Shorts: Liverpool, Arsenal, BOXXER

Liverpool Women will play three matches at Anfield in the 2024/25 WSL season, the club has announced.

The first of the three fixtures will be the clash against Manchester City on 13^th October. The team’s games against Manchester United on 16^th March and Everton on 4^th May will also be staged at the 61,276-seat stadium.

Earlier this year, the Reds signed a ten-year lease that will see the women’s team play home matches at St. Helens Stadium from next season.

Liverpool have also have expanded their free travel scheme with travel technology company Expedia to include all WSL matches for the upcoming season.

Expedia became Red’s sleeve partner in 2020, in a reported £10m a year deal that was extended last year until 2027. The company also serves as the team’s travel partner.

The transport scheme, which is now entering its third year, brings fans to both home and away fixtures.

Ben Latty, Chief Commercial Officer at Liverpool, said, “As we move into our new home the supporters are an important part of this new chapter and we are delighted that Expedia’s free transport will now include home matches.”

Michele Rousseau ,Senior Vice President of Global Brand at Expedia Group, added, “It’s such an exciting time for women’s football, with more and more fans looking to travel to Liverpool FC Women’s games.”

“Last season, we added an additional free fan coach for away games due to high demand, and this season we’ll also be offering free coach transport to home games at the new stadium.”

Arsenal FC have announced Athletic Brewing Company as the club’s new non-alcholic beer partner.

As per the deal, Athletic’s Run Wild IPA will be available at Emirates Stadium from August 2024, ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League and WSL seasons.

The Connecticut-based brewery becomes the club’s first partner in this category.

“We’re honoured to partner with Arsenal, an institution synonymous with not just English football, but the sport on a global stage,” said Bill Shufelt, Co-Founder and CEO of Athletic

“This partnership represents an exciting milestone in our journey to revolutionise the way the world drinks.”

UK-based boxing promotion BOXXER has agreed a new partnership with Car Finance 247.

Car Finance 247 becomes BOXXER’s car finance partner, and will receive promotion on the ring canvas and ropes, and during live coverage.

Car Finance 247 will mainly feature on pre-promotional activity leading up to BOXXER events, including weigh-ins and press conferences.

BOXXER Founder, Ben Shalom commented, “We’re delighted to welcome Car Finance 247 to BOXXER’s roster of partners.”

“With our shared origins in Manchester, the Car Finance 247 success and growth story in recent years is one we’ve admired and reflects how we’ve grown BOXXER from humble beginnings in the North-West.”

DAZN has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to UEFA competitions in New Zealand.

The three-year deal with UEFA will see the streaming giant provide live and on-demand coverage of the Champions League, Europe League, Conference League, and Super Cup.

Pete Oliver CEO of Growth Markets at DAZN, said, “DAZN is dedicated to bringing the best in sports entertainment to our customers in New Zealand, and the UEFA competitions, which feature some the biggest clubs and greatest players in world football, are a compelling addition to our premium content offering.”

Genius Sports, a London-based sports data and technology firm, has extended its exclusive official data partnership with Football DataCo through 2029.

Since 2019, Genius Sports has been DataCo’s exclusive supplier of official low latency data from in-stadia to the sports betting industry, capturing, and distributing live data.

As part of the agreement, from season 2025/26 Genius Sports will also exclusively provide sportsbooks worldwide with official Player Market Data, powering a wide range of pre-game and in-play betting opportunities such as number of shots on target, assists, pass completions and more that are indispensable to offering high margin bet builder products.

Mark Locke, CEO of Genius Sports, said, “Over the last five years, our official data and technology partnership with Football DataCo has been transformational to the growth of Genius Sports. This renewal underpins our continued business expansion and fuels the trajectory of our medium-term financial outlook. Going forward, we expect the partnership to act as a flywheel to drive further innovation and value for our sportsbook partners”.

Extreme E has announced a new broadcast partnership with Australian public broadcaster SBS.

The collaboration will bring the electric off-road racing series to a wide Australian audience through both free-to-air and digital platforms.

Ali Russell, Managing Director of Extreme E, commented, “We are excited to announce our partnership with SBS, a leader in delivering diverse and high-quality content to Australian audiences. This new collaboration is crucial for our reach and engagement in Australia, and we hope that our dedicated fanbase across the country enjoys our action-packed motorsport series.”

UK-based athlete representation agency Summit Sports has announced the addition of Muay Thai fighter Jake “The One” Peacock to its combat sports vertical.

With a professional record of 13-1 with 11 winning finishes in his professional fights, British born Canadian citizen Peacock has already amassed honours including a European Championship, North American Championship and WBC Muay Thai Canadian Championship.

Jake Peacock, commented, “I’m thrilled to announce my signing with Summit Sports. Team Peacock just got a whole lot stronger and together we are going to do things that others only dream about.”

Oliver Weingarten, Co-founder and CEO, added, “As soon as I had my first meting with Jake, I was inspired by him. He has used his disability to his advantage, forging a successful sporting career, letting obstacles be no excuse to fulfilling his dream. Winning the contract with One Championship came through hard work, grit and determination, and I know Jake has aspirations to be world champion.”

Peacock has joined Summit Sports at a time the company is expanding into MMA, and announced at the weekend it is working with 16 year old MMA fighter, Rocco Bernstein, who is competing this week at the Youth World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Global sports agency 54 has partnered with Creator Sports Network (CSN) to help ‘drive commercial value for rights holders and brands seeking to tap into the ways younger audiences across the world are consuming live sports content.’

The news sees 54 become a strategic investor in CSN and its network of premier content creators. Over the past year, CSN has engaged new and younger audiences at scale, by providing a toolkit for creators to develop their own streaming broadcast network and ‘engineering a dynamic ecosystem that benefits rights holders, creators, and fans alike.’

Jed Moore, Group CEO of 54, said, “The consumption and content distribution landscapes continue to evolve at a rapid pace. We see many new opportunities emerging and, in CSN, have found a common outlook in how to optimize access for fans through trusted and valuable sources. The team at CSN have a proven track record and have quickly impressed in how their approach will differentiate impact for partners and create new value.”