Top14 rugby side Stade Toulousain and Air France-owned regional airline HOP! signed a three-year sponsorship agreement. The agreement sees HOP! become an official partner of the club until ’19. In addition to visibility at the club’s Ernest-Wallon stadium, the HOP! logo will appear on the front of Stade Toulousain’s shorts. No financial details were released (Stade Toulousain).
Adidas activated its partnership with Austrian top tier football club Rapid Vienna, using the Uber app. Fans of the club were able to call a car using the feature "SK Rapid" between 5-9pm on Wednesday. Fans had the chance to get picked up by a car that included Rapid players Steffen Hofmann and Louis Schaub. The players surprised a total of 70 fans with team merchandise supplied by adidas (Rapid Vienna).
Australia's cricketers "will soon get a much-needed tech-led competitive advantage" after Cricket Australia signed a deal with Microsoft "to become the first cricketing nation to use its new team and player performance platform to assess everything from form and fitness to strategy and team selection."
The deal was sealed on Tuesday as Microsoft's cricket-loving CEO Satya Nadella made the Melbourne Cricket Ground "one of his first ports of call on his maiden visit to Australia." The new platform "will be trialled throughout the summer by coaching and support staff on the Test and state teams, using the latest in machine learning and predictive analytics technology" to make practical use of the player data being "tracked on performances and their level of preparedness for big matches" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/16).
Italian clothes manufacturer Santini SMS secured a five-year partnership with La Vuelta España organizers Unipublic SAU that will see it as the official kit suppliers for each of the four classifications. Santini takes over from Le Coq Sportif as the official jersey supplier, in a deal that is set to last through '21, and expands Santini's portfolio beyond the Giro d'Italia and World Championships collaborations (La Vuelta).
The Qatar Basketball Federation signed contracts with Arabian Automobiles Company, QVision and Al Kass for the sponsorship of the FIBA 3x3 All Stars event to be held on Friday. QVision will provide broadcast support for the tournament (Qatar Basketball).
