#WrestleDortmund

Germany's Dittmann Elected President of UWW Europe

Sunday, June 27, 2021 - 16:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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DORTMUND, Germany (June 27) -- Karl-Martin Dittmann, Secretary-General of the German Wrestling Federation, was elected President of UWW Europe this week during a meeting at the European Junior Championships in Dortmund.

Elections were held for the entire UWW Europe bureau, Ali Csilla (HUN), Georgy Bryusov (RUS), Pircalabu Razvan (ROM), Zeljko Trajkovic (SRN), Pertti Vehviläinen (FIN), Vrenezi Betim (MKD) each being elected to a four-year term.

Dittmann’s election follows the sudden passing of longtime UWW Europe president Tseno TSENOV earlier this year.  

“I thank all my colleagues from the European wrestling community for electing me as their president and the trust they showed with this,” said Dittman. “Those who know me know that I will do everything to keep wrestling not just on the high level it already is in Europe, but to improve it in these tough times with the help of my European friends and the support of United World Wrestling.”

Dittman has been Secretary-General of the German Wrestling Federation since 2001 and in 2013, he was elected to the board of UWW Europe, then became a member of the UWW Bureau in 2014.

United World Wrestling President Nenad Lalovic: saind, "I congratulate Karl-Martin for being elected as UWW Europe President. After the sudden death of his predecessor Tzenov in spring, UWW Europe has a president again. He's someone who dedicates his life and passion to wrestling. For years, Karl Martin has been an active member of the UWW Bureau and we work efficiently and cordially together. I know UWW Europe is in the  best hands possible.“

#WrestleBelgrade

Wrestling scores 443% engagement growth as UWW+ makes World C’ships debut

Monday, October 30, 2023 - 11:43 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (October 18) –– United World Wrestling (UWW) trebled its year-on-year (YoY) digital viewership and recorded more than five times as many social engagements at this year’s UWW World Championships (WCH23) in Belgrade, Serbia, as the sport debuted an upgraded digital portfolio, including the new UWW+ over-the-top (OTT) service.

The multi-tiered, premium subscription streaming platform registered 4.36 million livestream views throughout the 2023 edition of UWW’s flagship event, held between September 16-24. The event also recorded 25 million social engagements (+443% over WCH22) and 155 million video views across its digital platforms (+203% over WCH22).

The impressive growth coincides with the redesign of the UWW website and the introduction of an enhanced fan-data ecosystem to help personalize and deliver an easy-to-navigate fan experience across web, social media, and UWW’s dedicated mobile app. Overall, WCH23 grew its digital reach by 63% to 296 million and attracted over 404,000 new followers.

Nenad LALOVIC, UWW President, said: “By diversifying the fan experience at this year’s World Championships, UWW has once again proven the power of digital transformation for driving engagement and expanding wrestling’s global audience. The latest numbers demonstrate the importance of digitalization and to lay the foundations for expanding the sport’s digital audience.”

Gordon Templeman, UWW’s Director of Commercial Operations and Communications, said: “UWW is establishing a digital portfolio which allows us to offer a personalized fan experience. To do this, we have diversified by investing in customer-facing digital products which enhances the digital experience for wrestling fans and enables UWW’s sponsors and commercial partners to build a direct relationship with our global audience.”

UWW
Key highlights from the WCH23 data analysis include: 

  • 25 million social media engagements (+443% over WCH22)
  • 155 million total video views (+203% over WCH22)
  • 404,000 new followers (+167% over WCH22)
  • 296 million digital reach (+63% over WCH22)
  • 4.36 million livestream views on UWW+

The UWW+ streaming platform is integrated within UWW’s website and mobile app, as part of the upgrades to UWW’s digital inventory and marks the latest phase of the International Federation’s collaboration with N3XT Sports, the end-to-end digital transformation consultancy. UWW has identified and prioritized digital transformation as one of the five pillars for its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, which was presented and approved at the 2021 UWW Congress.

Motasem El Bawab, N3XT Sports’ Chief Information Officer (CIO), said: “Our team at N3XT Sports offers an end-to-end service plugged into UWW’s wider digital team. In addition to UWW+ and wrestling’s new, first-class streaming offering, our team also supported every aspect of UWW’s digital operation throughout WCH23, across digital marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), while optimizing the fan journey through data analytics and the assistance of artificial intelligence-driven software solutions.”

Click here to review the 2023 Senior World Championships case study.