Mastercard Become Founding Global Partner Of Women In Rugby
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orld Rugby and Mastercard have signed a five-year partnership aimed at accelerating the development of women in rugby.
The partnership will provide a boost to world rugby’s strategic plan, Accelerating the Development of Women in Rugby 2017-2025 and will mark a number of firsts for partnerships in World Rugby’s Women’s programs.
A press release from World Rugby states Mastercard will be the first global partner of the annual women’s competition WXV due to begin in 2023, the preferred card, and first worldwide partner of Rugby World Cup 2021 and 2025, and the founding global partner of World Rugby’s Women in Rugby Programme.
World Rugby have also launched their new Team Powered campaign in which Mastercard will also be exclusive partner of the “Youth Unstoppables element.”
Mastercard’s role in the campaign is to “work to inspire young women and girls to get involved in the sport through a unique digital content series championing inspirational females around the world.”
Mastercard will also utilize its Priceless platform to create and share unique and exclusive experiences with World Rugby and brand ambassadors, and develop rugby-specific content reinforcing “the company’s dedication to gender equity, aligning with its signature STEM curriculum, titled Girls4Tech.”
In a statement, World Rugby chief executive, Alan Gilpin said the partnership was a perfect fit to help the growth of the sport.
“Women’s rugby is going from strength to strength globally, and the new Team Powered campaign and Mastercard partnership will supercharge the sport’s growth, inspiring a new generation of players, fans and parents,” Gilpin said.
“Our new commercial partnership reflects our ambitious plans to advance women in rugby at all levels and, as a long-standing supporter of rugby, Mastercard is a perfect fit.
“Our vision for the sport is very much aligned with a focus on accelerating accessibility, visibility, commerciality, and competition within women’s rugby – the single-biggest opportunity to grow the sport as a whole globally.
“We have developed an ambitious commercial strategy to underpin the sustainable growth of women’s rugby, encompassing both elite and community levels of the sport, enabling partners to champion and support all aspects of the women’s game and make an impact in this priority area,” he said.
World Rugby Women’s general manager, Katie Sadleir added: “We are thrilled to welcome Mastercard on board as our founding partner of Women in Rugby.”
“A core pillar of our ambitious Women’s Strategic Plan is to develop a strong and engaged portfolio of strategic commercial partners committed to long-term investment and support for the women’s game,” Sadleir said.
