Industry Shorts: Leeds United, Southampton, Veloce Racing
Leeds United have announced a new deal with 49ers Enterprises – the investment arm of NFL team San Francisco 49ers – which will take its minority ownership stake of the Premier League side up to 37%.
The new investment will also see Paraag Marathe, President, 49ers Enterprises and current Leeds Board Member, become Vice Chairman of the Elland Road club. READ MORE
Southampton have pledged to plant 3,000 trees in the UK over the next four years, with 250 planted for each Southampton Academy player that makes their first team debut.
The club’s new ‘Home Grown’ initiative – which forms part of its broader sustainability strategy, The Halo Effect, which will launch this month – will see the Premier League side match its commitment to youth development with a commitment to the environment.
The club says on average three players make their first team debut each season over a four-year period, and based on that forecast, the club will plant a minimum of 3,000 trees to offset 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, as well as preserving 3,000 trees overseas, to help the club achieve carbon neutral status by 2030.
The initiative was kicked off by recent graduate Daniel Nlundulu, who made his first senior appearance in the 2-0 win against Everton in October 2020, with the club offsetting 250 tonnes of CO2 emissions as a result.
Veloce Racing Extreme E driver Jamie Chadwick went ‘back to school’ to host a video lesson for some 300 children on sustainability and gender equality in celebration of the UN International Day of Education.
With support from Girls on Track UK – a Motorsport UK initiative supporting the participation of women in motorsport – the WIlliams F1 Development driver engaged with the students at Harris Academy Battersea, the majority of whom are now being home schooled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The inaugural W Series Champion, who is one of nine female drivers in Extreme E, spoke to the pupils about careers, gender equality, sustainability and climate change.
Tongue Tied Media has announced the addition of former Manchester United and England striker Andy Cole to its roster of talent.
The ex-International striker, who has has recently appeared as a pundit on Sky Sports, has also set up The Andy Cole Fund – a fundraising initiative for Kidney Research UK – which recently announced global financial services firm UBS as its first partner.
Sport and media law firm, Onside Law, has appointed Kate Bosomworth as its new Non-Executive Chair.
Starting the role this month, Bosomworth succeeds Compton Hellyer who has held the role of Non-Executive Chairman since 2007, two years after the firm was founded.
Bosomworth first founded her own sports communications agency in 2003, and served as CMO, M&C Saatchi. She has also worked with the likes of UEFA helping launch their first women’s campaign, “We Play Strong”, and spent six years on the Board of Sport England where she was instrumental in the inception and delivery of the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign.
In November 2020, she launched a new agency, Platform with former M&C Saatchi Chief Creative Officer Justin Tindall.
The Rugby League World Cup 2021 has announced Assura as Community Health Partner.
As part of the deal, the Assura Community Fund will launch a RLWC2021 Grants Programme, which will see a minimum of £100,000 made available to help charitable and voluntary sector organisations deliver health and wellbeing activities.
The sponsorship is Assura’s first in sport, and they join Eversheds Sutherland, Deloitte, Manchester Metropolitan University, Kappa, Kuehne+Nagel and Cazoo as official sponsors of RLWC2021.
Wearable tech company NURVV Run has unveiled double Olympic Gold Medallist Dame Kelly Holmes as its first official athlete ambassador.
Holmes will work alongside NURVV Run to integrate product into her personal training programme and providing direct feedback to developers to further enhance the product and its capabilities. She will also participate in promotional initiatives and events.
