Shorts: British & Irish Lions, SailGP, Leeds Rhinos
The British & Irish Lions have reappointed TalkSPORT as their audio broadcast partner for the 2025 Tour to Australia.
TalkSPORT will provide live match commentary for all 10 fixtures, including the three-Test series against Australia and the 1888 Cup match against Argentina in Dublin, which will be the Lions’ first-ever match in Ireland.
Coverage will exceed 200 hours, featuring live commentary, dedicated programmes, and podcasts from Australia.
This will be TalkSPORT’s fourth consecutive Lions Tour as an audio broadcast partner, continuing a partnership that began with the 2013 series in Australia. The agreement includes interactive engagement opportunities for supporters through social media and phone-ins.
The Test series will begin in Brisbane, followed by the Second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26th July, before concluding at Accor Stadium in Sydney on 2nd August. The Tour will also feature matches in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Canberra, and Melbourne.
SailGP has unveiled Swedish firm Ericsson as the league’s global technology supplier for the 2025 season.
Under the agreement, all SailGP teams will hve acces to Ericsson’s 5G connectivity.
Ericsson’s Cradlepoint edge routers will be installed into all F50 catamarans, in order to help teams access more than 53 billion data points on each race day.
All umpires in the global sailing series will additionally benefit from the company’s 5G-enabled live camera streaming.
SailGP previously collaborated with Ericsson and T-Mobile during US events last season to test and deploy an Ericsson Private 5G solution over T-Mobile’s 5G spectrum. This will be installed and deployed at all races during the 2025 campaign.
“SailGP continues to innovate so we can provide the best experiences possible for our teams and fans, this requires networking technology that can keep up with the speed and intricacies of the sport,” said Warren Jones, Chief Technology Officer at SailGP.
“Ericsson Private 5G combined with its Cradlepoint edge routers not only matches the bandwidth and latency challenges of billions of data points during a race but also addresses our need to quickly deploy networks at locations across the world.
“This reliable, scalable connectivity helps teams optimise performance and maintain fair competition while significantly enriching the fan experience through visibility into race analytics.
The latest partnership comes ahead of the Australian Sail Grand Prix, which will take place in Sydney on 8th and 9th February.
Leeds Rhinos have announced a new partnership with Leeds Bradford Airport.
Taking effect from the 2025 Super League season, the airport’s logo will feature on the men’s rugby league team’s playing kit.
Leeds Bradford Airport will also benefit from brand visibility throughout Rhinos’ Headingley Stadium home during matchdays.
“This partnership is all about creating new opportunities to engage with fans, support out local community, and pass on new and exclusive opportunities to our customers,” said Tom Holdsworth, Aviation Development Manager at Leeds Bradford Airport.
“By working together, we aim to bring our community closer to the action and make a positive impact that resonates beyond just the game.”
Leicester Tigers have revealed a new performance partnership with Japanese club, Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars.
The alliance will see the two rugby union outfits share high-performance insights between coaches and staff across areas such as medical, strength and conditioning, analysis, recruitment, and player welfare.
Tigers and Dynaboars will also collaborate on commercial projects, including knowledge sharing across commercial, community, marketing, and operations.
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