SHORTS: WOODS & McILROY, GILLINGHAM, EFL

TGL, the new tech golf league led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, has announced its first team name and ownership group.

TGL, in partnership with the PGA Tour, announced the Los Angeles Golf Club as the first of six teams, owned by tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams and Serena’s husband, Alexis Ohanian.

The names of the players who will be competing in that team were not announced. Currently, 12 players have committed to playing in the league, including Woods, McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, and Rickie Fowler.

TGL CEO Mike McCarley, commented, “We’re honoured to welcome Alexis, Serena, and Venus as one of TGL’s original six team ownership groups.

“Through his ownership of Angel City FC, Alexis has established himself as a trailblazer in the Southern California professional sports scene. Alexis and Serena have been a part of the TMRW Sports family as investors and their enthusiasm, along with Venus, for what we’re building with TGL has been infectious. Serena and Venus represent an important part of not just TMRW Sports and TGL’s mission of access to sports for kids and families, but also an important part of the spirit and purpose of LA Golf Club.”

The league is expected to begin play in January 2024 in a purpose-built arena in Palm Beach, Florida.

It is unclear how the league will be affected by the PGA Tour’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Gillingham Football Club has announced construction company Bauvill as its new front-of-shirt sponsor.

The two-year deal is a record breaker for the League Two club and will see the Bauvill logo displayed across the front of all the team’s shirts that represent the Gills for both the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons.

Brad Galinson, Chairman of Gillingham FC, said, “The club has worked with Bauvill now for several years, they are a great company to work with and I believe they are a perfect fit for us. It’s a business that is forward thinking, has some fantastic people involved and I’m delighted that they were keen to become a principal partner of ours, as we embark on a new journey.”

Caroline Artis and Justine Roberts CBE have joined the English Football League (EFL) Board as Independent Non-Executive Directors.

Caroline was a partner in EY for 24 years, becoming London Office Managing Partner and a member of the UK and Ireland leadership team. She was also a member of the UK remuneration committee and the Next Generation partner assessment panel.

Justine is the CEO of Mumsnet, which she founded in 2000 and is also the Senior Independent director on the Board of Admiral Insurance and a non-executive director of the Open Data Institute.

Caroline Artis, a new Non-Executive Director of the EFL, said, “I’m delighted to be joining the Board of the EFL and at such an important time for the organisation. I am looking forward to supporting my fellow Directors and the 72 Clubs through the many challenges and opportunities we will face in future. The EFL means so much to so many people and I’m excited at the chance to be involved.”

Justine Roberts CBE, the other new Non-Executive Director, added, “I’m thrilled to be joining the board of the EFL. I’ve always been a huge supporter of football at all levels of the game, and I am equally passionate about the importance of communities to people’s lives. So, it’s super exciting to be working with an organisation which not only has football but community at its heart, and I look forward to doing what I can to help the EFL continue to thrive.”

Rick Parry, Chairman of the EFL, expressed, “I am delighted to welcome Caroline and Justine to the Board as Independent Non-Executive directors. Both have a real feel for the relevance of the EFL and have a deep understanding of the challenges facing the game. They have experience of working in complex stakeholder organisations, which I am sure will be hugely beneficial to myself, other members of the Board and all 72 member Clubs.”

Triple S Communications rebrands as ‘End to End Media’

London-based sports and entertainment media agency Triple S Communications has rebranded as End To End Media.

The agency, which was formed in 2016 focusing on football communications, is rebranding to reflect its wider communications work in multiple sport sectors – plus the film, TV, music, gaming and charity sectors.

The agency’s new logo and branding will feature on primetime ITV this weekend during the Soccer Aid for UNICEF charity football event which this year is hosted at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground. The End to End Media team has delivered annual publicity campaigns for client Soccer Aid Productions since 2018.

Mark Whittle, Co-Founder and Managing Director of End to End Media, said, “Starting out as Triple S Communications and being part of the Triple S Group proved to be the perfect springboard for launching our sports and entertainment PR agency back in 2016. Since then, we’ve grown from strength to strength thanks to our exciting and diverse client roster.

“We feel now is the right time for us to reflect on our growth and switch to this new name. As End to End Media suggests, we deliver a full range of media services for clients all over the UK in multiple industry sectors. At the same time, there’s an inherent reference in the new brand name to our sporting roots.”

Rematch is set to re-create history as it uses WEB3 to reproduce the upcoming event – ‘Rumble in the Jungle Rematch’.

Rematch, which reimagines iconic sporting moments through immersive theatrical events, aims to create a Muhammad Ali VR experience and has partnered with StoryFutures, a project based at the Royal Holloway University, to create LockerRoom, a behind-the-scenes interactive VR experience.

This will use archive imagery and audio to allow users to re-imagine memories from the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ locker rooms, moments before the fight begins.

The venture into VR experiences comes in the lead up to the reimagination of Muhammad Ali’s famed fight with George Foreman, with London’s Canada Water venue Dock X announced as the venue for its upcoming events.

Richard Ayers, Founder of Rematch, said, “At Rematch, our mission is to connect generations of families by helping the world to reimagine and experience the greatest moments in sporting history. Rematch was born as a hybrid media company – as comfortable in the real world as the virtual. Alongside industry-leading partners such as StoryFutures, we are now able to take that to the next level through these incredible and immersive experiences.”

“By leveraging the power of blockchain and virtual reality, we are creating an ecosystem of both live and Web3 products and experiences that are both interactive and engaging for fans. We believe this is the future of sport and entertainment, porting physical events into the at-home digital world so that a broader set of fans can take part.”