Gamers who pre-order the latest installment of Pro Evolution Soccer "will be able to play with Olympic champion" Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprinter, who is a lifelong ManU fan, "has long expressed a desire to play professional football" and now the 30-year-old "will be able to live out his dream in virtual reality." Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 will be released in the U.K. on Sept. 14 (London TELEGRAPH, 6/13).
Premier League side
Leicester City "
overhauled"
its website and "
added an array of new features" including a live match center and free match highlights "in a bid to drive fans to the club's owned platforms." The new site follows Leicester City's decision "not to renew its contract with the English Football League Digital, which is responsible for the development of its member clubs' websites" (
THE DRUM, 6/13).
Saudi Arabia "banned the import" of beIN Sports receivers and "stopped the sale and renewal of subscriptions to the sports channel," its state news agency reported on Monday. Saudi Arabia's General Commission for Audiovisual Media said that it was acting out of "concern for the rights of its citizens and residents" without elaborating further (REUTERS, 6/13).
Tuesday's Google Doodle celebrated this year's Int'l Cricket Council Champions Trophy "with a miniature interactive game." A click on the artwork transports users to a game on London's Oval cricket grounds. The Google Doodle game was "initially rolled out in eight countries" on June 1 to celebrate the start of the cricket tournament, but Tuesday's roll-out is "specifically available in the U.S." (TIME, 6/13).
The French Open drew a total of 33.3 million viewers on free-to-air TV in France from May 28-June 11. France 2 attracted an average of 1.5 million viewers, translating to a 15.1% market share. The men’s final drew 3.12 million viewers, 500,000 less than the ’16 event (L’ÉQUIPE, 6/12).
The UEFA Champions League's official website and mobile applications generated more than 134 million visits throughout the '16-17 campaign, an increase of over 10% on the previous season. Downloads of the official competition app more than doubled to around 10.5 million users worldwide. The #UCLfinal also proved a success on social media, with 98 million interactions from 34 million people on Facebook and another 500 million interactions from 14 million on Instagram. in Twitter terms, there were 9 million posts relating to the final (UEFA).
