Industry Shorts: Whoop, Bt Sport, Rlwc2021

Wearable tech brand WHOOP has announced a new partnership with the LPGA Tour which will see it become the tour’s Official Fitness Wearable, as well as a supplier to all players, caddies, and staff across the LPGA Tour, Symetra Tour, and Ladies European Tour, who will be provided with the WHOOP Strap 3.0. 

The move comes after the brand announced a similar partnership with the PGA TOUR, and following an initial partnership with the LPGA Tour in July 2020, which supported the sport’s return in a bubble environment throughout the pandemic.

The new deal will see WHOOP will provide players with insights into their well-being, as well as investing in women’s golf with a bigger overall presence, including a new relationship with Jessica and Nelly Korda – the US sisters who, between them, have won the first two events of the 2021 season.

BT Sport will broadcast the new UK Pro League tennis tournament throughout 2021.

Created in 2020 by River Media in response to the cancellation of events during the coronavirus pandemic, the inaugural UK Pro League took place last year, and has been endorsed by the LTA. It is currently the only tournament where the British players compete against each other in a season-long competition, and will run through most of 2021.

The 2021 season will be held in a bio-secure environment from 1st March, and will feature a prize pot of £500,000. The competition will include eight week-long tournaments across the year.

The Rugby League World Cup 2021 has appointed sport, media, and entertainment marketing consultancy The Value Xchange to support its sponsorship sales activity in the run up to the event.

The tournament – which will take place in England later this year – has already announced online car buying service Cazoo as its Principal Sponsor, along with a number of other partners including Deloitte, Kappa, Kuehne+Nagel and Assura. READ MORE

London Marathon Events has announced that the 2021 Virgin Money London Marathon has officially sold out, with some 50,000 general entry places taken up in just 11 days.

The event – which will also see 50,000 more participants join the event virtually from around the world – is scheduled to return to the streets of London for a physical mass participation event on Sunday 3rd October.

The virtual event was held for the first time in 2020 and was awarded a Guinness World Records title for the ‘most users to run a remote marathon in 24 hours’. 37,966 people finished the race last year – a number which could be bettered in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Vitality Big Half – also organised by London Marathon Events – has been postponed until August 2021 in a bid to ensure the race can take place in person.

The race, which was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday 25th April, will now take place on 22nd August, with a decision taken in response to the government’s roadmap for the easing of lockdown restrictions.

British Wheelchair Basketball has appointed specialist sports communications agency Run Communications to provide support for its Inspire a Generation programme. 

The initiative, which launched in January, will provide an introduction to wheelchair basketball in a bid to double participation over the next four years. Backed by £1.5m of Sport England funding, the programme aims to support disabled people in finding or returning to physical activity, with many having been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Run will provide creative digital and PR expertise to drive participation and build new audiences within the sport over the next four years.

Former Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu has been arrested following a police raid, according to multiple reports.

Polica in Barcelona have confirmed that a number of arrests were made, while Spanish media has reported that these were part of an investigation into last year’s ‘Barca-gate’ scandal, where a number of club officials were accused of hiring a social media company to to discredit a number of current and former players who were critical of the club and Bartomeu during his Presidency.