The company is now the worldwide media partner for both the UIM E1 World Championship, and the Grand Slam of Curling events
IRIS Sport Media has been appointed by all-electric raceboat competition, E1 as its worldwide media partner for the UIM E1 World Championship. It’s also announced a deal with The Curling Group to be the global media, betting and data sales partner for the Grand Slam of Curling (GSOC).
IRIS was founded in 2023 by Ioris Francini, former president of IMG Media, and fellow industry executives, Floris Weisz, managing partner, and Luca Baldanza, director of business development.
The company will now market all media rights for the final E1 race in the 2024 calendar and an expanded 2025 series featuring up to 10 races, including events in the Middle East, Europe, and, for the first time, the Americas.
Following its deal with the GSOC, it will help grow the organisation to a worldwide audience.
GSOC is the world’s only international curling event series and features the best men’s and women’s teams from around the world.
The GSOC 2024-25 season features five events. It began last week with the HearlingLife Tour Challenge from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Throughout the season, coverage of all 55 games will be produced by Sportsnet (Canada) which will provide over 135 hours of action.
IRIS has already secured a deal for GSOC in Japan with streaming service AbemaTV.
Meanwhile, the E1 Series is the governing body for powerboating racing. It launched its first series this year with events in Jeddah, Venice, Puerto Banus, Monaco and Lake Como, with a final event to be announced soon.
The series has a host of celebrity owners including sports stars Rafael Nadal, Sergio Perez, Tom Brady, Virat Kohli and Didier Drogba and from the world of entertainment, Will Smith, Marc Anthony and Steve Aoki, as well as businessman Marcelo Claure.
Rodi Basso, CEO and co-founder of E1, said: “E1 has defied expectations and broken records as a first year sports series in 2024, and we look forward to raising the bar even higher in 2025. We are confident this partnership with IRIS can bring us greater and wider audiences and take us to new heights next season and beyond.”
Ioris Francini, founding partner, IRIS Sport Media, added: “IRIS will work closely with E1 on the strategy to grow the audience globally through broadcast exposure across all forms of the media. The celebrity team owners - with over 800 million social media followers between them - give this pioneering sport the ability to engage with a younger audience as it continues to evolve. This is an exciting project that is leaving an important legacy of sustainability around the world, and we are delighted to be playing a part in its growth.”
Nic Sulsky, co-founder and CEO of The Curling Group, said: “At The Curling Group, one of our key objectives is to find new ways to reach and engage with curling’s growing global fanbase. With IRIS’ leadership and established connections, we’re already charted on the right path to achieving this goal, enabling us to reach a wider audience and identify previously untapped opportunities.”
Floris Weisz, managing partner IRIS, said: “The Curling Group is led by a team of exciting and seasoned entrepreneurs, who have taken the great initiative to reinvent and restructure the sports ecosystem within curling. As a result, curling will grow globally in terms of reach and events. We are very excited to partner with The Curling Group, as we will be delivering value across all our verticals, media consulting and distribution and capital advisory.”
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