MPB To Sponsor World Sports Photography Awards

MPB will become the headline partner of the 2022 World Sports Photography Awards the first major sponsor of the awards programme which is now in its third edition.

  • MPB Announced as Headline Partner for the World Sports Photography Awards in 2022
  • 2022 Campaign celebrates the best sports photography of 2021 across 26 sports categories
  • A new dedicated category and campaign added to celebrate Amateur sports photographers
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The World Sports Photography Awards, is the leading photographic competition for professional sports photographers. In its two previous editions the awards have celebrated the work of professional sports photographers around the world across multiple sporting disciplines featuring some of the world’s most famous athletes at iconic sporting events. The last edition of the awards featured a 25-year retrospective of great sports photography.

MPB is the world’s largest platform to buy, sell and trade used photography and videography kit. MPB is a destination for everyone, whether you’ve just discovered your passion for visual storytelling or you’re already a pro. MPB are loved and trusted by more than 250,000 visual storytellers around the world.

The new partnership will see a series of content developed to help photographers take better sports pictures and better understand the equipment and techniques needed. The partnership will also include the launch of a dedicated amateur sports photographer award campaign.

Last year’s winning photo – ‘Focus’ by James Gourley

Commenting on the announcement, Sophie Collins, Chief Marketing Officer, MPB said: “At MPB we are dedicated to opening up the world of visual storytelling. Sport and photography are inextricably linked. Photographers use the power of visual storytelling and the values and essence of sport to make us think differently, look again, transform and ultimately change. We look forward to sharing the amazing World Sports Photography Awards images with a wider audience and help every photographer hone their sports photography skills.”

World Sports PhotographyAwards, Co-Founder, Simon Burton added “We share a passion for sport and visual story-telling with MPB. Over the last two years we have grown and developed World SportsPhotography Awards into a prestigious and vibrant campaign with a global audience. We are very excited about the new opportunities we can now explore with MPB and look forward to sharing the very best in sports photography with more fans than ever before.”

The awards will open for entries at the end of February, with the winners being announced in June. Judges for the awards are high-profile individuals from the worlds of sport, brand, media and photography. The new amateur sports photographer awards campaign will launch after the professional awards have been announced.

MK Dons And Suzuki Extend Partnership Into A Decade

Milton Keynes Dons and Suzuki GB PLC are delighted to announce a new two-year agreement, which will see the global vehicle  manufacturer remain as the Club’s title partner until the end of  the 2023/24 season. 

This new deal, which will take the partnership to the 10-year mark, demonstrates Suzuki’s long-term commitment to the Football Club as  well as the Milton Keynes community. 

Chairman Pete Winkelman said: “We continue to be so proud of our association with Suzuki, who have been with us through thick and thin. Their backing and support through these most difficult of times is  something I will, personally, never forget. 

“The partnership not only focuses on the football and helping us provide a team that our supporters can proud of, but also the vital  work of our Sport and Education Trust and their various programmes, not least disability football. 

“I think it also demonstrates the strength of Milton Keynes, with two of the biggest names in the area working together to deliver for the  people and the community. I can only see our partnership going from strength to strength as we continue forward.” 

The Suzuki logo will remain front and centre on all MK Dons first-team and replica shirts through the next two seasons, while the partnership  continues to extend way beyond the football pitch, with Suzuki  dedicated in their support of the Milton Keynes Sport and Education  Trust.

A huge supporter of all the SET’s community initiatives, with a particular focus on disability football, Suzuki will actively encourage their  employees to involve themselves in the partnership, both in terms of attending matches at Stadium MK as well as volunteering at events,  such as the upcoming Ability Counts Day. 

Stadium MK will also provide Suzuki with the ideal facility to engage with their dealer network across the two-wheel, four-wheel, ATV and  marine divisions. 

Nobuo Suyama, Managing Director of Suzuki GB PLC, said: “Our long established sponsorship of MK Dons has again proved a successful and mutually beneficial partnership. 

“Collaborating for the next two seasons will take us to our 10th year as Title sponsor which we know provides a solid foundation on which to further our strong relationship with the club. 

“We are also proud to help maintain the support of the renowned and invaluable work that MK Dons Sport Education Trust (SET) do in the  surrounding community. 

“We are delighted to announce our further sponsorship with MK Dons; as well as reaching out to people outside our business, we also see it as  a great way of building pride and engagement with our head office staff, many of whom live in and around the city 

“Suzuki has been based in Milton Keynes for over 17 years and we are proud to be part of the area’s successful commercial sector”. 

Commercial Manager at MK Dons, Andy Wooldridge, added: “To have a  global brand like Suzuki willing to commit their support to MK Dons into a tenth year is massive for the Football Club and for Milton Keynes. 

“Our relationship with Suzuki remains so multi-faceted. Whether it is sponsoring the SET’s disability football programme or helping to support club events, they are with us every step of the way.”

He added: “At MK Dons, we take a lot of pride in working closely with  our partners to feel valued and appreciated and to ensure they reap  the benefits of associating with the Club. Our long-term partnership  with Suzuki is hopefully evidence of what an attractive proposition we  are.”

ECB Launches New Women’s & Girls’ Platform To Turbocharge The Profile Of Women’s Cricket

As the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 kicks off in New Zealand, and England Women look to defend their title, We Got Game goes live with a standalone Instagram channel and content inspired by both professional and grassroots players

We Got Game is a new platform designed to elevate the profile of women’s cricket and welcome more young women and girls into the game to drive greater gender balance. Hosted on a new Instagram channel, @wegotgameofficial aims to unite a community of like-minded young women and girls to share their passions both on and off the pitch.

Following record breaking attendances and TV viewing figures of The Hundred’s women’s competition last summer, the launch of We Got Game marks the next phase of progression for women’s cricket. It illustrates the ECB’s long-term commitment to change the way that girls see the game, supported by strategic investment and proactive interventions to make cricket more welcoming to women and girls from the grassroots to the highest level.

This is the first time the ECB has created a standalone women’s cricket channel, which will help to illustrate the societal, mental wellbeing and physical benefits of cricket to young women and girls. Currently only 10% of girls aged 14-24 are doing enough sport to benefit their health* and as they hit puberty there is a 30% drop-off in self-confidence**. Cricket is in a unique position to help address this through the supportive team environment you play in, with each member requiring different skills and abilities, and where individuality is very much needed and celebrated.

In the long-term, We Got Game is aiming to help redress the balance between the number of boys and girls playing cricket. As it stands, one in ten clubs across England and Wales have a girls’ section and girls make up 27% of sign-ups to ECB’s national participation programmes. In the first year of We Got Game, the ECB is aiming to increase girls sign ups to All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket by 25% from the previous year.

“Being part of a supportive team means being completely free to express myself, it’s one of the things I love most about playing cricket,” said England Women’s player Kate Cross. “When we win, we celebrate together, when we lose, we stick together, we lift each other up. We know what we need from each other because we’re like a family. We Got Game is an extension of that, it’s our community. We want young women and girls everywhere to know that our game is a place where, whoever you are, you’ll be accepted and supported, and your confidence can grow. You can be who you are. We want everyone to feel welcome.”

Developed in direct collaboration with the England Women’s team, the launch of We Got Game kicks off a game-changing year for women’s cricket in this country, which includes the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup starting in New Zealand this week, followed this summer by the Commonwealth Games, The Hundred and home series against South Africa and India – with the latter culminating in a One Day International at Lord’s on 24 September.

Clare Connor, Managing Director of Women’s Cricket at ECB, said: “This year the opportunity for women’s cricket is greater than just winning trophies, it’s about grabbing hold of moments to raise the profile of women’s cricket, making cricket accessible, more culturally diverse and more relevant to every young woman and girl across England and Wales. That’s why the time is perfect to launch We Got Game and encourage more young women and girls to believe that cricket is a game for them.”

Transforming women’s & girls’ cricket is one of six priorities outlined in the ECB’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ strategy for 2020 – 2024, supported by £50m investment in the women’s game by 2025. The roadmap to activating this is laid out in the Transform Women’s & Girls’ Cricket Action Plan (launched 2019) and direct investment has significantly accelerated the development of the women’s game over the past few years. Evidence of success and future ambitions around four key areas of performance, participation, profile, and pathway include:

  • The launch of The Hundred accelerated the profile of the women’s game, with record-breaking attendances (267k across women’s games) and viewership for the women’s competition (1.6m people tuned in to the opening game making it the most watched women’s cricket match on the BBC ever).
  • The salary budget for The Hundred women’s competition has been doubled for year two taking it from £1m in 2021 to £2m in 2022, with a commitment to equal prize money for the men’s and women’s competitions.
  • Girls can now aspire to a career in cricket with professional domestic contracts now in place
  • Over 28,000 girls participated in the ECB’s national programmes All Stars Cricket and Dynamos Cricket (5-11 year-olds) in 2021, making up 27% of the total – an 87% increase compared with 2019.
  • 512,000 under-16s played cricket in an average week in 2020-21, 34% of which were girls, a new record in girls’ participation***.
  • Investment in facilities across the recreational game is a top priority – all funding programmes have a focus on environments that are welcoming to women and girls – with £3.5m allocated per year for five years.

The England women’s team start their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign against Australia on 5th March.

To see all the goings on, on and off the pitch and be part of the new We Got Game community, follow them on Instagram @wegotgameofficial.

ROTOR Named Official Development Partner Of World Triathlon

World Triathlon continues its mission to develop the sport around the world through a new partnership with ROTOR at the start of the 2022 season. ROTOR, the bike component specialists, work with core technologies to help improve cycling performance, and will provide World Triathlon Development with 15 complete power meters for each year of the agreement for specific use such as training camps.

As part of the agreement, ROTOR will also provide technical support for development athletes at World Triathlon Championship Series races, all with the goal of helping them improve their cycling performance.

The meters can take the key metrics of pedal smoothness, torque effectiveness, left/right balance, optimum chainring angle and torque 360 to help improve an athlete’s technique and body position.

“There is no doubt that the ability to record and analyse cycling data with specialists can unlock an athlete’s cycling potential and help them achieve their goals,” said World Triathlon President Marisol Casado.

“At a time when technological advancements and data are seeing the world’s biggest athletes and most established national federations push the envelope in terms of what and how they can be measured and improved, the new partnership with ROTOR will allow us to bring similar analysis and the subsequent performance benefits to those hailing from smaller and developing triathlon countries.”

“ROTOR is proud to begin working with World Triathlon as an Official Development Partner. Our experience in the development of high-performance technology products will serve to continue the path that, since our origins, has always linked us to professional athletes of the highest level around the world. It is also an important challenge for us to help top-level triathletes achieve their goals, especially in the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics”, said ROTOR Bike Components CEO, José Luis García-Alegre.

Argentine Football Association Joins Forces With OneFootball To Bring Original Content To Fans Around The World

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) and the world’s largest football media platform, OneFootball, have signed a global agreement to bring original content from the Argentine Football Association to fans around the world. All the editorial content published on the official AFA website will now also be available on the OneFootball website and app and the AFA is the first Federation in Latin America to fully partner with OneFootball.

The AFA, home to some of the biggest names in world football, including Lionel Messi and Angel Di María, as well as legends like Diego Maradona, is the first Federation in Latin America to partner with OneFootball. The platform will offer fans all the latest content from the AFA, including news, statistics, and match results, all in Spanish, ensuring maximum reach and a personalised experience for local and international fans. AFA news will appear in the user’s news stream as official content and will be identified with the AFA logo.

This innovative content partnership will allow the AFA to access OneFootball’s vast community, offering fans original Federation content wherever they are, with no restrictions.

Users will also have the option to receive breaking news alerts from the AFA via notifications. This will help the Federation to reach its fans in real time, while also ensuring high visibility of news aimed directly at followers. 

With a global audience of more than 100 million monthly active users, OneFootball is the most popular digital football platform for the new generation of young football fans. AFA content will also be uploaded to the OneFootball Publisher Network of over 110 premium publishers.

This announcement marks the beginning of an important long-term partnership between OneFootball and the AFA, which will see the two organisations working closely together to transform the football experience for fans. OneFootball has ambitious plans to give Argentinean fans more access and more ownership, bringing them even closer to the sport they love, with further details to be unveiled soon. These strategic partnership announcements will continue and follow aggregate investments to support these plans, including collaborating with technology leaders, specialists, and innovators to deliver entirely new ways to engage with fans.

In relation to this new agreement, Claudio Tapia, President of AFA stated:

“This strategic agreement with OneFootball allows us to continue with our digital expansion globally, offering a direct communication channel to fans and the brands that accompany us. AFA is a brand with a strong global presence that, for some time now, has experienced international growth and commercial expansion hand in hand with leading and innovative brands, such as OneFootball. This alliance that begins today will undoubtedly bring, in the short term, new and innovative additional releases for all fans of the Argentine National Team in a year as important as the one that has begun.

Tom Mueller, VP Partnerships, at OneFootball, said:

“Argentina is a hugely passionate footballing nation and we’re thrilled to be making the Argentine Football Association our first Federation partner in Latin America. In joining the OneFootball network, official content from the AFA will now reach a new audience of young football fans in Argentina, and millions more around the world. Our ambition is to bring fans worldwide closer to the teams they love. We’re delighted that the AFA is joining us on this journey and can’t wait to bring more football news from Argentina to our community.”

MLS Announces Multi-Year Partnership With DoorDash

Major League Soccer announced today a multi-year partnership with DoorDash as the official on-demand delivery platform of MLS, MLS NEXT, and eMLS.

To kick off the partnership, MLS NEXT and DoorDash are launching “MLS NEXT Delivering Access presented by DoorDash,” aimed to empower the next generation of soccer stars. Starting with the 2022-23 season, DoorDash and MLS NEXT – MLS’ youth development program that provides the highest level of training and competition for youth soccer players in the U.S. and Canada – will activate their shared commitment to the advancement of the sport for all by creating equal opportunities associated with playing at an elite level.

By uncovering stories of exceptional self-sacrifice by members of the soccer community, MLS NEXT Delivering Access presented by DoorDash will provide $150,000 of annual relief to soccer communities across the MLS NEXT ecosystem. Clubs will have the opportunity to submit stories to a select review board reflecting the grassroots efforts made by players, staff, families, and local businesses. Up to six MLS NEXT clubs will be selected to receive a maximum of $25,000, which will help provide training, equipment, and more.

“Major League Soccer is extremely proud to partner with DoorDash – an extraordinary company that shares our passion for innovation and commitment to providing opportunities in the sport of soccer through MLS NEXT,” said Carter Ladd, MLS Executive Vice President of Brand Alliances and Consumer Products. “At an incredible time of growth for MLS and the game in the U.S. and Canada, DoorDash will be a dedicated and forward-thinking collaborator with us on initiatives to provide support to future soccer stars and their communities. We welcome DoorDash as the Official On-Demand Delivery Platform Partner of MLS, MLS NEXT, and eMLS, and we look forward to working with them for many years throughout this momentous period for soccer and MLS.”

“We are proud to partner with Major League Soccer to further connect with the soccer community, while mobilizing to activate against our shared values of providing access and empowering local communities,” said David Bornoff, DoorDash’s Head of Brand Marketing. “This partnership will further enable us to use our platform and resources to help the next generation of soccer players transcend boundaries, and we look forward to working with MLS to create authentic experiences for fans this season and beyond.”

DoorDash is also partnering with DeAndre Yedlin, a star defender with Inter Miami CF of MLS, as he shares his own inspirational journey to playing professional soccer.

“Soccer has played an integral role in my life, and I’m thrilled to partner with DoorDash as they kick off with MLS to champion future generations of soccer stars everywhere,” said Yedlin. “As someone who intimately knows the barriers that playing on a competitive level can pose, I’m honored to team up with DoorDash and MLS NEXT to share my story and play an active role in making the sport more accessible for all.”

Over the course of the partnership, in addition to collaborating on meaningful support for young soccer players, MLS and DoorDash will bring unique, authentic experiences to fans at major events such as the MLS All-Star Game, MLS Cup, and eMLS season competitions.

beIN SPORTS Secures World Athletics Rights In MENA

beIN MEDIA GROUP (“beIN”) and World Athletics have agreed an exciting new deal for the broadcast of all World Athletics events, including the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships in Oregon and Budapest respectively, across 24 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a 2-year deal.

The World Athletics Championships Oregon22 get under way on July 15 and it’s one of five events being broadcast on beIN SPORTS this year. Athletics fans won’t have to wait long for the first event of the agreement, with the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships taking place in Muscat, Oman on March 4 and 5.

beIN SPORTS will broadcast coverage in Arabic and English with highlights and clips available on beINSPORTS.com and on beIN’s social media channels.

Mohammad Al-Subaie, CEO of beIN MENA, said:

“We are delighted to welcome back World Athletics coverage to beIN SPORTS’. It’s another fantastic addition to our wide ranging and exciting broadcast rights portfolio in MENA.

“At beIN, we are always looking at ways in which we can deliver sports entertainment to the full spectrum of diverse fans across the MENA region and World Athletics adds another string to the bow of our world class offering to subscribers.”

Sebastian Coe, World Athletics President said:

“It’s exciting for us to reach a ground-breaking agreement with beIN Sports that will provide unprecedented coverage of our World Athletics Series events across the Middle East and North Africa over the next two years when we have ten major events in the schedule, including two World Athletics Championships.

“This will provide a feast of top-class athletics for beIN’s subscribers, across both linear and digital platforms, starting this week with the Race Walking Team Championships in Muscat. We’re confident that having our sport shown by the biggest broadcaster in the MENA region will boost our fanbase in this fast-developing part of the world.” 

Hologic Partners With The WTA Tour In Landmark Title Sponsorship

The WTA and Hologic today jointly announced a landmark partnership introducing Hologic as the global title sponsor of the WTA Tour.

The multi-year alliance, the largest global sponsorship in WTA history and Hologic’s first worldwide sponsorship, aims to achieve significant progress through a shared vision of greater wellness and equality for women. The groundbreaking partnership allows both organizations to rally around their collective mission to champion women while modernizing their respective industries of healthcare and sports.

As one of the world’s top medical technology innovators, Hologic focuses primarily on improving women’s health and wellbeing. That includes industry-leading products in every category of its business: diagnostics, imaging systems, and surgical devices. Hologic’s areas of emphasis include state-of-the-art preventive care, reducing disparities in healthcare access and education, and unique research that helps countries worldwide better prioritize women’s health.

“Hologic and the WTA come together with a collective purpose as pioneering advocates for women,” said Hologic Chairman, President, and CEO Steve MacMillan. “We are proud to stand with the WTA in its commitment to the highest integrity and values. Ultimately, our partnership allows us to jointly raise the profile of women even higher and to share the importance of early detection and treatment with women across the world.”

https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1499353906312355843?s=20&t=CWzan_bIq3kXqBzO8hmSAA

Hologic’s sponsorship also affirms the continued growth of women’s tennis and the strong brand values the WTA embodies. “From the start, we knew Hologic was the right partner,” said WTA President Micky Lawler. “As we embark on a new era of women breaking barriers and understanding how imperative our health is to reach our full potential, Hologic joins the WTA family at a pivotal time. Reflecting on the passion we both share for women’s equality around the world, I look forward to the meaningful change this partnership will spark for our athletes, sport, and fans.”

“As a professional athlete who relies on my health to perform at the highest level, I’m excited that Hologic has partnered with the WTA,” said Ashleigh Barty, WTA World No. 1. “Hologic’s initiative to invest in women’s tennis shows its commitment to women’s health and women’s sport. I look forward to playing on the Hologic WTA Tour and the impact this partnership will generate for women globally.”

Hologic will be integrated into the WTA across all platforms, including net signage at all WTA tournaments and virtual advertising at WTA 1000 and 500 events. As the official health partner of the WTA, Hologic becomes the founding partner of Hologic WTA Labs, a WTA initiative focused on health innovation and research-based projects specific to female athletes. Hologic and the WTA plan to announce more joint activities in the coming months.

The new partners also will emphasize the importance of preventive care through the annual Well Woman medical visit. To learn more about the Well Woman exam, visit ScreeningsForHer.com.

Extreme E And TV3 Announce Broadcast Deal For 2022

Extreme E, the pioneering electric off-road racing series, has announced today that it has signed an agreement with TV3 Group – the leading media group in the Baltics – to broadcast its full 2022 season. TV3 Sport channels with local commentaries will air all 5 X Prix live and in full as well as race highlights, magazine, preview and review shows in Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian territories. The full coverage will also be available on the largest OTT platform in the Baltics – Go3.

TV3 Group, the leading media group in the Baltics, is a portfolio company of Bite Group and Providence Equity Partners, a global premium asset management company. TV3 Group owns and operates the leading commercial free-to-air channels in the Baltics, the largest DTH and OTT platforms, premium film and sport channels, as well as a portfolio of leading commercial radio channels.

Extreme E has already wowed audiences around the world with its stunning inaugural season in 2021. Beamed live to millions of homes, mobiles and tablets, fans were thrilled by the high drama and jaw-dropping competition as stars of took to some of the worlds most challenging and remote locations in 550bhp ODYSSEY 21 electric SUVs in a bid for the first ever Extreme E Championship crown.

Ali Russell, Chief Marketing Officer at Extreme E said:

“Extreme E’s mission to ‘race without trace’ whilst simultaneously raising awareness of climate issues, means it is vital that our series reaches as many audiences on as many platforms as possible throughout the world. Our broadcast agreement with TV3 Group in will not only provide new viewers in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania with a thrilling and innovative motorsport championship this year, but also convey the message that we all need to play our part in looking after our planet.”    

Raimonds Zeps, TV3 Group Head of Sports, said:

“We believe that everyone has a shared responsibility to protect the planet, environment and the climate. This responsibility also includes us at TV3 Group. We’re delighted to be among broadcasters of Extreme E highly anticipated second season. Extreme E is built around social purpose but with racing and some of the world’s best drivers at its core promoting electrification, sustainability and gender equality. These values are very important to us.”

Extreme E will visit five remote locations this year including NEOM in Saudi Arabia, (19-20 February), before heading to Sardinia, Italy (7-8 May), Senegal or Scotland (9-10 July), Antofagasta, Chile (10-11 September) and Punta Del Este, Uruguay (26-27 November). 

The series highlights a variety of environmental issues including, desertification, rising sea levels, glacier retreat, deforestation and ice melt aiming to raise awareness of the climate emergency by mixing sport with purpose to inspire change.  

Some of the biggest names in motorsport have founded teams in the championship including Formula One World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with teams X44 and Rosberg X Racing respectively. Excitement for Extreme E Season 2 is boosted further with motorsport giants McLaren joining the Championship for 2022.  The teams will each field a male and female driver racing an all-electric SUV – the ODYSSEY 21 – which is capable of firing the 1650-kilogram, 2.3-metre wide e-SUV from 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, at gradients of up to 130 per cent. 

Cape Town 2023 Netball World Cup Announces Domestic Broadcast Rights

The 2023 Netball World Cup Company announced today that the 2023 Netball World Cup domestic broadcast rights have been awarded to both Pay TV channel SuperSport TV and the public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

“A lot of work has been done behind the scenes and we have been toiling very hard. I am delighted that finally the Board and Netball South Africa have been able to put this matter to rest, more people will have access to watch the World Cup here in South Africa, across the continent and the globe. The SABC have the numbers we need in South Africa as they are a free to air broadcaster and SuperSport TV will help us penetrate the Africa market and overseas as well,” Patience Shikwambana, Chairperson of the 2023 Netball World Cup Company.

Due to the relationship between the SABC and telecommunications giant Telkom, the public broadcaster will provide Telkom with the 2023 Netball World Cup feed for them to stream it on their digital platform Telkom ONE in South Africa.

“This is an enormously exciting initiative for us,” effused Wanda Mkhize, Executive Smart Home and Content, “not only because of Telkom’s dedicated support of – and investment in – South African Netball, but also because it is another occasion to reflect the unique partnership, we have with the SABC and the impact we collectively have on making premium content, such as the Netball World Cup, available to all South Africans.” 

This will be the first time that the Netball World Cup is hosted in Africa since the establishment of World Netball some sixty-nine years ago and South Africa becomes the first country on the continent to do so.

“We are all about taking netball to the people and making the sport fashionable and attractive again. As Netball South Africa, we believe that this broadcast deal between the Netball World Cup Company and the two big broadcasters in the country is a step in the right direction – this means that more South Africans will now get a chance to see their national team (the SPAR Proteas) play on home soil, this is something that has never happened before. The continent will see their respective teams playing as well so this is great. I am hoping that as a federation we can engage with the broadcasters post the World Cup to see how we can continue growing the game here at home,” said Netball South Africa President, Cecilia Molokwane. 

“We as Netball South Africa had been in talks with the public broadcaster for a few years now since 2019 to see how best we can make sure that the game we all love gets to be on their platforms and I am happy that we are beginning to see the results now,” concluded Molokwane 

Clare Briegal, World Netball CEO who was in Cape Town for the announcement said “The appointment of the host broadcaster for the NWC2023 is an important milestone in the preparations for our first World Cup on the African continent.  We look forward to working with our partners in this endeavour towards a thrilling world class celebration of netball.”

SuperSport TV who is appointed to produce the international feed will work hand in hand with World Netball and its international broadcast agency SPORTFIVE in ensuring that the 2023 Netball World Cup is disseminated to other markets across the globe and more people get to watch the game. 

“Netball is an enormous sport played the length and breadth of our continent, so for Africa to host the 2023 World Cup is both gratifying and exciting. As broadcasters, we are delighted and aim to deliver a package that reflects the excellence and dynamism of the sport and its participants. We have major plans and intend to make history – and memories – with our offering,”- Marc Jury, Supersport Chief Executive.

The broadcast deal between the 2023 Netball World Cup Company, the SABC and SuperSport TV is a big one, as it will now see every single South African in every household have access to watch netball on TV. It has been almost a decade since we last saw netball on SABC platforms. 

Gary Rathbone, Head of SABC Sport, said, “As the SABC Sport, we pride ourselves on providing South Africans with access to sport of national interest, and the acquisition of the 2023 Netball World Cup has just reaffirmed our brand mission. As a country, we are very proud to host the tournament in Cape Town, and as SABC Sport, we believe that it’s imperative that every South African is given access to world class sport content.

Shikwambana concluded by saying, “I am eternally grateful to all the partners and stakeholders that believe in us as a business and what we are capable of achieving. This World Cup does not belong to one entity, but it is a team South Africa World Cup, it belongs to the continent as well. We are just here as custodians, but it is OUR World Cup as Africa. Thank you for playing your part in bringing the vision to life.”