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SportAccord to create portal on YouTube
MUMBAI: SportAccord, the representative of institutional sport worldwide that groups together 104 World Sports Federations and Organisations, has announced a partnership with online video social site YouTube.
The agreement serves as the initial step toward the creation of The Sports Hub, an internet destination that will be a unique, comprehensive multi-sport platform where people around the globe can turn for a single access point to all sports.
The Sports Hub portal will include a series of sub-channels organised by sport and discipline. The structure will make it easy for sports enthusiasts to discover videos of popular favourites like swimming, ski or cycling, as well those of sports growing in popularity like surfing, climbing or floorball.
In addition, The Sports Hub will showcase Paralympic sports and multi-sports Games, such as the World Games or the SportAccord Combat Games. Content will include top matches, competitions, key interviews, backstage moments, educational content and more.
A fully customised look and feel will empower Federations to leverage The Sports Hub for promotion as well as cross promotion of their sports since they will be grouped by categories (e.g. ball, racquet or water sports).
YouTube’s social features will enable people to rate videos in SportAccord channels, discuss them via text comments and video responses, and post them with the click of a button to social networks where they can be discovered by both existing and new fans. SportAccord will use Content ID, YouTube’s content management tools, to protect, promote and monetize its content online and make sure that it is accessible for all in the best quality possible for viewers around the world.
SportAccord president Hein Verbruggen said, “This is an amazing opportunity for our Members and sports to enhance their presence online, thus getting more exposure. The Sports Hub will also offer an appealing one-stop-shop to all sports fans”.
YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley says, “We are confident that The Sports Hub will create new promotion opportunities for a wide variety of associations and enable them to reach both existing and new sports fans around the world with their content.”
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
