Shorts: Legends Team Cup, Bath Rugby, Leicester Tigers

Warner Bros. Discovery has secured exclusive European rights for the new international tennis event, the Legends Team Cup.

The tournament brings together former stars of the game including Dominic Thiem, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Feliciano Lopez, Sam Querrey, and Diego Schwartzman.

WBD Sports Europe will offer live and exclusive coverage of all seven tournaments taking place in 2025 on its streaming platforms including HBO Max and discovery+. Throughout the 2025 calendar, the tour will also take place across Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

A Legends Team Cup highlights show will also be shown on Eurosport across Europe, and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland following each event.

Each of the seven tournaments spans three days, with two teams competing in a series of two singles matches and one doubles match per day. The teams are competing to lift the Björn Borg Trophy, named in honour of the tournament patron, and with a total prize pool of £12m on offer.

The competition is made up of three teams, each spearheaded by one of the captains Carlos Moya, James Blake, and Mark Philippoussis.

Marten Hedlund, President of Legends Team Cup, said, “I’ve long had the belief that there should be more opportunities for tennis players to extend their careers once they retire from the ATP Tour, and that is what we are providing with the Legends Team Cup.

“This is a new chapter in the history of tennis, one where legends can continue to inspire, compete and connect with fans worldwide.”

Bath Rugby’s victory over Leicester Tigers in the Premiership final on 15th June 2025 has become the league’s most-watched game ever.

A combined average audience of 973,000 viewers watched the title-decider across pay-TV channel TNT Sports and commercial network ITV1. The game recorded a cumulative peak audience of 1.26 million viewers.

TNT Sports has seen a 15 per cent increase for average viewership on last year’s final, while free-to-air channel ITV has also seen a ten per cent year-over-year audience boost.

The combined audience share for the game on both channels was 16.5 per cent.

This follows TNT Sports having confirmed an extension of its rights deal with Premiership Rugby, which will run until the end of the 2030/31 campaign. The agreement, which includes every game from the competition, is reportedly valued at £200m, which is understood to be a significant uplift on the current two-year deal expiring after next season.

Simon Massie-Taylor, Premiership Rugby Chief Executive, said, “To sell out general admission tickets before either finalist club had been determined, for the first time in our history, is a testament to the unrivalled matchday experience and special family day out that the final offers fans of all ages.”

Leicester Tigers have announced a long-term kit partnership with performance sportswear brand Castore.

Under the terms of the agreement, Castore has become the official kit supplier to Leicester Tigers, providing playing kit, training wear, and athleisure for the men’s, women’s, wheelchair and academy squads.

The first range of products is set to be launched in August, ahead of the new season.

As part of the partnership, Castore will oversee kit manufacturing and the club’s physical and online retail operations. Supporters will also be able to purchase the new range in person at Castore’s Leicester Highcross store.

The agreement represents Castore’s continued investment in elite rugby, bringing the number of Gallagher Premiership clubs under its banner to five, also supplying Saracens, Bath, Harlequins and Exeter Chiefs.

Castore also announced a partnership with England Rugby in April, ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Andrea Pinchen, Leicester Tigers Chief Executive Officer, said, “We join a list of clubs that will benefit from their investment in rugby and, throughout the process, have been extremely impressed by the quality of the range that our players and fans will have available to them.”

The British & Irish Lions have partnered with Kitman Labs for their third successive Tour.

The rugby union side is using the performance intelligence company’s data and analytics platform for the 2025 Tour to Australia.

The Lions will utilise Kitman Labs’ Performance Medicine and Performance Optimisation Solutions during their tour to Australia this summer.

The Intelligence Platform combines medical and performance data into a single system to support clinical governance, injury surveillance, and player management.

The Kitman Labs Intelligence Platform is also currently used independently by England’s Rugby Football Union and the Irish Rugby Football Union.

The company recently expanded its partnership with the RFU to cover senior teams and academies in Premiership Rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby, and the Championship.

Stephen Smith, CEO & Founder of Kitman Labs, said, “We’re excited that Kitman Labs will be used by The British & Irish Lions for the third successive Tour.

“Working with the IRFU and the RFU has shown us that rugby union is fully embracing the application of data and technology and this is another example of rugby organisations uniting to unlock player health and performance outcomes on the regional, national and international stages.”

Global sportswear brand Champion has announced a new multi-year deal with Irish fighter Katie Taylor.

The partnership has included a limited-edition KT Reverse Weave t-shirt paying tribute to her career, as well as a bespoke fight kit and team gear for the Serrano encounter.

The collaboration will lead to the launch later this year of a next-generation combat sports range, shaped by insights from Taylor.

Following the signing in May of UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall, this collaboration has reinforced Champion’s commitment to the world of combat sports.

“Every boxer dreams of being a Champion and I was no different as a child.

“I’ve been lucky enough to realise those dreams over the years in the amateurs at world level and the Olympics and now as a professional boxer in becoming a two weight Undisputed Champion so to partner with Champion just seems like the perfect fit,” said Taylor.

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