Shorts: Esports, Red Lantern, Huddersfield

British Esports, the national body established to support grassroots esports in the UK, has announced a two-year collaboration with Dell Technologies and Intel.

The partnership will focus on ‘promoting esports as an accessible, inclusive and forward-thinking industry’ by highlighting how it fosters the development of ‘21^st century skills, innovative education and career pathways that drive economic growth.’

Dell Technologies and Intel become the official technology and hardware partners as part of the deal, with Alienware becoming the official supplier of high-performance gaming PCs, monitors and peripherals to British Esports and the National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland.

Chester King, Chief Executive Officer of British Esports, said, “We’re delighted to partner with Dell Technologies, Intel Corporation and Alienware as our first official partners and suppliers. Collaborating with such industry-leading organisations who share our vision and values is a significant milestone and we are grateful for their commitment. This partnership will ensure that the national esports performance campus will be equipped with state-of-the-art computing technology, delivering on its promise as the UK’s most advanced esports and education performance and training centre.”

Steve Young, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Dell Technologies, UK, added, “Working with organisations like the British Esports Federation and Intel we hope to raise awareness of how tapping into passions like esports could be the key to fostering the development of 21st-century digital skills. Watch a young person engage in esports and you’ll see them test hypotheses, think systematically, analyse data, and employ evidence-based strategies, as well as the technical proficiency necessary to play, film, edit, publish and connect.”

UK digital agency Red Lantern is expanding by launching Northpaw.

The new division will provide services in North and South America.

Red Lantern has signed the Premier League’s former Head of Digital Martin Axford to oversee the global expansion.

Martin Axford, Managing Director of Northpaw, said, “During my time at the Premier League, I was impressed with Red Lantern’s consistently high standards, creativity and delivery. Its results spoke for themselves and were recognised across the organisation.

“I have been fortunate to work at the forefront of the digital evolution in sports, delivering digital transformation at the Premier League, innovation to make Fantasy Premier League the world’s leading fantasy football game and holding key roles with the BBC, ITV and AOL. I’m now looking forward to bringing the benefit of my experience to Northpaw and building on the exceptional work Red Lantern has done with its roster of tier-one clients.”

Lewis Hannam, Founder at Red Lantern, added, “We are extremely excited to launch Northpaw with Martin. The growth in the football market in the United States in particular means this is a big step forward for us. We look forward to leveraging Martin’s experience and approach to deliver for our clients, as their international ambitions continue to grow.”

Zhe Ji, Director at Red Lantern, expressed, “It’s a real coup for Red Lantern to have secured Martin’s services. He has an incredible depth of experience and is a bona-fide industry leader. We’re delighted he has decided to join us as we expand our reach globally. Launching Northpaw and bringing our services to The Americas cements our global offering and reputation, building on what we’ve already achieved in China, India and other key territories.”

EFL Championship football club Huddersfield Town has signed Marc Darcy as the official sleeve sponsor for the upcoming 2023/24 season.

The retailer’s logo will appear on the left arm of Town’s players on all three first team kits when the Terriers take on Plymouth Argyle to kick-off the season on Saturday 5^th August.

The sleeve sponsorship is a new opportunity for EFL clubs in the 2023/24 campaign, with both sleeve positions having previously been taken by the Sky Bet Championship logo, which will now only appear once.

Ian Birtley, Commercial Director of Huddersfield Town, said, “We are delighted to welcome Marc Darcy as the clubs Official Sleeve Partner. A brand who I have been aware of for some time and spoken with at great length and I’m pleased we can finally announce our partnership.

“We’re keen to work with successful brands within their respective categories and Marc Darcy fit that remit entirely and I look forward to seeing the logo proudly placed on our first team shirts this season”.

“The Marc Darcy brand has become increasingly synonymous with sport and in the world of celebrity and we’re really excited about working with them on their business objectives, both now and in the future.”

Karen Johal, Creative Director at Marc Darcy, added, “Here at Marc Darcy, we are thrilled to launch this new partnership with Huddersfield Town.

“We look forward to engaging with the fans and offering unique access to the brand whilst we follow the club’s journey throughout the season.”

Newly promoted EFL League Two football club Carlisle United has partnered with World Group.

World Group, who specialise in property improvement, homecare products, and windows have been major sponsors and partners with the Blues ever since founder Cliff Spooner teamed up with the club in the 1980’s, but now becomes the club’s new C stand sponsor for the 2023/24 season.

World Group were back-of-shirt sponsors for Carlisle United in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons respectively.

Debbie Huddart, Commercial Manager at Carlisle United, said, “World Group are huge United fans, they have been for many years, and we’re delighted that they’ve taken up this very visible and important sponsorship opportunity.

“They’ve been really easy to deal with, and we’re delighted that another strong local brand has strengthened their ties at such an important time for the club.

“The success of last season was hard-earned, and as a club we now want to help the manager and his players build on that.

“That’s why things like this matter, and we thank everyone at World Group for the part they’re playing in helping the feel-good factor push into our exciting new season in League One.”

Matthew Spooner, Director of World Group, added, “We’re really proud to have our logo back at Brunton Park.”

Official sleep partner of TeamGB, Dreams, is celebrating less than a year to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by announcing a Dreams roster of Team GB ambassadors.

The Dreams Team is made up of double Olympic champion Tom Dean MBE, canoeist Mallory Franklin, gymnast Joe Fraser, and weightlifter Emily Campbell.

Scottish Championship football club Dundee United has added Spaces Taylored as the club’s latest official partner.

As per the one-year deal, the local brand will appear on the sleeves of all first-team shirts, as well as key touchpoints across Tannadice Park – Dundee United’s 14,200 capacity stadium.

Adam Taylor, Managing Director at Spaces Taylored, said, “We are delighted to secure this partnership agreement with Dundee United, developing on our existing support of the club and look forward to many more years. We already work closely with Fairmuir Boys Club at grassroots level so it’s great to now be able to work with Dundee United similarly.

“Having completed a number of projects within the academy, the training ground and Tannadice Park over the past year we are extremely proud to strengthen our ties with the club which now sees our name on the shirts and around the stadium”.

Elliot Shaw, Head of Commercial and Sponsorship at Dundee United, added, “We are delighted to welcome Spaces Taylored to Dundee United as an Official Partner. Adam and the team have supported the club since their foundation and from the initial partnership discussions, there was a real appetite for both parties to enhance the relationship. We look forward to working with Spaces Taylored in what we are hoping will be a long-term partnership, to help the brand grow even further”.