Sportico Transactions: Moves and Mergers Roundup for March 17
Welcome to Sportico’s Transactions wire, a weekly rundown of personnel, partnerships and products across the sports business industry.
Personnel
FloSports Bolsters Company Leadership With Two Executive Hires
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FloSports has hired Jayar Donlan as chief content officer and Gene Chuang as senior vice president of engineering. Donlan, who will lead the content division, most recently served as EVP of advanced media at WWE, overseeing its subscription video-on-demand service while achieving record revenues for the company’s digital and social businesses. Chuang has spent time with numerous web-scale tech companies, including Yahoo!, AT&T Interactive/Yellow Pages, Overture, Chegg and Beachbody. In his new role, Chuang will lead the company’s efforts in developing and deploying streaming products.
Partnerships
Starlux Airlines Hooks Up With the Clippers
Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines has struck a multi-year deal to make the L.A. Clippers its official international airline partner to mark the launch of its Taipei-to-Los Angeles service and the opening of its L.A. office. In addition to in-arena activations and hospitality elements in Los Angeles, the partnership includes international rights through the NBA’s international team marketing program. The airline will activate in-flight branding, international sweepstakes and other digital and in-person activations featuring Clippers elements and personalities. Starting June 1, Clippers-themed amenities will be provided on flights to and from L.A., such as themed meal packaging, playing cards, eye masks, paper cups, stirrers, rice cracker packages, luggage tags, boarding passes and stickers.
UFC and TikTok Expand Content Deal
UFC and TikTok have agreed on a multi-year expansion of their partnership that delivers livestream content around the world. Since teaming up in 2021, UFC and TikTok have collaborated to create weekly shows featuring pre-and post-fight access, behind-the-scenes footage, athlete interviews, and more. With an eye toward maximizing international growth, UFC will continue to work directly with the TikTok team to produce original live and VOD content specifically for UFC’s international channels. Collectively, UFC’s TikTok channels have more than 23 million followers.
United Soccer League Finds an Official Tequila Partner
The United Soccer League has formed a partnership with Tequila Corralejo, making it the first Official Tequila Partner of the USL ahead of the 2023 USL Championship and League One seasons. USL is the first professional sports league to partner with Tequila Corralejo, and Tequila Corralejo is the USL’s first partner in the spirits category. The deal includes local market activations that will feature experiences, concessions integrations, on-site presence at league marquee events, and broadcast, digital, and social content throughout the USL Championship and League One regular season and playoffs. The national partnership will be amplified across the league with the Charleston Battery, Rio Grande Valley FC, Sacramento Republic FC, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies participating in special local activations this season.
PGA of America and Legends Team Up to Drive Global Partnerships
The PGA of America has teamed with Legends, the global premium services company. Legends Golf will utilize the expertise of the Legends Global Partnerships team in selling partnerships for the PGA of America, an organization dedicated to helping its nearly 28,000 PGA members grow interest and participation in the game. This includes high-profile events, such as the PGA Championship, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, as well as amateur championships. In addition, Legends will support partnership sales for PGA Frisco, which hosts the new “Home of the PGA of America,” and an expansive surrounding entertainment district and golf courses.
Jomboy Media Signs Yankees Manager Aaron Boone
Jomboy Media, the New York-based multimedia sports and entertainment company founded by Jimmy O’Brien, has signed New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone as a regular co-host of the Talkin’ Yanks podcast during the upcoming MLB season. Each week, Boone will join hosts O’Brien and Jake Storiale on the program, which is Jomboy Media’s flagship show and one of the top-ranked baseball podcasts in the U.S., according to Chartable. The addition of Boone follows the 2022 announcement of a $5 million financing fundraise led by Connect Ventures, an investment partnership between Creative Artists Agency and venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.
MLS and TikTok Announce Multi-Year Partnership
Major League Soccer and TikTok have partnered to celebrate, engage and create community around the league’s most exciting moments. The partnership will connect the TikTok community to MLS through exclusive content, in-app programming, greater access to highlights, in-stadium activations, the League’s biggest events and tournaments, and more. From fan reactions and unique edits of game highlights, to behind-the-scenes content from the players and clubs, MLS content will live on TikTok, offering soccer fans an unfiltered view of the League. Over the course of the partnership, TikTok creators will be paired with MLS clubs to create club-specific content. As an official partner of MLS, TikTok will be integrated into every MLS game throughout the season through various in-stadium branding, TikTok and MLS content across stadium videoboards, and more. TikTok is also the co-presenting sponsor of eMLS Cup, the League’s esports tournament.
Zoom, MLB Kick Off League-First Partnership
MLB and Zoom have announced a new partnership aimed to enhance MLB games and the fan viewership experience. Zoom becomes the official unified communications platform of MLB and the presenting partner of MLB replay review; MLB will introduce league-first, broadcast look-ins from the Zoom Replay Operations Center. The Zoom Contact Center, Zoom Phone, Zoom Events and Zoom Meetings will deliver unprecedented transparency to the fans and enhanced communications between front office staff, umpires and league officials.
Products
Cipher Launches Industry First Sports Betting Customer Analytics Platform ‘Convertr’
Cipher Sports Technology Group has launched a sports wagering customer analytics and data matching platform called Convertr. Created in partnership with IXUP (ASX: IXU) and designed for secure database collaborations between media companies and sports leagues–in conjunction with their respective betting operator partners–Convertr will provide organizations with data insights on their respective matched and unmatched customers’ behavior and interests. With Convertr, partners can connect and collaborate with data outside of their own organization, with 100% control, security and privacy. By unlocking information assets held across different partners, companies can now better engage with both active and dormant sports bettors through custom-tailored marketing campaigns that appeal to each individual user, ultimately increasing betting turnover.
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