Infront Sports & Media subsidiary Omnigon at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London introduced a proprietary content management system it is calling Corebine. The platform was designed as a more specifically sports and mobile-focused offering, and thus far is being used by Omnigon clients such as CONCACAF, Serie A side AS Roma and the Champions Hockey League, and will be marketed primarily to small and mid-size sports entities. Omnigon CCO Dave Nugent said, "Our clients want to engage their fans, not just publish, and a lot of the existing CMS products out there required a lot of customization and retrofitting to do what they need to do" (Eric Fisher).
IAAF President Sebastian Coe said that athletics "could introduce an Indian Premier League-style auction and city franchises as part of a radical overhaul of the sport." Major races could also take place on pop-up 200m tracks inside football grounds and "entire events could be cut" from the World Championships, with Coe saying, "Everything is on the table." Speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit, he said, "Over the next year, our relentless focus on formats and the changes that we make in the sport has to be absolutely laser-like" (London TELEGRAPH, 10/4).
Rugby Players' Association CEO Damian Hopley said that "strike action is an option in the debate over a 10-month long season." The umbrella organization for the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs is "seeking to establish a structure running from September to June as part of negotiations for the global calendar," which would take effect from Aug. '20. Speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit, Hopley said, "Strike action is the ultimate sanction but the last people the players would want to disengage or disavow would be the fans" (London GUARDIAN, 10/4).
Anti-discrimination organization Kick it Out says "educating rather than punishing fans should be top priority" after the start of the EPL was marred by illicit chants. Controversy has raged over a ManU chant which involved a racist stereotype around Romelu Lukaku, while Chelsea fans came under fire for a chant towards Alvaro Morata deemed anti-Semitic. Kick it Out has condemned the behavior of the offending fans but wants to provide more education to better explain why the chants are unacceptable. CEO Roisin Wood told Leaders attendees, “Education sits central to everything we do. We have no interest in banning fans unless it’s proportionate to what they’ve done. What we’re interested in saying to some fans is that it’s not what the player wants and not what the club wants" (GOAL, 10/4).
