show. As the football fans seize the show, a shrill whistle interrupts the act. Enter the puppets of superstars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr, Harry Kane, and Kylian Mbappe, who take over the act with an exhilarating display of skills, capturing the audience in the thrill of the world’s most beautiful sport.

    The film aims to excite viewers and fans by capturing the euphoria and carnival atmosphere that a football World Cup brings. Viacom18 Sports announces, using a puppet show as a metaphor, that no show entertains fans and connects with the community as passionately as the FIFA World Cup.

    A Viacom18 Sports spokesperson said, “We want everyone in the country to experience the infectious energy that comes with the world’s most watched sporting event, the FIFA World Cup, and enjoy this tournament like never before. Our campaign reflects the celebration that comes with the event and the intrinsic power it possesses to enthral one and all.”

    “With Isse Bada Kuch Nahi, we aim to spark uncontainable excitement and urge everyone to download JioCinema, now available to all telecom subscribers, to experience the World Cup like never before,” he added.

    “FIFA World Cup is the biggest entertainment spectacle in the world. Our campaign, “Isse Bada Kuch Nahi,” brings to life this football fever that’s about to capture the hearts of the country and the world by taking over every other form of entertainment,” said Ogilvy India chief creative officer Sukesh Nayak. “Brought to life by puppets of the most loved football stars, this fun takeover idea will surely have the World Cup fans tuning in for all the upcoming entertainment.”

    For the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, JioCinema will provide multiple language feeds, including Tamil, Malayalam, and Bengali. The campaign will also include short edits urging fans to watch the World Cup in these languages and emphasising how the world’s greatest sporting spectacle will be free to all.

    The JioCinema app, which includes access to Viacom18 Sports’ portfolio of live and non-live programming, is now available for download for all telecom service subscribers and devices, including iOS and Android, and includes access to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The 64-match showcase will feature live 4K streaming, a first for the FIFA World Cup presentation in India on JioCinema.

  • FC Goa welcomes Mc Dowell’s No.1 Soda as the club’s new associate sponsor

    FC Goa welcomes Mc Dowell’s No.1 Soda as the club’s new associate sponsor

    Mumbai: Football club FC Goa welcomes McDowell’s No. 1 Soda, Diageo India’s flagship brand, as the club’s new associate sponsor for the 2022–23 season of the Hero Indian Super League. The brand will be the key enabler of friendships and camaraderie throughout the season.

    Through this association, McDowell’s No.1 Soda will ensure that the fans have fun with their ‘yaars,’ at home or in the stands. As part of the partnership, McDowell’s No.1 Soda will appear on the upper sleeve of the FC Goa shirt for the entirety of the ISL season.

    FC Goa VP Ravi Puskur weighed in on the association, saying, “McDowell’s No.1 Soda is one of the most recognised brands in India and one that is associated with celebration. And this year, I believe, is one where we are celebrating football with fans allowed to be back in the stands.

    “Our goal has always been to provide fans reasons to celebrate their favourite football team, the beautiful game, and the moments that come along with it. Thus, I believe we will be able to find several synergies across the season for the brands to collaborate and bring success to all.”

    Diageo India executive VP and portfolio head of marketing Ruchira Jaitly said, “Football is the ultimate team sport, and the sportsmanship and camaraderie on and off the field are legendary. With this ISL season, McDowell’s No. 1 Soda, in association with the FC Goa, is proud to be a part of this team of ‘yaars’ and to celebrate those special moments of ‘Yaari,’ whether on or off the field, in a sport that is a passion with every Goan.

    McDowell’s No. 1 Soda shares the same sentiments about the true bonds of ‘Yaari’ as does team FC Goa, and together, we look forward to making memorable moments happen for consumers and sportsmen alike this season.”

  • Sports provide a lift to broadcast TV in September, streaming remains top in the US: Nielsen report

    Sports provide a lift to broadcast TV in September, streaming remains top in the US: Nielsen report

    Mumbai: The kickoff of the fall TV season in the US and the return of football provided audiences with an abundance of new content in September, fueling a 2.4 per cent rise in total TV viewing. The arrival of new broadcast programming provided the traditional lift that we’ve seen historically, but the 12.4 per cent increase in volume from August wasn’t enough to alter the trajectory of streaming usage, as streaming services captured 36.9 per cent of total TV usage, according to Nielsen.

    Alongside the whopping, but perhaps not totally unexpected, 222 per cent increase in sports viewing on broadcast channels, audiences continued to overindulge on streaming content, resulting in yet another monthly high-water mark. Audiences also continue to expand their choice of streaming service, with YouTube hitting a new platform-best streaming record, claiming eight per cent of TV viewing and equaling Netflix’s July record high, Hulu securing its own record of 3.7 per cent, and Pluto TV capturing one per cent of total TV, enabling it to be showcased outside of the “other streaming” category. HBO Max also gained 9.9 per cent in volume thanks to House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones, pushing its share of TV to 1.3 per cent.

    In several cases, increases in volume did not affect total TV share. For example, Amazon Prime Video usage increased 3.9 per cent in September on the strength of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power and specific Thursday Night Football games, but the platform’s share of total TV remained flat at 2.9 per cent. Similarly, Disney+ saw a 2.4 per cent increase in volume, yet its share of total TV stayed at 1.9 per cent.

    Broadcast recorded the largest month-over-month gain, driven by the sports genre, which accounted for 25.1 per cent of broadcast viewing. That said, broadcast’s 24.2 per cent share in September was 7.1 per cent lower than it was a year ago. Cable also benefited from a 40 per cent bump in sports viewing, but the 0.4 per cent rise in usage wasn’t enough to move cable’s share of total TV. In fact, with the other categories gaining share in the month, cable dropped 0.7 share points to finish with 33.8 per cent of total TV, its lowest share ever reported by The Gauge. Cable viewing was 9.3 per cent lower in September compared with a year ago.

    The return of football was the true spark in September, as it provided new content across broadcast, cable, and streaming. But even without sports, streaming—in all of its forms—continues to gain adoption, and it benefits from the emphasis that pure-play streamers and media companies alike are placing on it.

  • Disney+ Hotstar to stream UK show featuring David Beckham on 9 November

    Disney+ Hotstar to stream UK show featuring David Beckham on 9 November

    Mumbai: OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar has debuted the official trailer for the UK original series, Save Our Squad with David Beckham. The series is set to premiere exclusively on Wednesday, 9 November at Disney+ Hotstar. The announcement was accompanied by four new images from the series.

    It is co-produced by Bafta and RTS Award-winning production company Twenty Twenty, and Studio 99, the global content and production studio co-founded by Beckham. Save Our Squad with David Beckham is a series that sees David Beckham return to his East London roots to mentor Westward Boys, a young, grassroots team who are at the bottom of their league, facing relegation. However, this isn’t just any league… This is the same league that Beckham played in as a young boy. Working with the head coaches, he’ll try to turn the team’s fortunes around.

    Beckham mentors the young squad, sharing stories from his own playing career, which spanned over 20 years and saw him play for some of the most successful clubs in the world, to help them learn valuable lessons about practice, ambition, and teamwork. Off the pitch, Beckham gets the chance to spend time with players and their families, learning about their lives, hopes and concerns and talking to them about the importance of collaboration, work ethic and community.

    In the trailer, we see the first time the squad meets David Beckham, with one member of the team quizzing him on missed penalties. For David, this role is about giving back, as we see him mentor the boys, give them inspiring team talks, and even get his boots back on to try to score a trademark Beckham free kick against our young team.

    Save Our Squad with David Beckham builds on the company’s commitment to source, develop, and produce original productions. Disney’s International Content and Operations team plans to create 60 local productions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa alone by 2024 as it continues to collaborate with outstanding creators and premium producers.

  • 5ire onboards activist Didier Drogba as advisor

    5ire onboards activist Didier Drogba as advisor

    Mumbai: Didier Drogba, a Chelsea legend and one of the greatest footballers turned social and environmental activists, has joined hands with 5ire, the 5th-generation blockchain network.

    Founded by visionary entrepreneurs from India, Pratik Gauri and Prateek Dwivedi, 5ire signs up Drogba as their business advisor to work towards a shared vision of pushing the boundaries of sustainability and making this planet a better place.

    As an advisor for 5ire, Drogba will leverage his network and the Didier Drogba Foundation to get more businesses and institutions on 5ireChain, the world’s first and only sustainable blockchain.

    The former captain of the Ivory Coast national football team and its all-time leading scorer in professional football, Didier Yves Drogba Tébily, is one of the greatest footballers to have graced the sport. He is best known for his time spent playing for Chelsea, where he was chosen by the club’s supporters as the best player to ever represent the team. He has scored more goals for Chelsea than any other foreign player and is presently the fourth-highest goal scorer in club history.

    Never one to shy away from social issues, Drogba is credited with having famously stalled a civil war in his country on the day he led the Ivory Coast team to their first-ever berth in the Football World Cup finals. Since then, he has been known to have been actively involved in social causes, receiving an honorary degree in recognition of his contributions. His role in the peace process also earned him a place on the fabled Time magazine list of the top 100 most influential people in the world in 2010.

    Having launched the Didier Drogba Foundation , which works towards helping provide better options for improving the lives and futures of children, he has been working tirelessly with the vision of creating a better world for future generations.

    On this occasion, 5ire CEO and founder Pratik Gauri said, “Didier is a footballing legend and a superstar in the truest sense of the term. He is also an incredibly empathetic human being and an agent of change, who cares for this planet and its future. The work he has done over the past decade in bettering the lives of children has been phenomenal. He shares our vision of sustainability and making this planet fit for future generations. We are delighted to have him on board as 5ire’s business advisor and look forward to working with him towards a common goal.”

    Adding to it, Didier Drogba said, “I have been working on social issues for more than a decade, and I have realised how societal and environmental factors are intricately intertwined. This is where I have felt that technology can play a part in paving the path towards sustainability. My association with 5ire is a natural culmination of my experiences and beliefs, and I am thrilled to partner with this cutting-edge brand, helmed by young tech visionaries like Pratik and Prateek, who are working towards not only revolutionising the way the world does business, but to ultimately make the planet a better place to live in.”

    5ire co-founder Prateek Dwivedi added, “Didier is an inspirational leader. Not only is he a legend of the world’s greatest sport, but he also happens to be deeply involved in the betterment of the world around him. His exploits in social and environmental activities and his constant endeavour to make the world a better place for children and future generations make him a natural fit for the 5ire ecosystem. We are delighted to have him on board and look forward to changing the world with him.”

  • Stepathlon appoints sports industry veteran Nick Rusling as MD

    Stepathlon appoints sports industry veteran Nick Rusling as MD

    Mumbai: Technology-driven fan engagement company, Stepathlon has appointed Nick Rusling, a veteran of the sports industry, as managing director. Rusling will be based in London and will report to CEO & chairman Ravi Krishnan.

    Rusling has been associated with the sports industry for over 25 years. After working with the sports behemoth, IMG, Rusling turned entrepreneur and started Human Race Events in 2010. Human Race acquired 10 other businesses during its growth phase, created many events from scratch, and in 2016, was acquired by ASO, the owners of the Tour de France, Dakar Rally, and Paris Marathon.

    Krishnan said, “I have known Nick for over 15 years. He’s not only a great professional from the sports industry but also has relevant commercial, digital, and leadership skills to complement the Stepathlon team. He brings with him many important and relevant relationships in the UK and European market in multiple areas that are relevant for the growth of the company.”

    Since 2001, Rusling has been primarily focused on the mass participation industries – running, marathons, cycling, and triathlon – delivering hundreds of events for millions of participants all around the world, including the UK, Abu Dhabi, Stockholm, and Barcelona. Prior to mass participation events, Rusling worked as a sports agent, representing Ian Botham, Pat Cash, and Damon Hill.

    Krishnan added, ” Nick has been building some of the most successful events in the market in some of the greatest cities in the world, pioneering digital progress to enhance the customer experience beyond event day.”

    Rusling commented, “I am driven, both personally and in business, by getting the world fit and active. The genius of Stepathlon is that we harness the power of fan communities in the world of sport, music and beyond, to inspire and motivate millions of people to get fit and healthy together—all by taking part in our virtual races, unrestricted by the capacity of roads. The opportunity is limitless as everyone is a fan of something.”

    Rusling has also been heavily involved in the charity sector, helping raise over £150 million for multiple causes, and has worked as a trustee for sports-based charities, Herne Hill Velodrome Trust and Women in Sport.

    The appointment follows a new global round of investment that Stepathlon has raised from a pre-eminent mix of individuals from the world of sports, entertainment, media and lifestyle, and prominent investors from private equity, technology, ESG and family offices. Demonstrating confidence in the technology-driven fan engagement business of Stepathlon, existing and new investors participated in this fresh round of capital raise by the company.

  • Eurosport acquires broadcast rights for international football friendlies of India

    Eurosport acquires broadcast rights for international football friendlies of India

    Mumbai: Warner Bros. Discovery’s premium sports brand Eurosport India has acquired broadcast rights for the upcoming international football friendly match of the Indian national men’s football team against Singapore and Vietnam.

    The matches are scheduled for 24 September (vs Singapore) and 27 September (vs Vietnam) at 5:30 p.m. IST at the Thống Nhất Stadium in Vietnam.

    The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) awarded Eurosport India the broadcasting rights. The Indian men’s football team, also known as the Blue Tigers, will play for the first time since the 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022. These friendlies have been planned in anticipation of the team’s participation in the upcoming Asian Cup next year.

    India, led by talismanic Captain Sunil Chhetri, will face the host nation, Vietnam, for the first time in over a decade, with the goal of maintaining their winning record, while their next game against Singapore will be played on 27 September , 2022.

    Warner Bros. Discovery Sports has been bringing top-level action from the world of international football leagues to India via the MLS and the Eredivisie (Dutch league).

    In addition, through the AFC Women’s Asian Cup earlier this year, FIFA friendlies, the SAFF Championship, and the inaugural Hero Futsal Club Championship, they have played an important role in bringing Indian football to the fans here.

    Both matches will be broadcast live on the Eurosport and Eurosport HD channels in India, as well as on the discovery+ app.

  • Loco becomes the first Indian streaming platform to broadcast FIFA Pinnacle events

    Loco becomes the first Indian streaming platform to broadcast FIFA Pinnacle events

    Mumbai: Game streaming platform Loco on Friday has signed a broadcast agreement with FIFA, football’s international governing body to bring the centrepiece of the FIFA esports experience – FIFAe World Cup 2022, FIFAe Club World Cup 2022 and FIFAe Nations Cup 2022 to fans across India.

    Loco becomes the first and only Indian based game streaming platform to team up with FIFAe. It will localise the streams and broadcast the live streams for the three tournaments, which are set to be aired between 14 and 30 July.

    Loco has also recently signed exclusive streaming deals with other top publishers and game titles in the country, as well as international entrants to the Indian market, holding its position strong as the country’s leading game streaming platform.

    Commenting on the collaboration, Loco founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh said, “eSports has become the most watched category in India, after Indian cricket, and we are really happy to partner with one of the most prestigious organisations in the world, FIFA, to bring together an innovative new category of esports, FIFAe. It is a landmark year because we have the Indian team competing in the FIFAe Nations Cup and we hope they will inspire a generation of new gamers! Loco has broken viewership records with many popular game titles with innovative categories finding a suitable home on the platform, we are confident that we will provide fans an unforgettable experience with FIFAe.”

    In June 2022, history was made when India qualified for the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022. This achievement by the Indian eFootball team of Charanjot Singh, Siddh Chandarana and Saransh Jain, who led India as the country beat Korea Republic and Malaysia in the playoffs, has led to massive excitement both among FIFA fans as well as the wider esports community in the country. To further accelerate awareness in the Indian gaming community and with fans beyond the existing FIFAe community, Loco will be hosting multiple watch parties with the country’s top game streamers.

    The current season of FIFAe, will aggregate all FIFAe competitions under one event, while preserving their respective identities. The three-week long FIFAe finals that kicked-off from 14 July, will go on till 17 July, with the FIFAe World Cup which focuses on the best individual players from across the globe. The qualifiers will battle it out for ultimate fame, and the world’s biggest individual prize in FIFA esports – a whopping prize pool of four crore rupees.

    The second tournament commencing from 20-23 July, will host the FIFAe Club World Cup, which brings together the best clubs in the world to showcase their game-play and compete before a global audience, for a prize pool of Rs 2.4 crore.

    This year’s events will close with the prestigious FIFAe Nations Cup, which will run from 27-30 July. Teams will represent their nation and compete against each other for a total prize pool of Rs 3.2 crore.

  • David Beckham’s documentary series coming soon, and Netflix to produce it

    David Beckham’s documentary series coming soon, and Netflix to produce it

    Mumbai: OTT platform Netflix is in the production of a documentary series about global football star David Beckham. The multi-part series will go beyond the shine of stardom to explore Beckham’s humble working-class beginnings in East London, and the drive & determination that led him to become one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time.
     
    It will feature a mixture of never-before-seen personal archive footage from the last 40 years and interviews with David Beckham, his family and friends, and key figures who have been part of his journey both on and off the pitch.
     
    The project is helmed by Academy Award-winner Fisher Stevens (PALMER, And We Go Green, The Cove) who serves as director and executive producer, along with Academy Award and Emmy Award-winning producer John Battsek (One Day in September, Searching for Sugar Man, Winter on Fire).
     
    The production companies are Studio 99 in association with Ventureland.

  • Customer centricity is our single biggest USP, says Fantasy Akhada’s founder SK Jha

    Customer centricity is our single biggest USP, says Fantasy Akhada’s founder SK Jha

    Mumbai: In the fast growing world of gaming there are several players in Fantasy Sport. Fantasy platform Fantasy Akhada, while being a late entrant, says that it has managed excellent growth. Backed by popular cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle, the company says that it is an initiative of hard core sports lovers who understand the fan and fantasy sports. Fantasy Akhada provides a platform, covering fantasy cricket, fantasy kabaddi, fantasy basketball and fantasy football, where users can come, play, and win contests.

    The brand claims to have close to 2.5 million users currently. The platform has held 40 lakh contests and claims to have disbursed Rs 200 crore in cash winnings. Indiantelevision.com caught up with Fantasy Akhada founder Sumit Kumar Jha to find out more on the company’s plans.

    Jha is an alumnus of leading universities like XLRI Jamshedpur and NIT Jamshedpur. Being a business enthusiast who strives for growth, he has a demonstrated history of experience in Product Management, Customer Analytics, Customer Life-Cycle Management, Loyalty Program Management, Mobile Internet, and P&L Management. Sumit Kumar Jha has profound domain knowledge and hands-on experience of over 8 years across different industries including Automobile, Telecom, Fashion & Retail industries and furthermore, earned 7 months of international project work experience.

    He began his career with Tata Motors and after completing his MBA, joined the coveted Aditya Birla Group Leadership Program. He was deputed at Idea Cellular Limited (Now Vodafone Idea Limited) where he worked for 5 years prior to beginning his own venture-Fantasy Akhada. The rich experience that he gained in his professional journey has moulded a solid foundation of his entrepreneurial vision.

    Edited excerpts:

    On the traction that fantasy sports are getting vis-a-vis other areas of gaming and esports.

    The love for cricket and the development of other sports, on the back of domestic leagues, has increased the level of interest in sports for all Indians. Fantasy sports share a very symbiotic relationship with live sports and thus the excitement of FS coupled with the love for sports is driving major growth in the Fantasy Sports market in India.

    However, we believe that the growth of the overall gaming ecosystem will drive individual growths like fantasy sports, e-sports, etc. There must be an overall acceptance of the gaming community in Indian households; to ensure the next level of growth for this sunrise sector.

    On the challenges that Fantasy Akhada faced as a late entrant

    We believe that if we let the timing of entry into the industry bother us, Fantasy Akhada would not have been able to become one of the top five fantasy sports apps in the country. All of us, founders, were ardent fantasy sports users before launching Fantasy Akhada. We realised that there is a clear need for a platform that believed in the highest level of customer and sports centricity.

    While we believed in our vision and the need for such a product, it took a lot of marketing push as well as the highest level of customer service to stand out amongst the clutter of the other 180 platforms. Post the IPL in 2022, on the back of a viral marketing campaign feat. Ali Fazal and Harsha Bhogle, we can confidently say that we have been able to make a significant mark in the space.

    On the sports that the company is actively involved in

    We currently provide customers with the opportunity to play four sports. The number was three until a week back; we added fantasy basketball in the first week of July. So as of today, Fantasy Akhada offers fantasy cricket, fantasy football, fantasy kabaddi and fantasy basketball.

    On whether cricket dominates activity on the platform.

    Cricket, no doubt, is by far the most loved sport on all Fantasy Sports platforms in the country. However, owing to our sports centricity, we have always done our 100 per cent towards each sport; and that shows in the numbers as well. Football, for example, contributes almost 15-20 per cent of our overall revenue and this has been made possible by hosting games, even in major leagues, that are exclusively available on Fantasy Akhada.

    Kabaddi, also, was an excellent launch for us with the Pro Kabaddi League in December 2021. We are hoping to get some good traction on basketball as well, a sport that has been launched in response to rising customer demand.

    On Fantasy Akhada’s USP is in a competitive arena where the entry barrier is very low

    As mentioned earlier, our single biggest USP is customer-centricity. In the context of fantasy sports, it means doing the basic tasks well like instant withdrawal, 24*7 customer service to customer delight activities like international trips, regular leader boards with amazing prizes, etc.

    Apart from this, we focus on our commitment to increasing sports engagement and ensure that all our marketing activities are in line with sports development.

    On the impact of Covid on fantasy sports

    Barring the first month of the worldwide lockdown, when the sport was either not happening or restricted to smaller leagues in countries like Belarus, etc. Covid has not had a very negative impact on our business.

    Personally, for us at Fantasy Akhada, it was the time that we had just started, and it gave us the opportunity and time to work on a lot of things which we hadn’t envisaged before the launch. To summarise, we came out stronger and provided a better experience post with the initial Covid blip.

    On the direction that regulation should take

    We believe that more clarity on regulation will help the Industry grow multifold. The lack of clarity on the regulations hurts the business. We, along with other FS platforms, are working with the central government to build a well-structured framework that will help all platforms in the country.

    On the role that Harsha Bhogle plays

    Harsha Bhogle joined the Fantasy Akhada team in June 2020 as a brand ambassador and investor. Since then he has been, more than his role, a great mentor for the entire organisation. We have been lucky to have his guidance in various decisions and also his support in getting a lot of things done, which would have otherwise been very challenging for us.

    On the activity seen on the platform during the recently concluded IPL

    IPL is the highlight event for all FS platforms in India; primarily due to the love for cricket that the customers have and also the short duration of matches – which helps them rotate money quickly. Apart from the growth in value of transactions, it is one of the best times for user acquisition, not only for FS platforms but for brands across industries.

    In terms of Fantasy Akhada, we had the biggest IPL, on the back of our first IPL campaign that went live on the Star Sports Network. The virality of the campaign, backed by our previously highlighted USPs, helped us catapult the growth of users to the next level. We had set out on a target of 100 per cent increase in our numbers over the two months of IPL, and we were able to comfortably achieve the same. Another great success has been that these users have stayed back with the platform post the IPL, increasing the overall base of our transactions.

    On expansion plans abroad

    Currently, we are present only in India – and allow only residents of India to play on our app. We have plans to spread our wings to other nations and currently, we are evaluating the right countries that fit our business and plans.