UK Law and Practice Contributed by: Jamie Singer and Flora Peel, Onside Law
the matches on their own social medial chan - nels. As mentioned previously, athletes’ use of social media and athlete-led marketing is having profound effects on brand partner - ships, investments and the engagement of fans. • World Rugby launched WXV at the start of the 2023 season, a brand-new global women’s competition, supported by an investment of GBP6.4 million from World Rugby and a dedicated commercial programme. An increasing number of women’s club teams are now joining forces with their respective men’s club teams, thereby benefiting from greater integration and shared resources. Recent examples are Burnley FC Women, who were brought under the same ownership as the men in February 2021, and Charlton Athletic Women being acquired by Thomas Sand - gaard, the owner of Charlton FC. • Cricket’s new elite competition, “the Hun - dred” , has introduced equal prize money for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. • England Netball launched their new Super League in 2025, with the Super League matches due to be streamed by Sky Sports throughout the year. • The Women’s Rugby Six Nations attracted 10.4 million viewing hours last year, making it the most viewed edition so far. The Women’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) is set to take place across the UK this summer. Ilona Maher has already drawn in new fans for the PWR and the ticket sales for the RWC are nearly all but sold out. • The Women’s Cricket World Cup has increased its prize money to match the men’s prize money. Furthermore, the ECB has sug - gested that there should be equal pay on average at domestic level by 2029 and at international level by 2030.
• The ECB received a GBP400 million private equity bid for the Hundred after a very suc - cessful few years. With continued investment from rights-holders, broadcasters, and sponsors, women’s sport is expected to maintain its rapid upward trajectory. It is undoubtedly an industry to watch closely.
9. Esports 9.1 Esports Overview Traditional Esports Market
The traditional esports market in the UK features non-sport video games (such as League of Leg - ends and Counter-Strike) and is already relative - ly sophisticated: tournaments, teams and indi - vidual players have huge followings, live events fill arenas, prize money on offer is substantial and betting on game outcomes is available. Traditional sports with an obvious video game counterpart have also been successful in the UK, including the hosting of the FIFA eWorld Cup at the O2 Arena in London since 2018. Consequently, many esports teams and game publishers are based in the UK, including Guild Esports – a global esports business backed by David Beckham – which closed an IPO in Octo - ber 2020. Activate, a technology consulting firm, estimates that more than 250 million people watch esports. The World Championships in August 2023 in Las Vegas was watched by a sell-out crowd, along with more than one million esports fans who tuned in online. However, according to Forbes, the esports sector needs to be careful to ensure financial stability throughout 2024.
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