Industry Shorts: ECB, Therabody, Lg

The ECB has announced online trading and investing platform IG as an Official Partner of England Cricket. 

The deal will see IG support both the men’s and women’s teams, while its logo will appear on the men’s shirt across all three formats of the game.
 
The pair say the partnership seeks to ‘inspire generations through elite performance, increased accessibility, and a commitment to its communities’. The deal will also allow the brand to build awareness, as well as creating experiences for its clients and further the goals of its Brighter Future initiative.

Wellness technology brand Therabody has announced that Belgium star Romelu Lukaku has become the latest investor in the company as well as its newest athlete ambassador. 

Therabody says Lukaku is a longtime user of the brand’s Theragun product, and will integrate its RecoveryAir, and PowerDot products into his recovery regimen.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea star who this year won Serie A with Inter Milan, joins the brand’s roster of more than 100 investors, including athletes like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Maro Itoje, as well as the likes of Rihanna and Justin Timberlake.

Former England goalkeeper David James Wembley Stadium hosted an exclusive DJ set outside Wembley Stadium as part of a stunt by The FA partner LG to celebrate the official England squad selection for UEFA EURO 2020.

Dressed in England team shirts, each member of the crowd represented one of the players from Gareth Southgate’s team which was announced with player names printed on the backs of shirts.

James delivered the set to the crowd via special edition England-branded LG FA4 earbuds, which are emblazoned with the Three Lions crest.

World Rugby has announced international development agency ChildFund as the Principal Charity Partner of the ‘Rugby World Cup 2021, playing in 2022‘.

The move marks the first time that the top women’s rugby 15s event will have a Principal Charity Partner.

According to World Rugby, Childfund focuses on gender equality initiatives, working to provide vulnerable girls and women with opportunities to learn skills to overcome challenges and be active leaders in their communities. As part of the deal, rugby fans will have the opportunity to engage with and support the work of ChildFund Rugby, the charity’s dedicated rugby for development unit, via an opt-in mechanism to donate when purchasing match day tickets.

W Series has confirmed the continuation of its free-to-air broadcast partnership with Channel 4 for the 2021 season. 

The on-screen commentary team will consist of equal numbers of women and men, according to the single-seater motorsport series, with Lee McKenzie, David Coulthard and Ted Kravitz – who presented W Series’ inaugural season in 2019 – joined by Anna Woolhouse, Alex Jacques, Amy Reynolds, Billy Monger and Naomi Schiff, who drove for W Series in 2019.

Live coverage will be shown across Channel 4’s platforms as well as supplementary on-demand on the broadcaster’s All 4 catch-up service.  

The National Football Museum will reopen its doors on Thursday 27th May  after lockdown with the launch of a major new exhibition – the English Football Hall of Fame.

The exhibition will focus on 50 of the game’s most inspirational and influential figures, spanning from the 1880s to the present day.

Supported by the PFA, the list includes the likes of John Barnes, Lily Parr, Hope Powell, Alex Scott, Gary Lineker and Alex Ferguson, and honours the contribution made by a host of figures both on and off the pitch.

Lancashire Cricket has announced a partnership with the newly-formed Bob Willis Fund and the Barry Kilby Prostate Cancer Appeal (BKCPA) which is set to use cricket to raise awareness of prostate cancer and men’s health issues.

The two charities and the Lancashire Cricket Foundation will join forces Father’s Day – on 20th June, which is also the final day of Men’s Health Week – to offer up to 350 prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests to spectators attending the Vitality Blast (T20) fixture between Lancashire and Notts Outlaws at Emirates Old Trafford.

Ticket holders for the match will be given the opportunity to book a PSA test online, at a time slot of their choice, that will be administered at the stadium on match day. Collections will also be taken place for the charities on the day and online in the building-up to the match, with all proceeds being split equally between the three organisations.