Shorts: Pto, Wembley, Whisper
The Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) has announced a new media deal with NBC Sports that will see highlight shows of all 2023 PTO Tour races shown across the United States on CNBC.
The broadcast deal, brokered by IMG, will see extended two-hour highlights show of the PTO US Open – which takes place in Milwaukee between 4th and 5th August – presented on CNBC on 6th August.
Additionally, a one-hour highlights show will be presented on CNBC ahead of September’s inaugural PTO European Open.
Nick Shakinovsky, Chief Content Officer for the PTO, said, “Having a broadcaster like NBC Sports buy into the PTO Tour proposition is a huge vote of confidence for us and validation of our strategy to show the best athletes racing against each other on a consistent basis across the season. The U.S. is always an important market for sports properties, so to be able to have our 2023 race highlights shown across the CNBC network will allow American sports fans to get a real taste of what we’re building.”
Gary Quinn, Vice President, Programming at NBC, added, “We’re excited to showcase the invigorating Triathlon competition and highlight these incredible endurance athletes as they swim, bike, and run through each event around the globe.”
Wembley Stadium has appointed London-based agency Mercieca to handle its public relations.
Mercieca was initially enlisted to support Wembley Stadium’s 100th Anniversary in April, helping to drive broadcast and national coverage, but now the relationship is set to grow.
Reporting into the Wembley communications team, the integrated agency will manage ‘proactive and reactive media enquiries across consumer and industry media.’
The aim of the partnership is to continue to build on Wembley’s reputation as a leading football stadium and further enhancing its growing-stature as a multi-purpose venue.
David Bradley, Head of Marketing and Communications at Wembley Stadium, said, “We’ve worked with Mercieca over the years across Club Wembley and more recently our Wembley 100 campaign. They have a great approach that combines creativity with commercial thinking and are incredibly well networked.
“We’re kicking off a huge season at the stadium with the FA Community Shield, multiple England games, AEW Elite Wrestling, NFL with Jacksonville Jaguars, and a host of world-class music stars in 2024. With so much to talk about, we wanted to enlist additional agency support, and based on their network, flexibility, creativity, and desire to achieve great results, we felt Mercieca were the ideal agency for us.”
Gemma Oakes, PR Director at Mercieca, added, “We’re happy to be working with the wider Wembley Stadium team in what is going to be another exciting season of sport and entertainment. Now in its 100th anniversary year, Wembley is such an iconic venue with so much history, memorable moments, and new memories to be made in the months ahead. They are keen to keep innovating, and we have some great campaigns to share over the next 12 months.”
Whisper is set to deliver the Caribbean Premier League, the region’s top-tier domestic T20 cricket tournament.
The UK-based sports production firm will produce 41 matches live in total, including coverage of all 34 games in the CPL.
The tournament runs from August 16th to September 24th across five Caribbean islands as well as seven games from the women’s equivalent WCPL which takes place from August 31st to September 10th.
The live feeds will be accompanied by daily digital highlight shows, analysis, and digital content.
The new contract adds to Whisper’s growing cricket portfolio, which includes producing all West Indies and New Zealand international cricket, as well as peak-time highlights of England matches for the BBC, including this year’s Ashes.
Pete Russell, Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Premier League, said, “We are very pleased to be working with Whisper as we deliver a world-class tournament for fans in stadiums and for those watching across the globe. We know that Whisper’s fantastic team will help us to showcase the amazing cricketing talent in the Caribbean as well as showing off how the region is a must-visit location.”
Mark Cole, Managing Director at Whisper, commented, “We are delighted to partner with the team at the CPL and hugely excited about showcasing the amazing cricket and full stadiums to audiences around the world.
“Our team of cricket specialists have great experience in delivering cricket in the Caribbean and will continue to evolve the coverage.”
English Football League (EFL) One football club Blackpool FC has extended its partnership with Links Signs & Graphics ahead of the new season.
Links Signs & Graphics, established in 2007, has been involved in numerous projects at both the training ground and Bloomfield Road – Blackpool’s 16,616-seater stadium. The collaboration will now continue in the 2023/24 season.
Shaun Bennett, Managing Director of Links Signs, said, “We are delighted to continue our long-standing partnership with Blackpool Football Club.
“Our sponsorship of the new signings announcements on social media has brought some high profile exposure for the business recently, and as lifelong fans we see the benefit of working closely with the club’s commercial team. We are thoroughly looking forward to continuing this partnership and to the upcoming season.”
Martin Booker, Commercial Manager at Blackpool FC, added, “We are thankful to Links for the continuous support we receive from them – both from a sponsorship perspective but also the brilliant service they provide for the club.
“Having worked with us since 2019, Links have now increased their support as an official partner and we look forward to working with them further over the course of the coming season.”
EFL League One club Cambridge United has confirmed a one-year extension to Cambridgeshire-based firm Intelligent Membranes’ sponsorship of the Habbin Stand.
The agreement, which includes the naming rights of the stand as Intelligent Membranes Habbin Stand, will continue to see the Intelligent Membranes branding present on both sides of the stand.
Adam White, Director at Intelligent Membranes, said, “We are extremely proud to head into our third year of club sponsorship and especially happy with the Intelligent Membranes Habbin stand as we will be joined by Brewboard in the courtyard with live music each week giving the supporters a really good day out.”
Neil Rowe, Head of Commercial, added, “It has been great to see the partnership grow with Intelligent Membranes going into the third season of sponsorship. The company has fully committed to the Football Club since they joined in 2021 with sponsorship and by following the team up and down the country.”
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