Website overhaul, including live video-streaming of Tour events, will open up live squash to millions globally
The Professional Squash Association (PSA), the organisation that promotes men’s professional squash, today (Friday) announced a partnership with leading digital sports specialists, Perform, to transform its website. Perform will deliver a number of features that will provide a cutting edge, world class sports website, while also opening up new revenue opportunities for the PSA. The digital initiative forms a central part of the PSA’s wider strategy of delivering more for its members and increasing access to the game.
The five-year project will see Perform first build a new official site for the PSA by the end of this year. Key features will include a range of innovative online video solutions, including:
- Squash TV, a pay to view, high quality live and on demand squash streaming service covering over 250 live matches per year and featuring event highlights, full match downloads, behind the scenes features and interviews
- Improved, more user-friendly, site design
- Latest news and features from events and PSA
- Sponsor and partner prominence and interactivity
- Player rankings
- Stats centre
Discussions are also underway for Perform to provide global production services for some of the PSA’s smaller tournaments not currently being covered for TV broadcast, with a view to streaming them exclusively live online.
The website will provide additional revenue opportunities by selling advertising and sponsorship space.
The PSA selected Perform on the basis of their unrivalled experience with a range of international sports federations. Perform operates over 200 websites and online TV platforms including high profile websites such as Chelsea FC [www.chelseafc.com], the official Sony Ericsson WTA Tour site [www.sonyericssonwtatour.com], FIBA [www.fibatv.com], Cricket Australia [www.cricketaustralia.tv] and the ATP and WTA’s joint venture [www.tennistv.com].
The project has been driven by the PSA’s CEO and COO, Alex Gough and Lee Beachill, who see the website as a great opportunity to deliver a better service for squash and engage a wider global audience.
Alex Gough, CEO of the PSA, said: “Harnessing the power of digital media is critical to captivating an audience today and we’re really excited about capitalising on such opportunities. Squash is a major global sport, played by over 20 million people around the world, and we want a user-friendly, genuinely engaging website that reflects this. The new, cutting edge website will have the power to take the game to new audiences across the world for the first time. Video-streaming major Tour events on the website will, for example, give people access to the pinnacle of the game. Fans will be able to interact with professional squash on a new level, whilst also giving the PSA a transformed communications channel."
Andrew Croker, Chairman at Perform, commented: “We’re very excited about this partnership. Squash is the perfect sport to be provided on line. It has a huge but disparate fan base and by providing live video at the heart of their online proposition, the PSA can give fans around the world what they want and will enable them to provide year round consistent coverage.”