Shorts: Northampton Saints, Two Circles, DAZN

Gallagher Premiership rugby union club Northampton Saints has announced Shurtape UK as its official DIY tape partner.

Shurtape is a manufacturer and marketer of adhesive tape, as well as consumer home and office products, including T-REX Tape, FrogTape and Duck Tape.

T-REX will be the lead brand for the partnership, with permanent in-stadium branding appearing on the front of the terraces in the Carlsberg Stand at cinch Stadium.

Northampton Saints’ Head of Commercial Partnerships, Ulundi Makhanya, said, “We’re thrilled to have secured a new partnership with Shurtape.

“Shurtape’s products are found across the world, with the company based in the United Kingdom, United States, South America, Middle East, Nordic Region, Asia and Australasia.

“It’s fantastic for us to link-up with this global brand and we’re looking forward to finding innovative ways to showcase Shurtape’s range of products to our supporters – with our track record of building meaningful and long-term relationships with all our partners, we’re confident this will be a partnership that sticks!”

London-based sports marketing agency Two Circles has launched its Diversity in Sports Internship Programme, an initiative to help accelerate greater diversity and inclusion in the sports industry.

The range of six-month, paid internships – developed in partnership with Two Circles clients including Arsenal, Six Nations and the MCC – are targeted at individuals who have faced barriers breaking into the sports industry, from age, beliefs, sexuality, race, disability or gender, to financial, geographical, health, family or lifestyle challenges.

The first internships will be offered throughout 2023 and cover a variety of disciplines, including content creation, social media management, marketing, PR, and commercial. They will be open to current members and alumni of Diversity in Sports, which concluded its third year on Wednesday at a celebration event at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

Two Circles CEO Gareth Balch said, “We believe the sports industry will perform at its best when it’s representative of the audience it serves, and these internship opportunities will help even more deserving, talented people realise their career ambitions. We’d like to thank our clients for supporting us and the industry on the journey to greater representation.”

Global sports and marketing platform DAZN and digital cybersecurity platform Irdeto have extended their deal to include anti-piracy and multi-digital rights management (DRM) provision services.

The streaming platform has used Irdeto’s digital assets management and protection expertise since 2020, and the company is now also primary multi-DRM provider.

The new agreement will look to help DAZN identify new piracy activities, sale of counterfeit products, and analyse emerging market trends to implement best practice.

DAZN’s own anti-piracy team working alongside Irdeto.

David Souza has been announced as the new Head of Communications at international esports betting platform Luckbox.

Regarding his appointment, Souza said, “Esports betting is a really exciting industry and I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Luckbox. I look forward to sharing how Luckbox is growing and innovating across the esports betting landscape.”

Souza moves into the new role from the ESL Pro League’s Commissioner Office, where he served as the organisation’s Director of Communications.