The Rugby Football Union and IBM announced a new five-year agreement. As official analytics partner for the RFU, IBM will implement the IBM TryTracker, an analytics solution to provide fans with real-time insights into the game, including information about individual performance by players. The IBM TryTracker will include the "Keys to the Game," to provide play-by-play insights during the game, and predict three crucial areas of performance specific to each team ahead of match day (RFU). ... German 2nd Bundesliga club Dynamo Dresden and IT company Schröder Systeme have increased their long-standing partnership. As a new exclusive partner of the club, Schröder Systeme will increase its ad presence at the glücksgas stadium. The deal was brokered by sports marketing company SPORTFIVE (Dynamo Dresden). ... Australian Football League club Collingwood and Lexus Australia have parted ways after almost a decade (Collingwood). ... The Qatar Tennis Federation signed on gas company Total as its partner for the Qatar National 2013 Youth Tournament, which begins Friday and goes through Tuesday at the Khalifa Int'l Tennis & Squash Complex (QTF). ... Korean Air has been named an official sponsor of the 2013 PyeongChang Special Olympics. The $300,000 deal will see the airline offer people from developing countries the opportunity to attend the Winter Games by providing airline tickets (Korean Air).
MORE IS BETTER: The Int'l Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has extended its exclusive marketing, tournament organizing as well as TV rights deal with the Japan Volleyball Association and Fuji TV for another eight years to stage the FIVB Volleyball World Cup in '15 and '19. JVA and Fuji TV have hosted the Volleyball World Cup since '77, and since then the event has become the second-most prestigious tournament, only behind the FIVB World Championships (FIVB). ... F1 team Scuderia Toro Rosso has renewed its sponsorship deal with Canadian plastic and chemicals company Nova Chemicals for another year. It will be the third year that Nova Chemicals has been a partner of the team (Toro Rosso).
