Category Archives: Auto

Kitman Labs Joins ‘More Than Equal’ Quest To Develop First Female Formula 1 Champion

Kitman Labs, the sports technology and analytics company setting the industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced a partnership with More than Equal, a global independent motorsport initiative with a mission to find and develop the first female Formula 1 world champion.

The partnership will provide More than Equal with an advanced operating system which will centralize data for female drivers participating in More than Equal’s pioneering Development Programme, a high-performance preparation programme that supports young, talented female drivers who have the potential to develop into elite racing drivers. 

The ‘More than Equal Intelligence Platform’ is a single, fully integrated data and analytics platform designed to provide drivers and coaching staff with a comprehensive, unified and real-time view of the driver’s performance, athletic, and personal development data. 

Utilizing the latest performance monitoring technology, the platform will give More than Equal data accuracy and the ability to convert driver data into actionable insights and intelligence to support evidence-based tactical and technical coaching that is relevant to their gender and age. The More than Equal Driver Coaches, in collaboration with elite coaching group Hintsa Performance, will leverage the platform to track and support the drivers’ progress holistically, from their in-car performance, to their physical athleticism, to their social and cognitive development. The platform ensures the consistent and accurate collection of data for female drivers, with a goal to optimize the driver’s performance on and off the track. 

The platform will be supported by a dedicated staff and player app (iOS and Android), to support the real-time collection of driver data globally. 

The organization, whose mission is to find, nurture and develop female racing drivers, will leverage several Solutions in iP: Intelligence Platform, including: Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development.  iP will serve as the singular advanced operating system for the Organization – eliminating data and information silos, enabling cross-departmental communication and providing transparency and alignment across all stakeholders. 

“More than Equal is on a mission to revolutionize how female racing talent is identified, developed and supported,” said More than Equal CEO, Ali Donnelly.  “We are thrilled to collaborate with Kitman Labs to provide our driver cohort with access to best-in-class performance technology, allowing our coaches to optimize and personalize their talent development.”

“On a personal and professional level, we couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with More than Equal to help realize their vision as they pioneer a new model in providing elite training and development for talented female drivers,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs. “iP: Intelligence Platform was created for this – to leverage the power of data and analytics to enable and inform foundational change; to convert that data into the meaningful insights and actionable intelligence necessary to unlock human performance.  We are on a shared mission.”

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with the top governing bodies, leagues, teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer/global football, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by teams in some of the world’s most elite sports organizations and universities including the NFL, NBA, Premier League, NWSL, WSL, MLS and NCAA.

This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken including two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations and largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

CELSIUS Partners With Female NASCAR Driver Logan Misuraca for 2023 ARCA Menards Series

Logan Misuraca announces she will be racing in the 2023 ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 63 Spraker/PCW Racing CELSIUS Essential Energy Chevrolet at superspeedways Daytona and Talladega.

Misuraca attended the Preseason ARCA Test at Daytona International Speedway January 13-14th. During the season, the Ilmor engine Chevrolet will be sponsored by CELSIUS Essential Energy Drink while embodying the brand’s mantra, “Live Fit”, staying energized all race weekend long.

Speaking on the sponsorship, CELSIUS VP of Marketing, Kyle Watson, added, “CELSIUS is thrilled to be the primary sponsor and Official Energy Drink of Logan Misuraca? for the 2023 ARCA Menards Series season. We are excited to sponsor our first female driver in motorsports and help fuel Logan all season long as she crosses the finish line!”

CELSIUS is functional, Essential Energy, a better-for-you, premium alternative to traditional energy drinks. Made with a clinically proven formula of energy boosting ingredients, 7 Essential Vitamins and zero sugar, CELSIUS was created to help people LIVE FIT, exceed their goals, and elevate their everyday lives.

Logan’s first ARCA race of the year will take place at Daytona International Speedway on February 18th at 1:30 PM EST. Additionally, she will be racing the Talladega Superspeedway ARCA Race on April 22nd. Both races will be broadcasted on FS1.

Logan holds many accomplishments in her home state of Florida including New Smyrna Speedway 2020 ‘Champion’ and ‘Rookie of the Year’ in the pro late model series and atop 10 finish in the 2022 ARCA East Race at NSS.

Logan is very experienced with both superspeedways through her work with NASCAR Racing Experience where she gives ride-alongs to race fans and adrenaline seekers at speeds over 170 mph. Logan has recorded more than 20,000 laps at Daytona International Speedway. Spraker Racing has over 30 years of racing experience and has had major successes in the ARCA series with record making top 5 and top 10 finishes over the years. The team and Logan are looking forward to an exciting 2023 ARCA season.

Entain Data Reveals Huge Rise In Popularity Of Betting On Formula 1

Entain, the global sports betting, gaming, and interactive entertainment group, reports a surge in popularity for bets on Formula 1 with a record-breaking year on the cards. Data from Entain between 2018 and 2022 reveals that:

· The total number of Entain customers betting on Formula 1 increased 50 per cent from 2018 to 2021, and the total number of bets on each season has grown by 30 per cent
· Most customers who bet on Formula 1 between 2018 and 2021 were from the UK (35 per cent), Brazil (17 per cent), Germany (17 per cent) and Spain (5 per cent)
· Entain has seen an 18 per cent increase from 2021 to 2022 in the number of UK customers betting on Formula 1, with four races still yet to go in the 2022 season
· The British Grand Prix in July 2022 saw a 121 per cent increase compared with 2018, and there has been a four-fold increase in the number of bets on a winner at the race
· This trend replicates the spike in popularity of the sport across streaming and multimedia platforms. According to Formula 1, it was the fastest-growing major sports league in terms of follower growth in 2021. Followers on social media platforms increased 40 per cent to 49.1 million, with video views up 50 per cent to 7 billion and total engagement up 74 per cent to 1.5 billion.

Dom Grounsell, Chief Commercial Officer at Entain, said: “Our customers are finding Formula 1 an increasingly exciting sport to participate in – numbers are growing year on year, in line with the popularity of the sport. This has no doubt been helped by the hugely successful Netflix Formula 1 Drive to Survive series. We’re looking forward to the next stage of Formula 1’s exhilarating journey, and with our bench-strength of global sporting brands, are perfectly placed to keep our customers entertained and close to the action.”

Whilst the marked rise in popularity of motor racing is exciting for Entain, the interactive entertainment group works hard to ensure its customers are enjoying the thrill of the race while staying safe and playing within their limits. Entain’s industry-leading player protection programme, Advanced Responsibility and Care™, uses artificial intelligence to anticipate and identify potential problems and lead players back to safety.

Castrol Continues Support for Roush Fenway Keselowski Carbon Neutrality 

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK) is proud to announce it is bringing back the carbon neutral No. 6 Ford powered by Castrol at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24. RFK Co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski will be behind the wheel of the Castrol Mustang in the now iconic all-white paint scheme. RFK became the first carbon neutral NASCAR race team in 2021.  

The initiative is part of Castrol’s ongoing relationship with RFK and is another step toward supporting its partners in achieving their lower carbon ambitions. RFK continues to make strides on its carbon neutral journey, having been able to achieve reductions across Scope 1, 2 and certain 3 emissions associated with the team and in accordance with internationally recognized PAS2060 standard that RFK utilized in becoming carbon neutral.   

RFK achieved a 40% reduction in absolute carbon emissions from Scope 1 and 2 (twice their initial goal of 20%) and a 23% reduction in absolute Scope 3 emissions. Reductions at these levels were planned for 2022 but achieved a full year ahead of schedule. *  

Beginning at the Talladega race both RFK cars will be using motor oils specially formulated for RFK by Castrol with more than 50% RRBO (re-refined base oil).  Re-refined oil, on average, is 50% lower lifecycle carbon emissions vs. ordinary/conventional oil.** 

Prior to the race on Sunday, Castrol will lead a community-wide clean-up with Keselowski and fellow RFK driver Chris Buescher, who pilots the No. 17 car, on Friday April 22 (which is also Earth Day) in Oxford, Ala. Fans across the country are invited to join in the efforts by posting pictures to Instagram of their own clean-ups with the hashtag #drivingforchange for a chance to win Keselowski’s race-worn, fire suit.  Consumers must post pictures of their local clean ups by May 8.   

“Since RFK’s milestone commitment to carbon neutrality last year, we at Castrol have continued to look for ways to help drive change and to support our partner RFK,” said Castrol’s Vice President of Marketing, Americas Rayne Pacek. “And we’re excited to get fans involved this year in the community clean up and to have Chris and Brad leading the charge in Oxford, in addition to raising awareness on the track.” 

Speaking about RFK’s carbon neutral journey Brad Keselowski said, “None of us can change the world overnight by ourselves, but every bit counts and I’m proud to be working alongside Castrol to raise awareness. I hope that RFK and Castrol can help inspire others and help to drive change.” 

“We’re thrilled to work with both Castrol and RFK to help make Oxford, Ala., even more beautiful,” said Alton Craft, Mayor of Oxford, Alabama. “We hope that our efforts can help inspire fans across the country to chip in – a chance for them to win Brad’s white fire suit doesn’t hurt, either!”

Anyone interested in learning more about Castrol’s #drivingforchange initiative should go here.  

* Reductions were made in accordance with the BSI PAS2060 standard for carbon neutrality, whereby an organization commits to reduce carbon emissions within their measured boundary and to report on that progress. Both the measured boundary and emission reductions have been assessed in accordance with BSI PAS2060 and the achievement of carbon neutrality has been assured by ERM CVS, a third-party assurer. RFK’s QES available upon request.

Celsius Sponsors Live Fast Motorsports for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Live Fast Motorsports (LFM) and CELSIUS announced on Feb. 16, 2022, their second-year partnership for the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series racing season. Today the two companies announced that CELSIUS will be the primary sponsor for LFM at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Sun. Mar. 20, for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 race.

Celsius is a better-for-you alternative to traditional energy drinks with clinically proven function which provides essential energy. Celsius is a global top-selling lifestyle fitness drink featuring zero sugar, no preservatives, no aspartame, no high fructose corn syrup, and is non-GMO, with no artificial flavors or colors. Consumed by athletes all over the world, CELSIUS contains seven essential vitamins providing a sustained energy source for everyone’s fitness goal.

“Celsius is honored to enter their second year of partnership with Live Fast Motorsports,” said John Fieldly, President and Chairman of Celsius. “CELSIUS is a fitness drink that drives performance and provides that essential energy to fuel Live Fast Motorsports. Celsius was created to help people LIVE FIT, exceed their goals, and elevate their everyday lives. We are proud that LFM co-owner, Matt Tifft, co-owner and NASCAR Cup series driver, B.J. McLeod, and their team trust our products to bring out their best energy to perform all-season long.”

LFM and Celsius are excited to release the new co-branded paint scheme featuring Celsius’ popular sparkling orange flavor beverage on the lower rear quarter panel. This new electrifying design has both teams hyped up for the competitive Atlanta race.

“Our Live Fast Motorsport’s team couldn’t be more enthused about this second-year partnership and Celsius themed paint scheme for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500.” said co-owner of Live Fast Motorsports, Matt Tifft. “On hot long race weekends, Celsius always provides the refreshing taste and stable energy that our team needs to stay hydrated and succeed on the track. That’s why our team’s cooler is always stacked with various flavors on race weekends. It’s the perfect pick-me up and even friendly to my low-carb lifestyle.”

“There’s not a time you’ll see me walking around the track on race day without a Celsius,” said co-owner and driver, B.J. McLeod. “Many energy drinks are high in sugar or often give the shakes, but Celsius helps keeps me energized and focused during both my workouts and races.”

LFM and Celsius are excited to hit the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway and promote a high energy sustainable lifestyle to our fans through the race. Tune-in on Sun. Mar. 20, 2022 at 3 PM EST to watch the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on FOX.

For more information about Celsius, please visit http://www.celsiusholdingsinc.com

RFK ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH CELSIUS ENERGY DRINK

RFK Racing has announced it will team with CELSIUS energy drink to help keep its team fit, active and hydrated as it prepares for the upcoming NASCAR season. The lifestyle brand will serve as an associate partner for the No. 6 race team, which launches into what promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in the team’s history.

Brad Keselowski joins the team as part owner and driver of the No. 6 Ford Mustang, as the sport ushers into the Next Gen Era of the sport. In addition to helping the team on its quest of a healthy lifestyle and maximum performance, the CELSIUS brand will be featured on Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford Mustang and driver firesuit.

CELSIUS prides itself on containing no sugar, no aspartame, no high fructose corn syrup, and no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. CELSIUS is certified gluten free, kosher, and non-GMO.

“We are extremely excited to partner with RFK Racing and help keep Brad and the team fueled heading around the track,” said John Fieldly, CEO of CELSIUS. “We are all about creating authentic partnerships and knowing first-hand how much Brad loves drinking CELSIUS makes this a no-brainer.”

RFK launches off into the new season this week at Daytona Speedweeks. The running of the Daytona 500 will take place Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).

Triller Enters NASCAR Space With Partnership With Rising Star Toni Breidinger

Triller, the globally popular AI-powered social media experience, today announced its entry into NASCAR with a partnership with driver Toni Breidinger, the 22-year-old rookie driver who has made history as the first Arab-American female driver in the circuit’s history. The partnership will begin this Saturday with the ARCA Menards Series race at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana. Breidinger will be driving the #25 Triller Toyota Camry after recently switching to Venturini Motorsports, a Toyota Racing Development team, for the remainder of the 2021 season. Breidinger, who already has one of the largest social followings for any NASCAR driver, will fully document her racing experience on Triller and will have her car wrapped with Triller signage this weekend. She is the all-time winningest female in United States Auto Club (USAC) history with 19 wins, a record that helped her move into NASCAR’s ARCA Menards series this year.

“Toni Breidinger is the perfect fit for our entry into NASCAR and all forms of racing for Triller,” said Bobby Sarnevesht, Chairman and Co-Owner of Triller. “She is a disruptive, smart, highly competitive, socially conscious and engaged athlete who our millions of followers are just starting to learn about. We look forward to helping to elevate her story and her platform and to connecting her with the stars who are already deeply involved in Triller, as well as giving our followers a first look into NASCAR and helping to grow the sport with a younger and very engaged and loyal audience.”

Toni Breidinger

“As a young athlete who has diverse interests and wants to have young people get excited about the sport I love, racing, Triller is the perfect place for me,” Breidinger said. “The mix of engaged socially conscious young people from around the world is the audience I want to connect with, and I think as we grow together all will learn, have fun and experience new events together. I am thankful for this partnership with Triller and for them to believe in female athletes and especially in motorsports.”

In February, Breidinger made history as NASCAR’s first Arab-American female driver, when she raced in the ARCA Menards Series at the Daytona International Speedway, finishing in 18th place out of 33 — ahead of the two other women who competed, and earning her an appearance on “Ellen.” She is one of 10 females competing across NASCAR races this season.

The partnership will begin with the ARCA Menards Race at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana, and will continue for all five of her races this season: August 22 at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield Illinois; September 5 at the DuQuoin State Fair in DuQuoin, Illinois; October 23rd at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS; and November 6th at Phoenix Speedway in Phoenix, AZ. Toni currently races in the ARCA Menards Series, a feeder division into the Nascar Touring Series. In 2021, Toni placed 18th at Daytona, 12th at Talladega, 12th at Kansas, and 20th at Charlotte.

This is the latest part of a progressive strategy that Triller is going to extend into sports. In addition to the highly successful Triller Fight Club series, which continues with the first of a long series of Tuesday night fights at Madison Square Garden and will also feature the September 11 matchup between Oscar de La Hoya and Vitor Belfort at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Triller is an exclusive broadcast partner of the BIG3, the official creator of the new global sport, FIREBALL3, and purchased premium entertainment and sports channel FITE earlier in the year. The platform continues to also engage in large scale promotions marrying sports and entertainment, including hosting the cast of Space Jam 2 at Triller House in LA prior to the premiere of the film starring LeBron James, Don Cheadle and other NBA and WNBA stars.

Triller will have additional announcements about new partnerships in all areas of global sport in the coming weeks.

Entain Increases Investment in Exclusive and Innovative Content for Customers

Entain, the leading global sports betting and gaming entertainment operator, is doubling investment in its in-house games studios to accelerate and expand its ability to provide customers with new and exclusive products and experiences.

Headcount will double to around 300 people across Entain’s three in-house studios in the UK, Italy, and India within a year, to deliver exciting, exclusive new products and experiences across all its markets, including the U.S.  CR Games, Entain’s UK games studio based near Oldham, Manchester, will initially create 8 new roles taking its headcount close to 50.

New content includes free to play slots tournaments, believed to be the first of their kind, giving customers a great choice of free games to play and win cash prizes.  Over 30,000 customers of Entain’s Coral brand in the UK entered in June following launch, with international customers of Gala, Party and bwin expected to join over the summer.

Following the recent sponsorship between its PartyCasino and PartyPoker brands and McLaren, customers will get exclusive access to Formula 1 themed casino content and games later this year. Entain is also developing new experiences for customers using immersive technologies, and plans to upweight this capability at its in-house studios. The Group’s first VR product for customers – a multi-activity sports club – is due later in the year.

“We love giving our customers great experiences and exciting entertainment as that is the bedrock of what we do.” said Jette Nygaard-Andersen, Chief Executive of Entain. “Increasing our investment across all three of our in-house games studios will provide more of that for our customers across all our global brands.”

“By widening our offer with new and exclusive games, such as free-to-play tournaments, we give existing and new customers more reasons to use our products.” added Jette Nygaard-Andersen. “This not only helps to grow our business but brings fresh insight, so we can further improve the offer for our customers.”

Over 70% of BetMGM customers in the U.S. enjoy using exclusive content from Entain, helping to make BetMGM the U.S. market leader in iGaming.  Among the most popular exclusive titles are MGM Grand Millions, Borgata Cash Spinner, Premium Blackjack Pro and Bison’s Fury slot game.  Win Studios based in Hyderabad, India, is developing 30 new products specifically for customers of BetMGM this year, adding to new games like BetMGM Blackjack Pro, BetMGM Roulette Pro, Book of Myths, The Win Genie, Eye of Hathor, and Platinum Blackjack Pro.

Entain’s studios are also adapting best-selling content for more international markets. Win Studios has tailored Entain’s core bingo product to create a unique sports-themed gaming experience for customers of its Sportingbet brand, for example, and CR Games is tailoring top-ranking proprietary games enjoyed in the UK for customers in Europe.

These now include new customers in the Baltic states, following the acquisition of Enlabs earlier this year. CR Games is versioning the latest release of its popular “Big Banker” game for customers of Optibet in Latvia and bwin customers in other parts of Europe. The studio is also creating new recreational games for the mass market, in the UK and elsewhere, including “Fiery Wilds”, a casino game which has already proved popular with players.

Colin Cole-Johnson, Entain Gaming Director, said: “Our priority is always to create exciting, engaging products that give our customers choice.  Not only does this enhance the experience for the millions of people who enjoy our products, but is an important driver of Entain’s growth. These exclusive, innovative, and tailored games are really valued by our customers.  Developing more of our own games means we have complete control over what goes into them, not just in giving our customers a great experience, but also keeping them safe”.

Entain has a third proprietary studio in Italy, Eurobet, which is also looking at customizing its most popular exclusive games in Italy to support Entain’s global growth.

cover image credit: Wikimedia/Lukas Raich

Entain’s PartyCasino and PartyPoker Brands Partner with McLaren Racing

Entain, the leading global sports betting and gaming entertainment group, is pleased to announce that its PartyCasino and PartyPoker brands have entered into a multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing starting from the 2021 Formula 1 season.

Entain and McLaren Racing are technological leaders within their own sectors, therefore this partnership is built on a shared track record of delivering entertainment through cutting edge innovation, underpinned by a common approach to safety and responsibility.
Fittingly, the new partnership will officially launch on 23 May at the iconic Monaco Grand Prix, where the PartyCasino brand will appear on the halos of McLaren MCL35M race cars as well as on the helmet of McLaren F1 driver, Daniel Riccardo.

Through the partnership, Entain will be throwing open the doors to the world of Formula One, providing its customers and McLaren millions of adult fans with a range of dedicated content and exclusive experiences via an all new activation platform called Access featuring:

•       McLaren themed casino content and access all areas games on the PartyCasino and PartyPoker sites
•       Competitions to win access to the McLaren Technology Centre
•       Shared promotions throughout the companies’ social media channels
•       Jointly developed marketing content

In addition, Entain will use its partnership with McLaren to explore strategies to promote safer betting and gaming, benefitting from the team’s unique perspective on maintaining control and managing risk.

Commenting on the new partnership, Entain’s CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen said:

“We are immensely proud to be partnering with McLaren Racing, a team who are synonymous with creating thrilling entertainment by constantly innovating and staying at the cutting-edge of technology.  This is the same approach we take in providing moments of excitement for our customers and we are truly excited about the opportunities we have to create new content for our PartyCasino and PartyPoker customers as well as bringing these great brands to new audiences.” 

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing said:
“Fan entertainment is a major focus for our team and sport. Like McLaren Racing, Entain brands such as PartyCasino and PartyPoker place a high importance in providing moments of safe and responsible excitement for their customers.

“We look forward to starting our partnership with Entain from this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and the activity we have planned together in creating moments of excitement for fans and customers.”

cover image: Flickr/Artes Max

Start Your Engines! PlaySugarHouse.com In New Jersey Is Taking Bets On Virtual NASCAR Races

PlaySugarHouse.com is among the first sportsbooks in the U.S. to drop the flag on virtual NASCAR races. The sportsbook has been approved by New Jersey regulators to offer betting on the 2020 eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. New Jersey players will now be able to place bets on a virtual auto race and the first race in the series they can bet on is the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond on April 19.

The Cup Series races are as realistic as can be, featuring real stars of past and present including Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The series of races, which started March 22, are being broadcast on FOX Sports during typical NASCAR broadcast times and have been huge hits drawing over a million viewers to the fierce iRacing competition.

“We are happy to be able to offer such an exciting and competitive entertainment event,” said Mattias Stetz, C.O.O of Rush Street Interactive, which operates PlaySugarHouse.com. “It’s also fun to see how these talented drivers will compare in the virtual world of competitive racing.”

The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series is offering exclusive entertainment on the premier motorsports racing simulation; the same one used for years by NASCAR’s biggest stars to prepare for real world race events. This form of virtual sports is different than others because the simulator offers a full NASCAR experience down to the dynamics of the car and the real-life differences between track surfaces being raced on. Ultimately, the eNASCAR iRacing Series offers a competitive edge that traditional console videogames just can’t match.

The virtual racing schedule is designed to follow the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, which had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Along with the Toyota Owners 400, the virtual NASCAR series includes the Geico 500 at Talledega and the Cup Series race at Dover and looks to make virtual stops at fan-favorite tracks from coast to coast.

SBG Sports Software Inc Launches With New Office In Chicago

SBG Sports Software is excited to announce the opening of its new North American operation based out of Chicago, IL. headed up by recently appointed VP of Sales and Business Development, Joe Schrimpl.

SBG Sports Software Incorporated will strengthen SBG’s growth in Major League Soccer and US motorsports series whilst offering enhanced local support for existing customers. This investment comes as a direct result of increasing demand for SBG’s next generation sports analytics applications RaceWatch, MatchTracker and Focus.

The appointment of Joe Schrimpl represents a strategic move to expand the SBG product suite to support additional elite sports across North America. Schrimpl is joining with over 20 years of award-winning success in sales and operations throughout the sports technology space. Schrimpl served in various capacities for over 7 years at XOS Digital Inc, serving as Account Manager to numerous professional and collegiate football, basketball and hockey teams for video and data analysis and instant replay. Schrimpl was also a part of National Championship Football staffs, directing the Video and Operations Department at the University of Southern California for nearly 7 years. Schrimpl began his career in sports technology assisting Football, Basketball and Soccer staffs at the University of Miami, Fl and Drake University respectively.

SBG’s global leadership position in professional sports is reflected by customers in 40 countries across 4 continents, with local partners in Spain, Germany, Japan and Australia. A new base in Chicago gives SBG access to elite sports throughout the US and Canada, perfectly located to further enable customer support and new market development across 3 time zones.

Gareth Griffith, CEO of SBG Sports Software comments on the expansion into the US: “Over the last few years we have been applying SBG technology with great success in elite level sports including Formula 1, Premier League football and Six Nations rugby. It has been a long-held ambition to expand into North American sports, which I have personally followed enthusiastically for many years. We are delighted that Joe Schrimpl is joining us to lead our US organisation. His appointment reflects our continued commitment to industry expertise, and we look forward to making significant impact in the US market.”

Joe Schrimpl: “I’ve been in the sports technology industry for many years and SBG’s reputation and position within the market is second to none. Coaching and analysis staff are in constant pursuit of that competitive edge and they deserve a technology partner that is equally competitive, dependable and innovative. SBG brings a unique and unparalleled approach to elite sports data and visualization applications to the US sports industry. I’m thrilled to be joining the SBG Team.”

Millennial Esports expands audience with purchase of leading Motorsport and Gaming YouTube Channel

Millennial Esports will expand its global esports and motorsport content creation and distribution platform by taking a controlling stake in leading automotive YouTube channel, LetsGoRacing.

LetsGoRacing is a YouTube channel that focuses on motorsport and esports racing content, from the creators of The Apprentice. The channel has achieved more than 40 million views from fans across the globe who have watched an incredible 270 million minutes of content since 2013. That equates to 513 years of viewing of Racing, motorsport, gaming, features and esports competitions.

Millennial Esports has entered into a binding letter of intent (“LOI”) to acquire a 51 percent stake in the London-based channel. The purchase is the latest in a number of moves by Millennial Esports to diversify its business and build an audience base for its growing content output.

LetsGoRacing is famous for its live streaming of motorsport events and coverage of the exploding category of esports racing. With industry-leading engagement and fan interaction, LetsGoRacing was an obvious choice for Millennial Esports. The two partners recently attracted more than 1.6 million views for a single highlights film from the World’s Fastest Gamer esports competition.

“Adding LetsGoRacing to our pending purchase of DriverDatabase.com has the same intention – expand an engaged and passionate fan base by providing new products and content that blur the lines between esports and motorsports,” Millennial Esports President and CEO, Darren Cox said.

“The YouTube channel provides brands with a platform to engage with a key demographic. LetsGoRacing already has a passionate and engaged follower base, and we’ll be looking to expand that.

“It also provides us with a great storytelling platform for other exciting programs we have commenced including Worlds’ Fastest Gamer and our recently-announced Miami esports racing arena.”

LetsGoRacing co-founder Andrew Hill is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to work with Millennial Esports on exciting new content opportunities. “We’ve seen a massive amount of interest from our subscriber base in esports content – particularly from the motorsports genre,” Hill said. “By joining forces with Millennial Esports, we’ll be able to take that to a new level with more content, more live streams, and more great storytelling. We’ll continue to show great live motorsport like the Japanese Super Formula championship and the Nurburgring VLN series, but we’re very excited about the opportunities to do the same for esports racing as well.”

LetsGoRacing will be the YouTube home for content from the World’s Fastest Gamer Finals, which commences next week in the USA. Ten racers from different gaming platforms will compete over a 12-day intense #CaliforniaDreamin tour for the chance to earn a real-world race drive valued at more than US$1 million.