Shorts: Wigan, Derby, Extreme E
Wigan Athletic and Wigan Warriors have both announced Ticketmaster Sport as their new official ticketing provider.
Launching in early 2024, the new ticket service provided by Ticketmaster will enable fans to create a free account for each club that allows ‘straightforward ticketing transactions to take place for both home and away games.’
Ben Goodburn, Chairman of Wigan Athletic, said, “We’re delighted to partner with Ticketmaster Sport as our new ticketing service provider. The transition to Ticketmaster represents a key strategic priority for the clubs and for our supporters.
“We hope this positive action demonstrates that we are listening to our supporters and implementing measures to take the club forward. Whilst we know that we have a transitional phase to overcome during the coming weeks, I’m confident that all our fans will benefit from Ticketmaster’s world-class ticketing technology in the long term”.
Kris Radlinski, Chief Executive Officer of Wigan Warriors, added, “We are excited to be launching a new ticketing system. The new system is well suited for our wider aspirations for the DW Stadium and Robin Park Arena to support our non-matchday objectives to deliver a wider range of community-focused events on the Robin Park campus”.
EFL League One football club Derby County has announced videogame developer Bulkhead as its sleeve sponsor for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign.
The Bulkhead logo adorned the sleeve of the Rams’ shirt for the first time when the club beat Burton Albion 3-2 on Monday 15th January.
As well as the men’s first team, the deal spans the women’s first teams and men’s under-21’s too.
Joe Brammer, Chief Executive Officer of Bulkhead, said, “Video games is one of the biggest industries in the world. Bulkhead are the underdogs in video games, just how we like it in Derby.
“We’ve been here for over a decade and kept a low profile. But we are proud to make video games in Derby. We love this city, so it’s time for us to get better connected with our community and start shouting about the great things coming out of Derby and there is no better way to do that than by backing the Rams.”
Stephen Pearce, Chief Executive Officer at Derby County, added, “The partnership with Bulkhead is another example of the club’s appeal to a local and successful enterprise demonstrably pushing the boundaries of its business far and wide whilst championing the city.
“We look forward to seeing Bulkhead on the shirt sleeves of the Men’s First and Under-21 Teams and the Women’s First Team, and during matchdays on the recently upgraded stadium videowalls, scoreboard screen and LED ribbon for the remainder of the season and look forward to welcoming them into the football community.”
Extreme E has extended its broadcast agreement with Virgin Media Television.
As per the deal, the electric off-road racing series will remain on the broadcaster in Ireland for two more years.
Extreme E has been brought to Irish audiences by Virgin Media Television since 2021.
Ali Russell, Managing Director of Extreme E, said, “We are already into our fourth instalment of Extreme E and are thrilled to have Virgin Media Television extend their association with our championship.
“Extreme E and Virgin Media Television have worked together to provide Irish viewers with an action-packed, entertaining racing product from across the globe and it is great news that we will be continuing our journey together.”
Mike McCaffrey, Head of News and Sport at Virgin Media Television, added, “We are delighted to continue showcasing Extreme E in Ireland. Virgin Media Television viewers have already enjoyed three seasons of fantastic racing action and we look forward to giving them a front row seat once more.”
EFL Championship football club Sheffield Wednesday has opened a new gaming facility at its 34,835-capacity Hillsborough Stadium.
In collaboration with several partners, the area will be used by Owls Esports — Sheffield Wednesday’s esports branch of the club — to develop its players and staff.
Rob Hawden, Esports Executive at Sheffield Wednesday football club, said, “I am immensely proud to have played a part in delivering this new facility. The aim was always to create a venue here at Hillsborough in which we can create a sustainable grassroots platform.
“This will enable us to build not just a new club brand in Owls Esports, but to help us find and develop our very own esports players and staff of the future. We are excited to see what the future holds in this space!”
Fulham FC has partnered with football business intelligence provider Off The Pitch.
The collaboration, that runs until the end of the 2023/24 campaign, will see Off The Pitch integrate its player salary and asset tools, M&A tracker, and financial database, alongside providing email subscription services to the club.
Mads Meisner Christensen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Off The Pitch, said, “This agreement marks another significant achievement for Off The Pitch in its mission to provide football clubs with advanced business data for better decision-making. Working alongside Fulham FC, a club renowned for its rich history and forward-looking aspirations, is an honour.”
Andrew Tighe, Financial Director at Fulham Football Club, added, “We have subscribed to the Off The Pitch newsletter for some time, every morning receiving a wide range of relevant articles on what is happening in the football industry.
“Through this relationship we have gained access to the data analytics dashboards. These will be beneficial to us from an analysis perspective in terms of financial benchmarking, analysis of player trading and tracking M&A investments into football. We also look forward to integrating the player salary tool, which is very useful for benchmarking and assessing player salaries throughout European football. We look forward to working collaboratively with the experienced team at Off The Pitch throughout the deal.”
Sport for development charity Greenhouse Sports has appointed New Reach PR to ‘drive positive media profile in 2024.’
Greenhouse Sports is a charity that uses sports coaching and mentoring to empower young people who are facing disadvantage and help them to unlock their full potential.
Ben Wyatt, Head of Communications at Greenhouse Sports’, said, “We are delighted to have Nick and New Reach joining our ‘Team for Life’ to support our urgent need and ambitious goals to reach a wider and influential audience and affect real change for the young people and communities Greenhouse Sports coaches support. The rising tide of poverty in the UK is increasing the mental, physical and emotional burden on the young people’s development. Pressures that our coaches work to alleviate day in and day out.
“New Reach have expertise and a proven track record in delivering extensive media engagement and landing the narratives and storylines to evidence how sport and the kind of work Greenhouse Sports does has a lasting and transformational effect on young people, their families and society as a whole.”
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment has celebrated its 20th anniversary by unveiling a new strategic and report into the future of passion marketing.
The London-based agency has revealed that its recently commissioned research showed that 63% of people use their passions to engage with others, leading M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment to launch Passion Pulse, its new ‘strategic arm’.
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment’sManaging Director, Laura Coller, commented, “Twenty years ago we were the first agency to fuse the worlds of sport and entertainment. Then we were the first to adopt a positioning around passions. As we move into the next twenty years, we’ll continue pioneering approaches that enable brands to better connect with consumers whose behaviour towards their passions is constantly and rapidly evolving.”
“This demands a shift in how we look at audience needs and we believe there has been a demonstrable move away from the tropes of traditional fandom, towards what we call Fancom. Away from mass homogenised groups following a single attitude and towards communities coalescing around intersectional interests and behaviours.”
“For brands, that’s a minimum of between 4 and 7 different opportunities to connect, and with the study highlighting that fans have an overall commitment score of 8.4 out of 10 to their passions these opportunities are too good to miss, which is why I’m proud to launch Passion Pulse, an expanded strategic offer comprising the brightest thinkers at the heart of sport and entertainment culture.”
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