Shorts: Birmingham City, Major League Rugby, Exeter City
The English Football League (EFL) has approved the purchase of a 45% stake in Championship football club Birmingham City by US-based Shelby Companies LTD.
The deal will see 24% of shares acquired from Blues’ parent company Birmingham Sports Holdings Limited.
The remaining 21.64% will be transferred from Oriental Rainbow Investments and Achiever Global Group.
A club statement said it is now awaiting final clearance from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Shelby Companies is a subsidiary of his Knighthead Capital Management Group co-founded by American financier Tom Wagner, who outlined his plans for the club in a letter to supporters last month.
The new investors firmly believe that the club’s potential is “unlimited” and are ready to “commit the resources, in line with EFL guidelines, the skills and the determination needed to deliver transformational improvements for the good of the club and good of the city”.
The American financer has pledged investment into both the men’s and the women’s teams as well as “high-performance facilities and culture needed for success.”
Birmingham City survived in the Championship last season with a 17th place finish but will start their 2023/24 season on minus two points after admitting to a breach of EFL regulations.
Major League Rugby (MLR) has announced Sportsbreaks.com as its new official fan travel partner.
As part of the multi-year partnership, Sportsbreaks.com will offer ticket-inclusive packages to MLR events, beginning this year at the 2023 MLR Championship on 8th July in Chicago.
Nic Benson, Chief Executive Officer of MLR, said, “We are delighted to start working with Sportsbreaks.com, who we see as the global leader in delivering unique travel experiences for sports fans. Through this partnership we will provide seamless opportunities for our U.S. based fans to travel around the country supporting their team while also opening the doors for our growing international fan base to experience an MLR game experience first-hand”.
Jeremy Parkins, Chief Operating Officer, added, “We’re delighted to announce a long-term partnership with Major League Rugby. Rugby in the U.S. is growing exponentially through Major League Rugby. Our multi-year agreement is an exciting addition to our existing partnerships within rugby globally. We’re excited to launch our official ticket and hotel packages to the Major League Rugby Championship Final and look forward to seeing many passionate fans in Chicago in July.”
EFL League One football club Exeter City has announced HEL Performance as its new front-of-shirt sponsor.
HEL, a local car and motorcycle braking product and service, will see its brand appear across Exeter City men’s and women’s team shirts and on all replica shirts from the 2023/24 season in the three-year deal.
Nick Hawker, Chair of Exeter City Football Club, said, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome HEL Performance to the Exeter City family. They are a hugely successful company and are rightly proud to be Exeter based and ‘made in Devon’ and we are so pleased to be working in partnership with them.
“Our shared values, of community and pride in our city mean there is already a genuine connection and we’re looking forward to the next stage of our journey, with HEL alongside us.”
Simon Lane, Chief Executive Officer of HEL Performance, commented, “We feel very fortunate to be sponsoring Exeter City FC; there is a real synergy between our organisations. We are an Exeter-based company and we sell all around the world, but it is important to us that people know we are from Exeter, from Devon. We are very proud of that fact and we feel this sponsorship is the perfect way to demonstrate that.
“We are passionate about what we do in the same way Exeter City and all of its supporters are passionate about the club.”
“The new shirt is absolutely perfect, it really demonstrates the pride in Exeter City and in HEL Performance. We’re so proud of what we and of what Exeter City have already achieved and what we can do in the future together.”
The British Basketball League (BBL) has appointed Elliot Stein as its new Commercial Director.
Elliot joins the BBL with experience within the sports business sector, having most recently held the position of Director of Business Development at B+A. During this time, he cultivated relationships with clients such as Nike, Pinterest, Foot Locker, Ubisoft, and Meta.
As part of the BBL’s commitment to growing the sport in the UK, Stein will be tasked with helping create new partnerships that will help bring the league to new audiences. In addition to this, he will be responsible for maximising the league’s current partnerships.
Elliott Stein, the new Commercial Director of the BBL, said, “Growing up playing basketball in the UK, I could only dream of an opportunity like this. Over the last few years, it has been amazing to watch the growth of the British Basketball League. The League is in a very exciting position, with a highly entertaining product and a valuable, engaged young audience. I look forward to building authentic partnerships with brands that will continue to help build awareness and grow the sport in the UK.”
Aaron Radin, Chief Executive Officer of the BBL, added, “I am delighted to welcome Elliot to our growing team off the court at the League. He has exceptional credentials and industry experience which makes him the ideal candidate to help our ambitions to grow the sport in the UK. This, coupled with his infectious passion for the sport, will certainly allow us to harness the opportunity for brands to partner with the League.”
WWE has announced that it has entered a multi-year partnership with streaming service Twitch.
The deal will see the return of the official WWE Twitch channel as well as channels for WWE Superstars, featuring live and exclusive content.
The latest edition of WWE Raw, on 5th June, also saw the debut of a companion sidecast on Twitch, which promises to “bring the WWE Universe behind the scenes and closer to the in-ring action.”
The weekly sidecast will be led by a rotating cast of hosts and will regularly feature appearances by WWE Superstars and include unique and exclusive content such as backstage interviews.
The WWE’s official Twitch channel will also be home to other live productions and will serve as an alternate live streaming feed for all of WWE’s premium live event press conferences.
Attention now turns to London where WWE’s next premium event will be. Money in the Bank will air live from the O2 on Saturday 1st July and be the first WWE premium live event to be held in the English capital since Wembley Stadium hosted SummerSlam 1992.
