Red Bull Racing F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo "signed with sports manager Simon Bayliff," known for managing Tour de France cyclist Mark Cavendish and formerly British footballer David Beckham. Earlier in '15, Australian Ricciardo -- whose career to date has been guided by Red Bull -- "played down the need for a manager." He said, "Red Bull has always pretty much picked where I go. So I haven't really had the need." The 26-year old has signed with Bayliff's newly-created agency Arete, "which also has top female triathlete Jodie Stimpson on the roster" (GRAND PRIX, 10/22). ... Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to "a partnership with healthcare group Abbott." The Portugal forward will be the face of an int'l multi-platform Abbott campaign "encouraging young people to give blood regularly." Ronaldo is the "first global ambassador for the 'Be The 1 movement'" (SOCCEREX, 10/22). ... Some of Australia's historic matches will be digitized and made available to cricket fans under a new sponsorship deal between Cricket Australia and Optus. The three-year deal will see highlights of historic matches made available on demand, with exclusive interviews and insights from the players at the center of the content made available to Optus customers. The new deal will also provide free access to the CA Live Pass included for Optus customers from Oct. 29 (CA). ... The DS Virgin Racing Formula E team announced a new partnership with OneAllSports, which will provide a new kit for the team to be debuted at the Olympic Park Circuit in Beijing on Saturday. OneAllSports created a bespoke clothing range for the DS Virgin Racing team members (DS Virgin Racing). ... Formula E announced that Chargemaster will be its official charging infrastructure supplier. The deal means Chargemaster will supply the wireless charging facilities for Formula E's fleet of EV course cars, which are supplied by BMW. Chargemaster uses the Qualcomm Halo wireless charging technology that was successfully employed on the Qualcomm Safety Cars and medical car during season one. In addition, Chargemaster will leave permanent EV charging stations in the host cities of the races as part of its role in Formula E's legacy program (Formula E). ... McLaren-Honda on Thursday announced the extension of its corporate partnership with global hospitality company Hilton Worldwide by an additional year until the end of '19. The renewal coincides with the 10th anniversary of the partnership, and will be marked by "Hilton.com – book direct" sidepod branding on the McLaren-Honda MP4-30s at two strategically key races: the U.S. Grand Prix, in Austin, starting this weekend and the Mexican Grand Prix, which returns to the F1 calendar after a 23-year absence, in Mexico City (McLaren-Honda). ... DirecTV and the NBA announced that subscribers to DirecTV and DirecTV Sports will have exclusive access to "El Otro Sueño" ("The Other Dream") programming that will chronicle the volunteer efforts by DirecTV's responsibility division, Generación DirecTV. The efforts include the refurbishment of local courts in countries including Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezeula, Uruguay and Argentina. The series will conclude with a season finale in which young players from these countries will travel to Argentina to play in a three-on-three basketball tournament organized by NBA 3X (DirecTV).
