Industry Shorts: Man United, England Netball

Manchester United have made a proposal to install rail seating at Old Trafford in a move which would allow for safe standing.

The proposal would accommodate 1,500 supporters in the ground, and the club argues the move would enhance fan safety in a part of the stadium where supporters already persistently stand.

United are not the first Premier League club to look into safe standing, with Wolves and Tottenham having also installed rail seating in their stadiums.

England Netball has confirmed that 98% of all tickets have been sold for the Vitality Netball Superleague Season Opener in Birmingham.

The news means the Season Opener – in which all ten teams will play in the same venue on the same day – is set to break attendance records and draw the largest ever crowd for a one day netball event in the UK. 

The Season Opener has already seen higher ticket sales than the Vitality Netball World Cup final.

Crew Clothing has announced it will have four partnerships across British sport for 2020, following on from its ‘Summer of Sport’ campaign in 2019.

The British fashion brand became the Official Outfitters for the LTA in 2019, dressing ball crew members and on-court officials at the Fever-Tree Championships and the Nature Valley Tournaments. It has also signed a partnership with Middlesex to dress the Lord’s club’s men’s, women’s and disability teams.

The brand has now announced two new partnerships alongside its current portfolio, outfitting the ROKiT Williams Racing Team, as well as sponsoring top events at the Staysure Tour, formerly the European Senior Tour.

Promote PR and Point Communications have been appointed to delivery communications and marketing for the upcoming Boxing Road to Tokyo Olympic Qualifying event, which will take place at London’s Copper Box Arena.

The event will take place from 14-24th March and will see 77 places secured at the Games. 350 boxers from over 50 countries will compete at the event, which is being delivered on behalf of the IOC and a local organising committee, made up of representatives from UK Sport, The Mayor of London, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the BOA and GB Boxing. 

The EFL has renewed its partnership with Thai Airways International (THAI), which will see the airline continue to have rights across the league’s five Finals.

As part of the agreement, THAI will have digital and in-stadium presence across the EFL’s Wembley finals for a third consecutive year. These include the Carabao Cup, Leasing.com Trophy and the play-off finals for each of the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two.

FIFA and FIFPRO have reached an agreement to establish the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FIFA FFP), which aims to provide financial support for players who have not been paid by their clubs.

The fund will see $16m set aside up to 2022, with money allocated for 2020, 2021 and 2022 and will also include $5m set aside for the retroactive protection of players’ salaries for the period between July 2015 and June 2020. The new mechanism will come into operation on 1st July 2020.

Sportradar and XFL have announced a media partnership to provide fans and partners with quick access to data, statistics and league information. 

As an official sports data partner of the XFL, Sportradar also offers a play-by-play data feed designed for use by media outlets.

William Hill has become the Official Sports Book and Wagering Data Provider of CBS Sports as the US broadcaster looks to increase its presence in the sport betting space.

The british bookmaker will receive exclusive rights to promote its brand across CBS Sports’ broad range of digital platforms.