The AFL has unveiled its new look Premiership Season fixture, promising a season of unmissable moments and epic showdowns. In a break from tradition, the season will start with just four games on the weekend of March 7-9, two in each of NSW and Queensland. ‘Opening Round’ further cementing the AFL’s ongoing plan to grow the game in the northern states. ‘Gather Round’ returns to Adelaide after a wildly successful debut. The football festival bringing fans right across Australia together for an immersive experience that goes beyond the boundaries of the playing field.
As the AFL’s official digital calendar provider, ECAL’s smart, dynamic ‘Sync to Calendar’ service is the only way to keep ahead of the curve. With an increasingly flexible AFL fixture subject to change, ECAL is the ultimate companion, keeping fans instantly up-to-date and connected with their favourite team fixtures. Footy fans will never miss a moment with match details updated dynamically throughout the season, with direct access to Latest Video, AFL On Demand, Latest News, AFL StatsPro and TV Broadcast details at your fingertips.
With thrilling matchups, revamped rounds, and fan-centric events on the horizon, this season is shaping up to be one for the history books. Can the Pies go back-to-back or will another Victorian powerhouse in the Blues break their premiership drought?
Sync up and get ready for an unforgettable ride! The AFL season kicks off on Thursday 14th March with traditional rivals Carlton and Richmond in action.
Rugby league fans, get ready for an NRL season like no other! The 2024 fixture for the men’s and women’s competitions has been unveiled, promising an electrifying series of matches and moments that will have fans on the edge of their seats. As the anticipation builds for epic clashes and thrilling showdowns, there’s only one way to keep in-sync, thanks to ECAL, the official digital calendar partner of the NRL.
For the first time ever, the NRL Telstra Premiership season will kick off with an historic season-opening double-header on American soil. Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas plays host as the Sea Eagles take on the Rabbitohs, and the Roosters go head-to-head with the Broncos. It’s an unprecedented event that will mark the beginning of an NRL season filled with excitement and surprises.
ECAL’s smart, dynamic ‘Sync to Calendar’ service ensures fans stay instantly connected to every kick-off throughout the season. No moment will be missed, as timely match reminders and updates keep fans in the loop and engaged with everything the NRL has to offer. Match details are updated dynamically in your calendar, with direct access to Tickets, Latest News, Membership, Shop and TV Broadcast details at your fingertips.
Sync your calendar because the NRL action kicks off on Saturday 2nd March, 2024, and this is one season opener you won’t want to miss!
In 2023, France had the distinct honor of hosting the Rugby World Cup, an event of monumental significance in the world of sports. To take fan engagement and excitement to new heights, organizers turned to the ‘Sync to Calendar’ marketing solution provided by ECAL, a trusted partner of World Rugby.
Empowering Fan Engagement Worldwide
ECAL’s ongoing partnership with World Rugby, spanning various competitions and major events, showcased the power of their expertise. ECAL has mastered the art of connecting global sports federations and major events engaging with global fan bases, to deliver localized content, gathering invaluable insights, driving engagement with diverse products, and supporting vital event partners such as broadcasters, ticket providers, and sponsors.
Integrating ECAL with the Official Rugby World Cup Website
A standout feature of the 2023 Rugby World Cup was the seamless integration of ECAL into the official tournament website. This seemingly simple addition had a profound impact on how fans worldwide interacted with the event. Global displays with language auto-detection featuring 35+ various languages, making it easy for fans everywhere to use the digital calendar service.
Personalized Tournament Schedules
Rugby enthusiasts had the option of syncing the entire tournament schedule or that of their favourite nation to their calendars. No more frantic searches for match times, dates, and venues – everything conveniently at their fingertips. The calendar became a front-row seat to the World Cup’s journey, no matter where you were in the world.
A Gateway to the Heart of the Tournament
ECAL’s magic didn’t end with calendar sync. It provided direct access to the Match Centre, Tickets, Official Online Store, Latest News, and Video highlights. Fan engagement reached unprecedented levels, making it easier than ever to stay informed, purchase tickets, buy merchandise, and catch up on all the latest happenings.
Conclusion
Rugby fans across the globe actively participated in the excitement, from ticket sales to accessing event information. ECAL’s ‘Sync to Calendar’ solution played a significant role in catalysing fan engagement.
The partnership between the 2023 Rugby World Cup and ECAL’s ‘Sync to Calendar’ marketing solution showcased the potential of technology in sports marketing, transforming the tournament into an engaging and memorable experience for fans worldwide. The results speak for themselves, hundreds of thousands of subscribers, tens of thousands of clicks from the calendar and an impressive CTR.
Introduction
Cricket is more than a sport; it’s a passion that brings people together worldwide. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) is the pinnacle of One Day International Cricket, and in 2023, it’s hosted in cricket-obsessed India, spanning ten iconic venues. The International Cricket Council (ICC) faced the challenge of informing Indian cricket fans about staged ticketing releases and facilitating early sales. Their solution? A strategic partnership with ECAL, leading to remarkable results.
Informing and Engaging Fans
The ICC’s objectives were crystal clear: deliver essential ticketing details, promote CWC ticket release dates for international matches, and streamline sales for Indian matches. ECAL’s strategy involved precise audience segmentation based on location and preferences, ensuring the right information reached the right audience at the right time.
Smart ‘Tickets On-Sale’ Alerts
This strategic approach resulted in six distinct calendar campaigns:
- For CWC enthusiasts, ‘Tickets On-Sale’ entries were sent, detailing the ticketing process and offering direct access to purchase non-Indian match tickets.
- Indian cricket fans interested in the CWC received ‘Tickets On-Sale’ entries specific to Indian matches. These entries included match-specific information and direct links for ticket purchases.
Impressive Results
The partnership delivered the following outcomes:
- Over 269,000 calender impressions
- 15,412 clicks on the ‘Buy Tickets’ link within calendar entries demonstrated fans’ eagerness to secure their World Cup tickets.
- The click-through rate (CTR) of 6% for ‘Buy Tickets’ showcased the effectiveness of ECAL’s platform in driving early ticket sales.
This project exceeded its objectives, making the CWC ticketing process transparent and accessible for fans. By targeting international audiences with ticket release information, ECAL and ICC aimed to fill stadiums with enthusiastic fans from various countries.
Conclusion
The partnership between ECAL and the International Cricket Council has been a game-changer in the world of cricket. By delivering smart ‘Tickets On-Sale’ entries directly into fans’ calendars, they have educated, informed, and engaged cricket lovers in India and around the world. The 6% click-through rate to ‘Buy Tickets’ highlights the success of this initiative in driving early ticket sales and ensuring that fans are well-prepared for the upcoming Cricket World Cup. With India hosting the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the enthusiasm and anticipation among fans is at an all-time high. Thanks to the ICC and ECAL’s collaborative efforts, cricket lovers are empowered with the tools they need to make the most of this grand event.
The ICC Cricket World Cup Final is scheduled for 19th November, so it’s not too late to join the cricket extravaganza. Don’t miss a moment with the official Cricket World Cup digital calendar, powered by ECAL – get it here!
Major sports in the UK, particularly football, are well served by ECAL, with the Premier League, The FA, and Barclays Women’s competitions all relying on the world’s leading calendar communications, marketing and data technology.
Last week it was the English Football League’s turn, with the highly anticipated release of their 2023/24 Sky Bet EFL fixtures. For Football fans right across the United Kingdom and abroad, it was a chance to plot their side’s road to promotion (or relegation 👀), lock in key derby dates and upcoming Cup ties.
The ‘Get Ready for Fixture Release Day’ pre-release campaign was pivotal in growing the EFL’s connected audience across the three Sky Bet Competitions. ECAL Founder & CEO, Patrick Barrett explains:
“The EFL’s systematic approach in pre-promoting their digital calendar service across the EFL site network proved to be a highly successful pre-emptive strategy. The ‘Get Ready for Fixture Day’ promotional campaign featured on the EFL website, and on each Club site with distinctive team creative, including mastheads, splash pages and run of site banners. As a result, thousands of fans took the opportunity to connect their calendar ahead of launch day, so they receive the fixture first as soon as it’s released – straight into their personal calendar program.”
Once connected, ECAL’s advanced technology keeps fans up-to-date and connected always. Users receive the latest match information, with direct access to the match centre, shop, standings, social media and much more, increasing awareness, engagement and sales.
The official EFL ‘digital calendar’ service is the only way to keep up-to-date. Don’t miss a moment this season, sync your favourite EFL team fixtures here.
For football fans across the globe, the release of the new Premier League season fixture is a highly anticipated event. It’s a chance for fans to plan their year ahead, lock in the blockbusters, mark down the rivalries, book weekends away, and reimagine hopes and expectations. After all, the season starts here!
For ECAL, Premier League’s official ‘digital calendar’ provider, the global release to millions of passionate football fans requires a well-crafted and co-ordinated strategy with the League and teams.
The pre-release promotional window is one sure-fire way to build excitement and anticipation for the release, and to cleverly grow your calendar audience. ECAL Founder & CEO, Patrick Barrett explains:
“Premier League does a wonderful job in building the official fixture release to a much-anticipated event, and driving users to ‘sync to calendar’ to receive the fixtures first. It’s a great example for all major sports leagues and competitions.
This year, the Premier League’s ‘Unmissable drama, Made Unmissable’ standout creative was launched with a site takeover campaign beginning on Monday 12th June, ahead of the official fixture release on Thursday. Thousands of fans took the opportunity to connect their calendar ahead of launch day, and tell their friends.”
Creative executions included a dedicated website ‘splash page’ on entry, homepage masthead banner, run of site banners, editorial support, social post campaigns and direct email promotion, with the promise to “get every match delivered to your calendar”.
This resulted in hundreds of thousands of fans subscribing to the official Premier League ‘digital calendar’, with a good proportion connecting to the service in the days prior to the official fixture release, where demand then peaks.
As soon as fixtures are published, they are delivered directly into user calendar. ECAL’s highly advanced technology continues to deliver fans with a rich and dynamic fixture service ongoing. Users receive localised broadcast information across matches, and direct access to tickets, merchandise, video, social media, fantasy and more, to keep them up-to-date, connected and engaged.
The 2023/24 Premier League season kicks off on 11th August, with title holders Manchester City facing promoted Burnley.
Don’t miss a moment of the world’s most popular football league! Follow your favourite team like millions of others, and sync to calendar here.
ECAL has partnered with Ireland’s largest sporting organisation, The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), with the support of leading creative agency BBDO to deliver deliver Hurling and Gaelic Football matches directly into the calendar of fans all around the globe.
The partnership sees ECAL’s expansion across Europe’s major sporting leagues continue to grow, as it and the GAA looks forward to providing Irish sporting fans with the world’s best digital calendar service.
Fans of Ireland’s indigenous games of hurling and Gaelic football will receive their favourite Counties matches, delivered straight to their digital calendar of choice. Match entries featuring game information, timely reminders and direct access to Buy Tickets and a Share fixtures with friends link. Users can encourage friends and family fans to sync matches of their County to calendar directly via WhatsApp. An in-calendar first for an ECAL client.
Don’t miss a second of Ireland’s favourite sporting past times, sync matches to your personal calendar here!
Liverpool FC in partnership with ECAL has launched a smart and dynamic ‘sync to calendar’ service, as part of the growing benefits of the free MyLFC online account. This single Member ID architecture is a growing trend across many leading online brands, aimed at providing instant access to a range of premium features, with greater personalisation, more relevant content and a deeper engagement with the Club.
Encouraging online sign up and conversion to ‘MyLFC’, features like ECAL’s ‘sync to calendar’ service are wonderful tools to help find and discover new fans globally, enhance the value of a single online ID, and easily connect fans instantly to a wide range of relevant Club products, features and experiences.
With the ability to detect logged-in and logged out users and adjust the ‘state’ of the ‘Sync to Calendar’ CTA (call-to-action) button, site users are prompted to ‘sign in’ or ‘sign up’ to ‘MyLFC’ to sync their favourite Liverpool fixtures and events to their personal digital calendar. This provides a consistent member journey across the site with a single member ID, that sits at the heart of the digital future at Liverpool FC.
Subscribers to the Liverpool digital calendar service enjoy enriched, localised events content dynamically served to their personal calendar, including local TV broadcast details and direct access to LFCTV GO, Match Centre, MyLFC, LFC Store and more. Fans even receive next day scores and direct access to video highlights via LFCTV GO straight to their calendar.
The service has launched with the availability of Mens First Team, Liverpool Women’s, Under 21 and Under 18 fixtures. Future content is likely to expand to include LFCTV GO programming, Foundation Events, Anfield Experiences, Hospitality Events and more.
To sign up to the benefits of MyLFC and sync the latest Liverpool fixtures and events to calendar, visit the Club website.
The countdown to the new season has begun with the AFL releasing its 2023 fixture.
As the official calendar technology provider across the AFL, ECAL lets you sync the official team fixture and club events straight to your personal calendar.Football fans will never miss a moment of the action with match details updated dynamically throughout the season, with direct access to Latest Video, AFL On Demand, Latest News, AFL StatsPro and TV Broadcast info at your fingertips.
The 2023 AFL Premiership season kicks off with the traditional clash between Richmond and Carlton on Thursday 16th March. Geelong will defend their premiership crown against a rejuvenated Magpies outfit on the Friday Night.
Footy is not far away, so be prepared and sync your team fixture to calendar now. Thanks to ECAL
Football fans, it’s here! The Qatar World Cup ‘digital calendar’ service is the only way to keep up-to-date with all the action.
ECAL has partnered with leading agency Immediate Media, with the support of global sports betting brand bet365, to deliver World Cup fixtures directly into the calendar of football fans all around the globe.
The WC ‘digital calendar’ is dynamic, and syncs all the latest match information, straight to your personal digital calendar, so you never miss a moment. Match details are updated dynamically throughout the tournament, complete with localised broadcast information and direct access to bet365’s betting specials.
And check this out! Once the final whistle has been blown, match entries will update to include the scores. How good is that!
Don’t miss any of the live action, add your favourite teams fixtures to your personal calendar here.
