July was almost perfect wasn’t it?…………………Temperatures were still soaring, as were The Three Lions up until the World Cup Semi Final. The script was perfectly written, the only problem being, Croatia hadn’t read it. Fortunately, in the world of Sports Advertising you can get your head stuck into other aspects of work and Sport and get straight back on the ‘horse.’ Unfortunately, our ‘horse’ was heading North to Scotland less than 24 hours later, to see Rangers play Europa League opponents FK Skhupi. It’s always a great pleasure to be invited up to Ibrox to see 32 Red sponsored Rangers in action, but on this occasion, although The Gers were as welcoming as ever, sympathy was in short supply. Thankfully however, Rangers began the Gerrard Revolution with a victory and our love for football was already undergoing some timely healing…………………
The Betfred Cup got underway in July for its third season and while the rest of the world are playing meaningless friendlies, proper games are being played out in Scotland in the shape of the Betfred Cup group stages. Added to the fact that the BT Sport crew of Messrs Currie, Craigan, Sutton & Stewart fill the gaps before, during and after the match with first class insight, humour and general top punditry, it really is a great way to get the competitive British season underway and is a deal we will never tire of telling the world we brokered.
The Vitality Netball Super League reached a crescendo at the Copper Box Arena in London in the middle of the month and a repeat of last year’s final saw reigning champions Wasps meet Loughborough Lightning for the second year in succession. In an ironic twist of fate, Wasps retained their crown with the exact same score-line of 55-51 and will no doubt be looking to make it a hat-trick in 2019. Netball has gone from strength to strength this season with Wasps being pushed harder than ever and The England Roses winning Commonwealth Gold for the first time in their history, as well as making their debut at Number 2. in the World Rankings. The highest place they’ve ever reached. Netball in Britain is entering unchartered territory and prior to next year’s World Cup in Liverpool, The Roses will play two more International series. The perfect opportunity to align your brand with a fantastic, growing, Sport, before it reaches even loftier heights and the even better news is, LED Perimeter Advertising packages are still available for all three of the afore mentioned tournaments.
Finishing touches were added to Vanarama Perimeter Advertising around the three National Leagues and our Summer Run was complete for 2018. The next phase was to begin planning for the Live opening BT Sport TV fixture between newcomers Salford City and Leyton Orient. As well as the obvious fanfare that The Class of 92 bring, both teams will have designs of promotion this year, so it is a wonderful curtain raiser for competition sponsors Vanarama and The National League itself and is a brilliant competition for us to be involved in for an eleventh consecutive year. We are truly passionate about The National League and champion wherever possible, the quality and general earthiness of this level of the game. Whatever it is you want or expect from Football, you can tune in, safe in the knowledge that, “It’s All in The NationAL League!”
Sports 360 entered the World of Snooker in July as we brokered the deal for International Welding Inverter, JASIC, to sponsor World Number 8. Snooker player Shaun Murphy. The deal will see ‘The Magician’s’ waistcoat emblazoned with the JASIC logo as he plays in tournaments the World over. Invaluable exposure for a growing brand the size of Jasic.
The Betfred Super League is never far from our thoughts and we were delighted to take in a few games as the regular season came to a close in July. We had the privilege of watching a resurgent Catalans Dragons team twice in quick succession as they first hosted Salford Red Devils and then travelled across the Channel to play Wigan Warriors a week later. Watching live Super League action is glorious at the best of times but seeing two teams go at it in tropical heat, as fine wine flowed and expressions of a romantic vernacular danced across the terraces was a truly unique experience…………………Our trip to Catalan wasn’t bad either.
Gerwyn Price sponsors JASIC enjoyed an afternoon at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool as they watched ‘The Iceman’ compete in The World Matchplay Darts Championship. Hampered by injury, Price as ever gave his all and will no doubt enjoy better days in the not too distant future.
We attended both Walsall FC’s Banks’ Stadium and Lancashire FA HQ respectively for National League meetings ahead of the 2018/19 campaign. Rules, regulations and expectations are laid out for managers and clubs as a whole and as we work very closely with The National League, we consider it only right that we are abreast of how all clubs and stakeholders are expected to behave and operate throughout the campaign. Being able to say, “We’ve Got Every Angle Covered,” doesn’t come easy. We work hard to ensure that every client and organisation we are involved with get the very best of us and being at the ‘coal face’ allows us to do just that.
We began July full of hope and as is usually the case, it wasn’t completely unexpected to see The Three Lions fall in the final furlong. What we didn’t expect however, was that Scottish Football & BT Sport would be the ones to drag us towards August full of hope, promise and with a rekindled love of the beautiful game and for that, to our friends North of the border, we can only say “Thank you!”
