Rugby League World Cup 2021 appoints The Value Xchange to support sponsorship sales activity

Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021) has appointed The Value Xchange to support the tournament with their continued sponsorship sales activity in the run up to the event which takes place in England later this year.

RLWC2021 is a purpose led and inclusive tournament with the men’s, women’s and wheelchair tournaments being held concurrently for the first time ever at a major sporting event. 32 teams from 21 unique nations will play a total of 61 matches at 21 world class venues in October and November, including St James’ Park, Anfield, Emirates Stadium, Elland Road and Old Trafford. 

The Value Xchange is a sports, media and entertainment marketing consultancy with extensive experience of helping brands and rights owners maximise the impact partnerships have for the brand, the rights-owner and the fan experience. Experience covers sectors including automotive, charities, healthcare, logistics and technology, in a variety of sports including football, motorsport, mass participation events and Rugby League.

RLWC2021 is looking to add to its existing sponsorship roster, which includes Cazoo as Principal Sponsor, Eversheds Sutherland, Deloitte, Manchester Metropolitan University, Kappa, Kuehne+Nagel and Assura. Opportunities are available for brands to align with the tournament in championing inclusivity, accessibility and creating positive social impacts in communities via a wide range of activity including being the first tournament to deliver a mental fitness charter, education resources, volunteering and a multi-million-pound capital grants programme.

RLWC2021 owns all the commercial and broadcast rights for the tournament, which will see every minute of every match shown live on the BBC and 750,000 expected fans attending matches, to add to the 14 million followers of Rugby League in the UK.

Jonathan Neill, RLWC2021 Commercial Director said: “Sponsorship plays a hugely important role for the tournament in driving revenue, supporting our wider tournament objectives, and the commercial legacy beyond the event this year. We’ve made progress to date and are very grateful to the brands who have shown trust in us.

“We want to continue to build on this and welcome further brands to help deliver the biggest sporting event to be held solely in England this year, whilst supporting the business community at such a critical time as we emerge from the pandemic. We take a flexible, data and insight led approach to partnerships, and are finding brands want to align and add value to our vision and values, whilst delivering against their brand and business objectives via positive engagement with our audiences.

“The Value Xchange will play a vital role in this success. They share our enthusiasm, understand our strategic framework and have tremendous skills and experience to continue to move us forward and maximise the opportunity we have.”

David Peters, Founder and Co-Owner of The Value Xchange added: “We’re delighted to be appointed to work with RLWC2021 on their sponsorship sales efforts. The tournament’s ambition to create mutually beneficial partnerships which leave a long-lasting legacy is consistent with our values as a business and it is great to see RLWC2021’s plans to make this a reality. We are certain this resonates well with brands who want to be part of a high-profile sports event which will also have an enduring and positive social impact.”