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Troubled Wasps strike a new major sponsorship deal

By Online Editors
Wasps have signed a Championship lock (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Mobile technology giants Vodafone are to become the main club partner for Wasps Rugby and Wasps Netball following completion of a major new deal.

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The two-year agreement will see Vodafone’s distinctive logo featured on the front of Wasps Rugby’s new shirt and Wasps Netball’s new dress for the 2019/20 season.

The partnership will also see significant investment in Ricoh Arena – including 5G capability – that will push the boundaries of spectator experience at live sporting events.

This includes augmented reality half-time entertainment services, to bring fans closer to the action when viewed through 5G smartphones and headsets.

This will also include a new innovation centre similar to Vodafone’s digital innovation hub at MediaCityUK in Salford, Greater Manchester, which will benefit businesses and start-ups across the West Midlands and Warwickshire.

Stuart Cain, managing director at Wasps, said:  “The West Midlands is at the forefront of the UK’s 5G investment programme so it’s a major achievement for Wasps to secure a partnership with such a well-known global business that allows us to harness this technology.

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“The potential for 5G is huge. More than 1.6 million people visit Ricoh Arena every year and there are thousands of local business across the region that could benefit from this emerging technology.

“It also positions Vodafone as a major investor in the region’s economy as the 5G roll-out gains more traction across the West Midlands Combined Authority region.

“We look forward to announcing further plans along with the new shirts for the 2019/20 season in the near future.

“We would also like to thank Land Rover for their support as a partner in recent years and we continue to have a very close working relationship with the company.”

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Vodafone are one of the world’s leading telecommunications groups, with a significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, providing mobile networks in 26 countries.

Full details of the partnership will be announced later this summer when Wasps Rugby’s new shirt is launched.

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Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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