England Rugby League Appoints Essentially Group

The Rugby Football League (RFL) has appointed Essentially Group, part of CSM Sport & Entertainment (CSM), as its exclusive global commercial agency tasked with sourcing and negotiating a new Principal Partner for the England National Team for next season.

England defeated the world’s number one ranked nation, New Zealand, on Saturday in the deciding Test to secure a 2-1 series victory. The three matches were attended by over 90,000 fans with over five million viewers on the BBC and took place in Hull, London (Olympic Park) and Wigan.  The series also represented the last time that the Gillette logo will feature on the England team kit after 12 consecutive seasons as the Principal Partner of England.   

Chris Rawlings, Commercial Director at the RFL, said: “The England Team thanks Gillette for 12 great years of continued support. Our TV audiences in the International Series were extremely positive with the three matches achieving a cumulative audience of five million viewers on the BBC. The matches were also shown live on Fox Sports in Australia and Sky New Zealand.”

Mike Vandrau, Sales Director of Essentially, commented:  “England Rugby League is in a really exciting place at the moment and has a real chance of taking the World Cup crown in 2017.  This is a great opportunity for brands to come on board, with a team that is fully focused on achieving its goals.  In doing so partners will access major broadcast and press coverage in both the UK and international marketplace in the build-up to the 2017 World Cup, inclusive of branding rights at the World Cup itself.”