Int’l digital marketing company Matomy Media Group sees its endorsement of Israeli Paralympian Pascale Bercovitch as a first step in securing future sports deals. The deal, which was announced on May 30, is the company’s first-ever athlete partnership. Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Matomy will assist with Bercovitch’s training expenses as she prepares for the paracanoe competition at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in September. As part of the company’s “We Play to Win” campaign, Matomy launched a mini-site, which features a countdown to the start of Bercovitch’s paracanoe session, as well as a short video. The length of the partnership is until May, but Bercovitch, whose Olympic ambition stretches past the upcoming Rio Games, is confident there will be an extension. “I’m quite confident that we are going to be together until Tokyo in 2020,” she said. Matomy COO Sagi Niri echoed the sentiment. “I think we are very connected to Pascale, and I can’t see that the connection will end. As long as she wants us, she will get us,” he said, adding that the partnership could open the door for more Matomy-sponsored athletes in the future. “I think that it’s a very good platform,” he said. “Maybe in the future, we can take other athletes, it can be Paralympic and non-Paralympic, and try to help them and connect them to our values.” Niri told SBD Global about the potential for a Matomy-sponsored “Play to Win” team comprised of a wide-ranging spectrum of athletes. “It could be something very strong,” Niri added. “We can build a family.”
Sagi Niri
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM: The inspiration for the sponsorship came about in an unconventional way after Bercovitch, a motivational speaker when not training, gave what Niri described as an “emotional and amazing” talk at an employee gathering at Matomy’s HQ in Tel Aviv. After the talk, she was approached by an HR representative who expressed the desire to help her achieve her Olympic goals. “I said, ‘If you want to be a part of my dream, then be a sponsor,’” Bercovitch said. Matomy was soon on board. “We told her that no matter what, we are with her and we will give to this partnership the amount of money that she requires to make it,” Niri said. When Bercovitch makes her Olympic paracanoe debut in September, she will be the first Paralympic athlete to compete in three different events at three separate Games, having already competed in para-rowing in Beijing and handbike in London.
