Shorts: Champions League Final, SailGP, Play-offs

Expedia Live has launched a multichannel brand campaign for this year’s UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley which will see the travel brand activate in Trafalgar Square.

Expedia Live, a travel hub to help fans travel to matches, is the official supplier of the UEFA Champions League, with its campaign encouraging fans to ‘travel the beautiful game, as nothing beats being there.’

As well as branded editorial guides, organic and paid social, a PR campaign and consumer giveaways, Expedia Live will host an ‘immersive pop-up for fans’ at the UEFA Champions Festival in Trafalgar Square from 30^th May to 2^nd June.

The interactive installation will comprises of a rooftop studio and viewing platform and feature appearances from former Champions League players such as Joe Cole and Daniel Sturridge.

Michele Rousseau from Expedia, said, “Nothing beats being there to experience matchday in the city and a UEFA Champions League Final is the ultimate matchday of the season. While most fans dream of soaking up the atmosphere of the Final, we know that very few have the opportunity to experience it in person. Our campaign seeks to give fans at home a real taste of being there while also celebrating the fans on the ground in London, who have made it this far in the journey.”

SailGP has announced a new production-based partnership with Strata.

UAE-based Strata, a composite aerostructures manufacturing facility owned by Mubadala Investment Company, will supply and manufacture key elements of SailGP’s F50 catamarans as part of the new agreement.

This new partnership between SailGP and Strata expands Mubadala’s existing relationship with SailGP, where it is already a global series partner of the league. Mubadala is also the title partner for the upcoming Mubadala New York Sail Grand Prix in June.

Strata will work alongside SailGP Technologies, SailGP’s main manufacturing facility based in Southampton.

SailGP Managing Director Andrew Thompson, commented, “We are excited to extend our partnership with Mubadala to include Strata as our new production partner. This new partnership compliments our existing manufacturing facility – SailGP Technologies – that is now based on the South Coast of England.

“Our fleet of F50’s is an innovative one-design fleet and by extending our manufacturing capabilities in the middle east, it will allow us to continually innovate as well as fully service our existing and new fleet of F50s, especially as we start and end Season 5 in the region.”

The Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley saw Sky Bet donate £380,000 to the British Heart Foundation after the first month of the Every Minute Matters campaign.

The sports betting and gaming operator has pledged up to £3 million to the charity over the course of the next year and kick-started the fundraising by pledging £10,000 for every goal scored during the 15 games of the Sky Bet Play-Offs.

Sky Bet League Two Play-Off champions Crawley Town generated the single-biggest donation of all the 12 teams – scoring 10 goals in total.

Every Minute Matters campaign ambassador Tom Lockyer, who collapsed during last year’s Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final and survived a cardiac arrest in December, said, “I’m overwhelmed with the way the football community has responded to the campaign.

“Clubs, players and fans have put sporting rivalry to one side to unite in their support helping drive much needed awareness of the role CPR plays in saving lives. To have over 33,000 people registering to learn CPR in such a short space of time is beyond inspiring.”

“CPR is lifesaver. It’s why it’s so important we continue to build on the early success and keep this campaign going. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target to get over a quarter of a million people learning CPR. And I’m confident with the backing of football fans across the UK we can get there.”