Shorts: Asia Rugby, Swansea City, Norwich City

Asia Rugby, the governing body of rugby on the Asian continent, has announced a strategic partnership agreement with London-based international sports marketing agency Redstrike.

The deal will see Redstrike develop the regional rugby union association’s commercial and sponsorship programmes, looking to benefit from the continuing growth of the game across the continent.

Asia Rugby President Qais Al-Dhalai, said, “Asia Rugby, as the World Rugby regional association serving the largest continent, offers extraordinary opportunities for commercial partnerships.

Upon concluding an extensive due diligence process, after rummaging the market globally, we are very delighted to have Redstrike’s knowledge and experience on hand to secure a sustainable commercially-driven approach to support our vision,”

Redstrike CEO and Founder, Mike Farnan, added, “Redstrike are proud to be the only UK department of International Trade ‘Export Champion for sport’. As part of the Miami based Investment fund 777 Partners, Redstrike are thrilled to be a part of this journey. We are very much looking to harness our global sport marketing expertise to enhance opportunities for Asia Rugby partners, associate members and fans.”

English Football League (EFL) Championship club Swansea City has announced a new partnership with wearable infrared performance clothing brand KYMIRA Sport.

The brand becomes the Swans’ official recovery partner for the remainder of the 2022/23 season.

The deal will see KYMIRA Sport continue to support the men’s first team by providing its products that aim to reduce injuries, accelerate recovery, and contribute to the overall wellness of the players.

Lee Merrells, Partnership Sales Manager at Swansea City, said, “We’re delighted to be working with KYMIRA® Sport for the upcoming season. We are sure that their products and knowledge within this field will be very valuable to our first team, and we’re very pleased that Tim Brownstone and his team are on board for the upcoming campaign.”

Founder and CEO of KYMIRA, Tim Brownstone, added, “We are pleased to be working with Swansea City to support their travel and recovery needs this season as they target promotion. They’re taking a proactive approach to maximise player well-being and we are very proud to be named their official recovery partner.”

English Football League (EFL) Championship club Norwich City has announced a new regional partnership with UK-based industrial painting services providers Cladspray Solutions.

The company is added to the Canaries’ long list of regional partners for the 2022/23 Championship season which includes Loganair, Nuffield Health, Pukka Pies, Yellow Brick Mortgages and Score HERO.

Tom Carter, Managing Director of Cladspray Solutions commented, “We’re thrilled to be in partnership with Norwich City and wish them every success over the rest of the season and beyond. With this partnership, we hope to forge new relationships not only with the football club, but also with other local businesses looking to refurbish their premises”

Ed Turnham, Head of Sales and Acquisition at Norwich City, added “It’s really great to be welcoming Cladspray Solutions into our family of regional partners.

“Cladspray are a local business who have a national reach, which aligns perfectly with the football club. We both have a number of shared goals, which makes this relationship very powerful.”

The National Football League (NFL) has appointed Lucy Roberts Hartley as its new Marketing Director in the UK.

Following three sell-out NFL UK International Games in London during October 2022, Roberts Hartley will be dedicated to accelerating the growth of the NFL UK fanbase, with a focus on 12-24-year-old audience, through fan engagement, NFL events, programmes and partnerships.

Lucy brings over a decade of sporting experience with her, joining NFL UK from UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 where she was the Marketing and Communications Lead for the record-breaking tournament. Prior to that, she was Head of Marketing for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 and Senior Brand Manager for the FA Cup where she led on all strategic marketing and brand management for the UK and internationally.