ECal, an Australian developer of calendar-based digital marketing products, has struck a multi-year deal with the English Premier League to develop the “Premier League Digital Calendar.” The product will allow fans to sync team schedules, local broadcast details, ticketing links, and other match-related data into their digital calendars, either on desktop or mobile. The calendar-based platform then communicates to fans a variety of reminders for match times, alerts for ticket on-sale dates and last-minute seat availabilities, and other related messages. The Premier League deal, nearly a year in development, represents a substantial increase in scope for eCal, which works with more than 300 sports and entertainment clients, including the NFL New England Patriots and Washington Redskins, NBA Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers, and Major League Soccer. “This is a really important deal for us,” said Patrick Barrett, eCal founder and CEO. “You’re obviously talking about one of the leading sports leagues in the world, and this is one that really shows how sports organizations are really beginning to budget for calendar-based marketing.” Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal is a vendor-based contract. The eCal digital calendar product will be included in the Premier League’s mobile apps in time for the beginning of the ’16-17 season next month, and will be available in 14 different languages.
