The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has signed a multi-year partnership with Vodafone. The telecommunications company will become the founding principal partner of Welsh women and girls' rugby and be the front-of-shirt sponsor for Wales Women.
It will also become the digital transformation partner of Principality Stadium, bringing the 5G network and tech solutions with the aim of making the Cardiff stadium "the most connected stadium in the world".
The commercial partnership is the first step in a broad, multi-year partnership between the WRU and Vodafone, that "will further support, develop and benefit the whole of Welsh rugby" the two organisations have said.
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Vodafone will work with the WRU to support women's rugby, aiming to reach over 10,000 active female players in Wales by 2026 through "continued investment in grassroots clubs and programmes."
The partnership will allow the WRU to further develop its female performance pathway, through expanded talent identification and development initiatives and by supporting the Wales Women U20 and U18 programmes to discover more promising young players and provide effective routes to the highest level of the sport.
As part of the deal, Vodafone will also be front-of-shirt sponsor for Wales Women, on a unique women's fit kit from Macron which will be worn for the first time in the 2023 TikTok Six Nations.
WRU chief executive Steve Phillips said: "This partnership and the initiatives it will support will have a directly positive impact on participation levels in community rugby, where we aim to produce over 10,000 players by 2026. It will provide significant help to the development of the next generation of female players.
“We are also looking forward to seeing how Vodafone can work with us to create unique experiences for supporters at Principality Stadium, with the aim of bringing fans even closer to the action than ever before in what is an incredibly exciting time for us.”
WRU performance director Nigel Walker said: “Women’s rugby in Wales is going from strength to strength, and we’re delighted to have a partner that shares our commitment to the continued growth of the women’s and girls’ game.
“Vodafone are supporting Welsh rugby to make further significant progress at all levels of the game for women and girls in Wales as well as growing the performance pathway, including our U18 and U20 programmes.
“The support will also enable further developments within the full-time, international programme and of course significantly add to the growing profile of Wales Women.”
Vodafone UK’s consumer director Max Taylor said: “It is such an exciting time for women’s sport and with the Women’s Rugby World Cup just around the corner I am incredibly proud to announce our new partnership with the WRU. We’ll work with them to support the growth of Welsh rugby from the grassroots up. This is only the first step in our partnership with the WRU. We can’t wait to get started and for what’s to come.”
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