Major League Rugby has announced a new partnership with UK sports equipment brand Gilbert.
The deal sees Gilbert become the new official ball of the US professional rugby union competition.
As part of the agreement, Major League Rugby has also partnered with Sportable, a British company that develops wearable tracking technology.
Sportable is set to provide each nationally broadcast Major League Rugby Gilbert ball with a unique data tracking device that will measure speed, distance travelled and other unique metrics.
Nic Benson, Chief Executive Officer of Major League Rugby, said, “This partnership with Gilbert and Sportable further establishes Major League Rugby as a leader in American professional sports, demonstrating our commitment to unlocking the potential of technology in our matches.”
“The Gilbert x Sportable Smart Ball will provide unparalleled data findings in real time to deliver to our fans new engaging insights on the game, while holding future potential to enhance team training and referee assessments. We are thrilled that Major League Rugby is at the forefront of this movement.”
Leicester City and its Danish goalkeeper Mads Hermansen has appointed communications specialists Soapbox London.
The deal will see the agency take care of the goalkeeper’s PR and digital strategy.
Rowan Wilkinson, Managing Partner of Soapbox, said, “We’re hugely excited to work with Mads who we’ve been following closely for some time now. He is one of the most exciting young goalkeeping talents in Europe and has the full package on and off the pitch.”
“He has been guided fantastically by his agent Marc Nygaard at PPM and we look forward to supporting Mads grow his media presence both domestically and internationally.”
Badminton England has announced Gateley as its official legal partner.
The professional services group will join forces with the sport’s national governing body to deliver discounted legal services exclusively to Badminton England, its member clubs and coaching network.
Jenny Clark, Commercial Director at Badminton England, said, “It was really important that a legal partnership was able to deliver value to every tier of the sport.
“The new partnership with Gateley has been developed with our new strategy and focus on inclusion right at its heart.
“I am confident that the benefits this relationship will deliver will have a positive impact across the badminton community. I’m looking forward to working closely with Gateley this year and in the future.”
EFL League Two football club Swindon Town has been issued a financial penalty of £2,000 alongside a three-transfer window fee restriction.
The punishment has been delivered as a result of the club accumulating 30 days or more of late payments in the current 12-month period.
The club opted to appeal both the fine and fee restriction on the basis that the sanction was disproportionate to the offence committed by the club. The matter was referred to an independent Disciplinary Commission.
On review of the case, the Commission has determined that the three-transfer window fee restriction should be reduced to two with the second window (August 2024) suspended and triggered upon a further breach. The club is still required to pay the £2,000 fine.
UK sports marketing agency The Space Between Sports has announced that Ben Goldhagen as Head of Social.
Goldhagen has experience working at DAZN, adidas, the F2 Freestylers, H&K Strategies and FrankPR and has worked on global campaigns featuring personalities from across the world of sport and entertainment such as Leo Messi, David Beckham and Stormzy.
He has also worked with brands and organisations such as MLS, the NFL, Nike, Monster Energy, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Subscribe to the Sport Industry Daily for regular updates on the biggest stories and latest news in the sport industry.
SKY SERVES CUSTOMERS BRAND NEW CHANNEL
