Industry Shorts: Lta, Jordan Nobbs, Img
The LTA has announced that the National Lottery will become an Official Partner of its Wheelchair World Class Programme in a two year deal.
The partnership will provide support to the current elite level of the sport as athletes prepare for Tokyo 2020, but will also look to encourage more juniors, men, women and quads to take up the sport.
The deal has been made possible by a new commercial partnership between The LTA and the National Lottery which will see the latter gain on-site brand integration to LTA events, as well as the opportunity to create a range of content pieces, and run various off-court experience initiatives.
England international Jordan Nobbs has joined football charity Girls United as an Official Ambassador.
The Arsenal attacker joins up with the charity following the announcement of its partnership with Nike, which will create increased access to sport for primary school-aged girls.
The Love The Game initiative will see the charity and the sportswear giant aim to ensure that more girls – particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds – remain active in sport for longer. The pair will also help to foster healthy habits among the new generation, while also providing female role models to ‘redefine’ what football means to a new wave of young girls.
IMG has appointed Graham Fry as Executive Chairman, Production, in ‘recognition of his leadership and contribution’ to the business.
Fry joined IMG in 1991 and has been Managing Director, Production Worldwide, since 2007, overseeing growth in the business over that period to place the agency as one of the largest producers of sports programming in the world.
He currently oversees a staff of over 500, based in London, Sydney, Stockholm, Oslo, Singapore and Glasgow, producing programming across all media including broadcast, digital and social. IMG says he will complete his career there, and will play a key role in helping the business transition to new leadership before the end of 2022.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, EA SPORTS will stream a new all-female FIFA tournament, which will be streamed on EA’s Twitch channel later today.
The project, co-produced by sports marketing and management agency Blueprint Sports & Entertainment and Presenter Rachel Stringer.
The tournament sees celebratory gaming platform BAST come on board as an Official Sponsor, along with Gfinity, HyperX, Twitch, while female talent including Fran Kirby and Gail Emms will take part.
GiveMeSport has announced the relaunch of GiveMeSport Women with the appointment of new Editor Nancy Gillen.
Gillen replaces former Editor, Benny Bonsu, who left the publication last year to join the Olympic Channel.
Eurosport and Global Cycling Network (GCN) have expanded their portfolio of women’s races as part of their live offering by adding rights to the upcoming elite women’s UCI race, the Healthy Ageing Tour 2021.
The deal will also see Eurosport x GCN take on the role of Official Broadcaster and Official Partner of the Healthy Ageing Tour 2021.
The tour is the first professional cycling race taking place in the Netherlands this year and will begin on Wednesday 10th March.
Barcelona have appointed Joan Laporta as President, following the club’s election, where he received just over 54% of the vote.
Laporta – who spent seven years as President of the club before the end of his tenure in 2010 – will return to the club having overseen a period of success in the first decade of the millennium, when the Catalan club won two UEFA Champions League titles.
