Shorts: Rangers, Gymshark, Fulham

Rangers have agreed a new deal with Elior as the SPFL football club’s food and beverage partner.

The deal sees Elior assume responsibility for all food and beverage for matchday hospitality, non-matchday conferences and events, the Ibox Restaurant, matchday retail and Edmiston House.

Rangers had previously partnered with Azure Support Services, part of Elior UK in 2011. The five-year deal placed Azure as the cleaning and catering partner at Ibrox Stadium and Rager’s training facility, Murray Park.

The new deal, which aims ‘to enhance the fan experience at Ibox’, will see Elior consult with season ticket holders and hospitality guests to improve the offering.

Karim Virani, Rangers’ Chief Commercial Officer said, “Elior’s long term commitment to the club with an extremely strong commercial proposition shows their ambition and stands the club in strong stead for the future too.

As a commercial department, we are continuing to push the boundaries to secure the best deals for the club and for our supporters, and we believe this new deal does just that.”

Gymshark, the UK-based fitness wear brand, is set to open a new store in Dubai, its first permanent retail location outside of the UK.

After confirming a deal with franchise Al Tayer Insignia the new store will open at the end of the year in the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world by total gross land area.

It will be the gym wear giant’s third store, following the opening of its original flagship store on Regent Street in 2022 and its recent summer launch at Westfield Stratford City shopping centre.

The arrival of the first physical store in the Middle East follows the launch of localized ecommerce services in the region, with a dual-language site and app.

Gymshark founder and CEO Ben Francis, said, “We’ve known for a while that Gymshark is expanding its omnichannel strategy and we would be looking outside the shores of the UK”.

“So, when Al Tayer Insignia presented us with the opportunity to take a space in one of the world’s most visited malls in a city that is so obsessed with fitness, combined the phenomenal reaction to the launch of our localized online store in the Middle East, we knew we had to take it.”

Fulham have signed up IUX as the club’s new official trading partner.

The multi-year agreement with IUX, facilitated by SportQuake, marks IUX’s first ever sports partnership.

Throughout the course of the contract, IUX and the men’s first team players will collaborate ‘to create content, increase personal experiences including hospitality events at Craven Cottage and Fulham FC Business Club.’

Jon Don-Carolis, Commercial Director at Fulham said, ‘‘We are delighted to welcome IUX, as our new CFD Trading Partner. We look forward to developing our partnership and are excited to help promote the IUX brand on a global level.”

IUX’s Board of Directions, said, “We have a shared ambition to continue to innovate in the coming years and to meet and exceed our goals. Our intention is to lead the market while maintaining our commitment to customer satisfaction.

“We look forward to an exciting period for the company and for Marco Silva’s team in the 2024-25 season.”

Blackpool FC have relaunched its lottery partnership with National Youth & Community Development Association (NYDCA).

The revitalised weekly-draw partnership nicknamed ‘Tangerine 53’ gives fans the opportunity to win a top prize of £1,000 every week for as little as £1 a week via the NYCDA weekly draw.

The partnership helps to raise funding for Blackpool based youth players and community development causes of Blackpool FC’s choice.

GB Taekwondo has announced the launch of a new campaign to create opportunities for new athletes to join GB Taekwondo ahead of the Paralympics heading to LA in 2028.

The programme also aims to provide a path for individuals with upper-limb impairments to join the sport.

Aimed at parties from the age of 15 and up, Fighterbility has been described as a a call to action for those able to compete at K44 classification and looking to find a sporting community.

Fighterbility will help match individuals with local training centres offering inclusive Taekwondo training classes, as well as working alongside the clubs theemsleves.

Of the project, GB Taekwondo, stated, ‘This campaign is all about raising awareness of the opportunity for young people with an upper limb difference to get involved in a sport they may not have thought about before. Taekwondo is dynamic, it is combat, it encourages respect and discipline, and offers great opportunities to become part of our Academy programme and compete internationally. For anyone who has the desire, commitment and fight there is a real prospect for them to represent the nation at the Paralympic Games in LA 2028 and beyond.’