Industry Shorts: Manchester City, Sigma Sports, Wpp, NBA
Puma has released Manchester City’s new third kit ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season.
The kit features a bright design of yellow and peach, with Puma stating that it has been inspired by the “on-field brilliance” of the club’s style of football. The kit has been released ahead of City’s arrival in Shanghai as the club embarks on a pre-season tour of Asia.
Puma recently revealed City’s home and away kits for the new season, with the designs paying tribute to Manchester’s industrial and cultural heritage. City Football Group signed a long-term partnership with Puma earlier this year.
Road cycling retailer Sigma Sports has agreed a deal to become an official supplier of the upcoming UCI Road World Championships, which will be held in Yorkshire.
As part of the agreement, Sigma Sports will work with the UCI on a range of activities in the build-up to and during the event, which runs from 22nd-29th September.
The deal, which will run across a number of areas, was brokered by The Sports Consultancy.
Advertising giant WPP has announced plans to sell 60% of market-research firm Kantar to private equity firm Bain Capital.
WPP said the deal values Kantar at $4bn and creates a strong partnership between WPP and Bain to “accelerate the development” of Kantar. The sale comes after WPP’s long-time chief executive Martin Sorrell resigned last year.
Kantar recently entered into a partnership with Special Olympics, the sports organisation for athletes with intellectual disabilities. Kantar will partner with Special Olympics on their Global Youth Leadership work.
The NBA has named Kate Jhaveri as its new Chief Marketing Officer.
Jhaveri is the current CMO of Twitch and a former marketing executive at Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft. She will begin her new role on 15th August and report to NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum.
Jhaveri will have responsibility for leading the global marketing operations for the NBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League.
Paddy Power has agreed a deal with Huddersfield Town to become the new front-of-shirt sponsor of the Championship football club.
Paddy Power becomes the club’s title partner for the 2019/20 season. The agreement marks Paddy Power’s first front-of-shirt sponsorship deal in England.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed but Huddersfield Commercial Director Sean Jarvis said the agreement marks the largest shirt sponsorship for the club outside of the Premier League.
