Vodafone will be the lead partner for the British and Irish Lions rugby team on its tour of South Africa in July 2021.
The partnership will see Vodafone’s logo on the front of the team’s shirt, and the operator will also be the communications provider for the team during its tour.
Additionally, Vodafone customers will be eligible to enter competitions to win match tickets and Lions merchandise through Vodafone’s VeryMe loyalty programme.
Vodafone also says it will create “innovative fan experiences” during the tour for fans watching both at home and in South Africa.
This follows on from Vodafone’s pre-existing partnership with Wasps rugby club. At the launch of its commercial 5G network last year, two Wasps players demonstrated 5G haptic feedback technology through one ‘tackling’ another from more than 100 miles away.
More recently, Vodafone installed an IoT-powered thermal imaging camera at Wasps’ training ground to monitor the temperature of players and staff as they returned to training after lockdown.
Other recent partnerships between sports teams and telecoms companies include Three’s kit sponsorship of Chelsea Football Club, and TCL’s announcement of England football captain Harry Kane as its European brand ambassador.
Additionally, O2 has been an official England rugby partner since 1995, when it was Cellnet.