State of the Nation: Sports

Sports day

Inset: Spurs’ three-year YETI deal covers insulated drinkware and accessories.

Panini kicks off for 2023

Panini’s Premier League

Sticker Collection is back for 2023 – with the company promising that it is ‘bigger,

better and more exciting’

than ever. The collection – which includes all 20 teams and a total of 636 stickers to collect including shinies and parallel stickers – is being backed with a major multi-faceted marketing campaign, fronted by West Ham and England star, Declan Rice. This includes a heavyweight TV and digital campaign, press and sampling activity, national newspaper campaigns and investment at retail across all listings. “Panini is delighted to be launching the brand new official sticker collection for what is shaping up to be an incredible finish to this season,” said Chris Clover, md at Panini UK. “Premier League fans of all ages are going to love the new designs and innovation that we have packed into the collection this year.”

Inset: The collection includes all 20 Premier League teams and a total of 636 stickers.

From Premier League sticker collections through to the biggest cycling event in history, LSB rounds up some of the latest activity in the sporting arena. Pedal power

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has appointed UK-based sports management and promotion company Cube Partnerships as the master licensee of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and across Scotland. The annual world championships for bicycle road racing will be held between 3-13 August 2023 and will be the biggest cycling event in history, with 13 UCI World Championships taking place across seven disciplines in Glasgow and across Scotland. Cube Partnership’s remit will include designing, sourcing, delivering and retailing licensed products at the Championships’ official venue shops, other local and national retail outlets, plus via a dedicated online store. The merchandise will have a strong commitment to sustainability, according to the UCI, with a focus on limiting single use plastics, responsibly managing waste materials and reducing carbon emissions.

Tottenham Hotspur scores with YETI deal

Tottenham Hotspur has secured a three-year deal with outdoor product specialist YETI for a range of insulated drinkware and accessories. The products will be available via the club’s retail outlets and through eu.yeti.com. YETI will also supply drinkware, coolers and accessories to the club’s training centre including men’s and women’s first teams and the academy. As a founding member of Products of Change, Tottenham Hotspur is continually striving to source sustainable products and eliminate single-use plastic across its retail range and wider operations.

“We are delighted to be working with YETI on bringing its fantastic range of products to both our fans and players,” commented Gary Jacobson, brand licensing manager at Tottenham Hotspur. “YETI has built a strong reputation and become a leader in the field of sustainable and durable outdoor products.”

Merchantwise gets on board with AOC

Merchantwise has been selected by the Australian Olympic Committee as master licensee to drive its licensing and merchandising programme in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, followed by the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan Cortina.

With a mission to cement the Australian Olympic Team as a year-round sports brand which champions the spirit of Australian sport, the licensing programme will aim to attract broad appeal for children and adults across all tiers of retail.

The Australian Olympic Committee licensing programme will see a wide-ranging and recognisable asset base become available for partners. This will include the official Olympic logos, as well as the team mascot, the Boxing Kangaroo.

The programme will also incorporate specially created assets of Indigenous art commissioned for the Australian Olympic Team.

Merchantwise will also work with the Australian Olympic Committee to develop and enhance the merchandise programme for its annual Have a Go campaign, a national grass roots programme designed to inspire Australians of all ages to participate in Olympic sports.

MDR grows FIFA brand

MDR Brand Management – FIFA’s appointed licensing agency across Asia – has been busy launching official licensed FIFA-branded clothing in South Korea, working with Korean fashion company, Cowell Fashion. The first drop of FIFA-branded casual wear, athleisure, footwear and accessories is being sold across shop-in-shops in leading Korean department stores, including Shinsegae and Lotte, and their respective online platforms. The collection also has presence in the duty-free section of Seoul’s primary airport, Incheon. Cowell Fashion also launched an everyday-wear licensed capsule collection to celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. It is investing heavily in marketing and social media through high-profile seasonal campaigns featuring three K-Pop artists, Soyeon Jeon, Code Kunst and Won-Jae Woo, depicting the new look for FIFA. MDR Brand Management was appointed by FIFA, the international governing body of association football, in 2021 to strategically build a long-term licensing programme in Asia and lead on a vision to establish FIFA as a year-round top tier lifestyle brand, with a nod to its sporting heritage.

Above: The e-mobility products debuted during CES earlier in January.

Sauber Motorsports accelerates into e-mobility

ASPIRE has secured a deal with Asia Kingston for a range of e-mobility products for the Swiss motorsport brand, Sauber Motorsport.

Under the partnership, Asia Kingston has developed Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN-branded e-bikes and escooters reflecting Sauber’s commitment to sustainability. They debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January before rolling out across Europe at bike and sport retailers, consumer electronic outlets and hypermarkets.

ASPIRE has also secured deals to further extend the consumer products offering for Sauber Motorsport across a range of categories including collectables based on the helmet of F1 driver Zhou Guanyu, with Racing Force International (Bell Helmets); die-cast model cars in various scales, with Sunrich, Minimax, Zmodels and May Cheong; Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN and Sauber Motorsport posters and fine arts, with Automobilist; and construction-brick cars in various scales, with Rastar Group.

Formula 1 Exhibition goes to Madrid

Formula 1 has confirmed that the world’s first official Formula 1 Exhibition will open in Madrid on Friday 24 March 2023. Hosted at the IFEMA Madrid, the exhibition will run until Sunday 16 July 2023 and will aim to provide a ‘stunning adventure’ through the world of F1. Officially developed in association with Formula 1 and with support from the motorsport community, the show boasts a wide range of never-before-seen artefacts and contributions from the sport’s most legendary teams, experts and personalities. Produced in partnership with Round Room Live, the exhibition is delivered across six purpose-built rooms, each specially designed in collaboration with award-winning artists, filmmakers and craftspeople. The 90-minute experience combines spectacular audio-visual design, rare film and imagery, engineering and educational displays, sculptural pieces and iconic Grand Prix cars to deliver an immersive experience.