Shorts: Jeff Stelling, Exeter Chiefs, Arsenal
Jeff Stelling’s Football March supporting Prostate Cancer UK has announced GenesisCare as its new exclusive sponsor.
Jeff Stelling, the former Sky Sports broadcaster who hosted Soccer Saturday for more than two decades before retiring last season, will lead a one-day fundraising marathon march from Wembley to High Wycombe in tribute to fellow broadcaster and Wycombe Wanderers fan, Bill Turnbull, who sadly died from prostate cancer in August last year.
Nearly 400 people will join Jeff, with a goal to raise £200k in total.
Jeff, who sported Prostate Cancer UK’s ‘Man of Men’ badge on Soccer Saturday each and every week before signing off for the final time on 28th May, has helped raise over £1.5m for the charity, increasing awareness about the most common cancer in men, with a series of epic marathon marches since 2016.
Jeff Stelling, said, “I’m excited that GenesisCare are supporting Prostate Cancer UK’s Football March – and delighted to hear their team will be joining me and almost 400 others as we walk from Wembley Stadium to Wycombe in memory of the legendary Bill Turnbull.
“Since 2016, I’ve walked across the UK, meeting so many people affected by prostate cancer. I’ve heard heart-breaking stories and heart-warming ones too, but sadly this disease remains far too common. I’m still shocked prostate cancer affects one in eight men, that’s unacceptable.”
Laura Kerby, Chief Executive Officer of Prostate Cancer UK, added, “We’re delighted that GenesisCare are sponsoring Jeff Stelling’s Football March and will be joining us on our biggest ever day of walking.”
Exeter Chiefs has announced UK business technology provider Focus Group as the new main sponsor of the club’s women’s team.
Previous sponsor, swcomms, was acquired by Focus Group in February 2021. The swcomms logo will now be replaced by Focus Groups.
The deal will also see Focus Group branding feature on the Exeter Chiefs’ men’s shirt and will at the team’s stadium, Sandy Park.
Brian Lodge, swcomms’, Managing Director, said, “This is start of an exciting new era for us all under the new Focus brand. We remain a company that has supported the club for three decades and South West businesses for even longer. We are especially delighted to feature on the women’s shirt to support their continued success and their important influence as positive role-models for young grassroots players.”
Tony Rowe CBE, Chairman of Exeter Chiefs, commented, “Our relationship with swcomms is one of the finest commercial sporting partnerships in the country, and to see this continuing with new parent company Focus Group, further secures our long association.
“We are thrilled to see Focus Group taking pride of place as front of shirt partner for our Women’s team in 23/24. The development and success of the Exeter Chiefs Women is a source of immense pride of our club, and it is fantastic to see businesses recognising the importance of celebrating women’s rugby as well as the commercial opportunities that this presents.
“We look forward to continuing our affiliation with Focus Group in the future and thank them for their support.”
Premiership rugby union club Northampton Saints has announced a new five-year partnership agreement with ISEKI UK & Ireland.
The deal sees ISEKI become the club’s official agricultural and turf care machinery supplier.
ISEKI will supply tractors, mowing machines, and electric vehicles to the club for use by the grounds staff in their work around the cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens site.
David Withers, Managing Director of ISEKI UK & Ireland, said, “The opportunity to work with such a respected and long-established club is very exciting for both me and the team at ISEKI.
“We have historically had a close relationship with England Rugby, and now directly supporting one of the top clubs in the Gallagher Premiership offers us the opportunity to use the fantastic facilities at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens to showcase our machinery to both existing and prospective customers.”
Andy Miller, Northampton’s Head Groundsperson, added, “Our ambition at Saints is to set the highest standards in every area of the business, and that rings true in how we rigorously maintain our award-winning stadium pitch and training facilities.
“Having the highest-quality training and playing surfaces is vital in allowing the team to perform to their best on matchday, and in working alongside ISEKI UK & Ireland we are excited to play our part in the club’s successes on the pitch.”
England Rugby has partnered with UK agency Monterosa to ‘power fan engagement.’
The two brands will launch a range of gamified fan engagement experiences embedded into England Rugby and the Red Roses’ digital properties.
The Monterosa platform’s fan engagement capabilities will include predictors, quizzes and sweepstakes.
Ewan Turney, Director at the Rugby Football Union (RFU), said, “Our partnership with Monterosa is part of wider digital transformation work and their gamification will be an important part of enhancing our interaction with fans online. As the England men’s team head off to France next in September, fan interest in rugby will peak, and providing interactive, compelling contact for fans will be a great way to interact and understand fans of the sport better.”
Tom McDonnell, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Monterosa, added, “We’re thrilled that England Rugby have chosen to adopt Monterosa / Interaction Cloud to power their fan engagement Experiences across both the men’s and women’s games. We look forward to helping them to launch a range of rich interactive Experience designed to engage fans, build loyalty and community and drive first-party data capture.”
The NFL Academy, the elite player development programme for international student athletes based in the UK, has announced games against three renowned US high schools this autumn.
The series of games will see the NFL Academy play Bonner & Prendie in Dublin in August to kick off the new academic year.
The team will then face IMG Academy at the programme’s Loughborough headquarters followed by Erasmus Hall, to be played at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, during the week of the NFL London Games in October.
Premier League football club Burnley FC has announced that Vlad Torgovnik will join the board as its new Director.
With over 30 years of experience in technology, Vlad has previously held various CIO positions within both investment and consumer banking and in 2006 was recognised as the Capital Markets CIO of the Year by Bankers Magazine.
Alan Pace, Chairman of Burnley FC Holdings, added, “We are delighted to welcome Vlad to the board of Burnley FC Holdings Ltd. His extensive knowledge, expertise and valuable experience will really help us drive our vision forward.”
Badminton England has partnered with Mongoose Sports & Entertainment to expand its global partnership programme.
Mongoose Sports & Entertainment will work on appointing commercial partners across Badminton England’s sport-wide portfolio of programmes, alongside the YONEX All England Open Championship which takes place annually at the Utilita Arena Birmingham.
Jenny Clark, Commercial Director of Badminton England, said, “This is an exciting time for Badminton England as we embark on a new 10-year strategy for the sport. We look forward to working with Mongoose to welcome brand partners who share our vision and values and can help us to make a meaningful and positive impact across the sport.”
Premier League football club Arsenal has announced four new hires to its commercial team.
Jodie Sayer joins Arsenal from Puma as Head of Brand and Marketing and brings more than a decade of experience in brand management, communications, and retail marketing. She will be tasked with ‘bringing the club’s brand strategy to life and establishing its newly formed in-house creative studio.’
Stuart Milne has joined Arsenal as Head of Partner Services having spent eleven years in partnership marketing, four of which were in F1 with Red Bull Racing, and most recently with Aston Martin.
Kylie Andrew has been appointed to the newly created role of Head of Digital and Insights. Kylie joins Arsenal from Heathrow Airport, where she was Head of Digital from 2019.
Giulia Mazzia joins Arsenal as Head of Commercial Ventures from AC Milan, having previously worked for the City Football Group. Giulia will lead ‘a newly formed team that will drive the exploration and delivery of innovative revenue streams to fuel the club’s commercial growth.’
Juliet Slot, Chief Commercial Officer at Arsenal, said, “Our number one priority will always be to place our supporters around the world at the heart of everything we do, so we’re proud and excited to have appointed four world class industry leaders to help us achieve this. Our new colleagues bring exceptional quality and experience to their roles and will strengthen our fantastic commercial department which is full of brilliant people who push the boundaries and move us forward every day.
“Following a period of sustained progress and growth, unprecedented demand for tickets across our men’s and women’s teams, record retail performances, a hugely successful US Tour where more than 170,000 supporters came to see our matches, and further investment in data and technology to build our direct to supporter capability, this is the perfect time to strengthen our team. Ahead of a new season with many exciting projects and announcements in the pipeline, we’re ready to seize the opportunities that lie ahead.”
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