British & Irish Lions reveal new jersey sponsor
The British & Irish Lions have revealed Howden – a global insurance group – as its new principal partner and jersey sponsor.
The four-year deal will see Howden become a principal partner of the Lions, with their logo prominently displayed on the front of the team’s shirts for the upcoming 2025 Lions Tour to Australia.
They will replace Vodafone, who were the main sponsor of the 2021 tour to South Africa.
Howden also want to aid the women’s game, with the insurance group looking to expand their investment into the Lions Women’s programme as the famous touring party explores the possibility of a historic inaugural Lions Women’s Tour.
Howden’s support will also extend beyond the field, as they commit to backing the Lions at a community level through the Lions Origin Clubs initiative. This program aims to recognize and celebrate clubs that have played a pivotal role in developing and nurturing players who have gone on to represent the Lions.
By aligning with the Lions Origin Clubs, Howden underscores its commitment to grassroots rugby and acknowledges the crucial role played by local clubs in shaping the future of the Lions.
Ben Calveley, CEO The British & Irish Lions, commented: “We are delighted to announce this long-term partnership with Howden and look forward to working with them over the next four years. It is testament to Howden that their support for The British & Irish Lions spans across multiple strands including the Men’s Tour to Australia, our ongoing work in relation to a potential Lions Women’s Tour as well as at community level.”
“The landscape for rugby and wider sport has been challenging over the past couple of years when you consider in particular the impact of the global pandemic and we ourselves experienced this first hand on our last tour to South Africa in 2021. Thankfully, we are in a much stronger position now and excited at what is to come. As a business, the wide range of services and solutions Howden provides are designed to protect organisations for the future. As we embark upon a hugely exciting period and look to establish The British & Irish Lions as the most successful and admired sporting brand both on and off the pitch, having the support of a strong and stable organisation like Howden makes a lot of sense for us.”
“Our brand has never been stronger, and we are thrilled to have the support of Howden as we continue to grow the game in the community, engage our fanbase in global markets and expand our digital offering alongside our ongoing exploratory work in relation to a historic inaugural Lions Women’s Tour.”
Ieuan Evans, Chairman of The British & Irish Lions, added: “Howden are a fantastic organisation, and we believe they will be a great partner for us in the coming years. We are also very excited to confirm Howden as the official front of jersey/shirt sponsor for Australia 2025. Australia will be a huge tour which will once again see the sea of red support the Lions in person on tour following the 2021 Tour to South Africa which was impacted by COVID-19. Our ambition is to make 2025 the greatest Lions tour ever positioning it as a major global sporting event, and it is fantastic to have the support of Howden on this journey.”
David Howden, Founder and CEO, Howden Group, said: “I’m thrilled that we are partnering with such an iconic British and Irish brand as we look towards 2025 for the men in Australia and as we play a part in investing in the women’s game and the hugely exciting prospect of an inaugural Lions Women’s Tour. I’m particularly proud that we will be supporting Lions Origin Clubs through our 200 branches and our 6,500 employees in our communities across the UK and Ireland. Our colleagues in Australia will of course also be eagerly anticipating the 2025 Tour.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
37 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
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