Furthering its commitment to supporting sport throughout the pandemic, the UK National Lottery has announced an official partnership with the Rugby Football League (RFL) and the Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League.
Through the collaboration, the National Lottery will receive exposure at a range of the sport’s premier men and women’s fixtures. In addition, it will serve as the title partner for the England Women Rugby League mid-season international versus Wales in June at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
In addition, National Lottery players will have the opportunity to win VIP tickets to major fixtures and mid-season internationals.
“The growth of girls’ and women’s Rugby League at all levels has been wonderful, which made the impact of over a year of not playing so hard for the players, coaches, volunteers and clubs,” said Ralph Rimmer, CEO the RFL.
“But we bounce back with this new commercial partnership and with the support of The National Lottery, and we look forward to kicking off our vibrant domestic competitions, followed by a mid-season International, and the excitement of a home World Cup this autumn.”
After the majority of the 2020 Women’s Rugby League season was lost due to the COVID-19 crisis, the sport has been out of action since the autumn of 2019.
However, the National Lottery has played a ‘crucial role’ in safeguarding sport across the country, forming partnerships with the Rugby Union Sevens, Wheelchair Tennis and having recently pledged its support to the Great Britain women’s football team at this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
Alongside this, over £150 million of National Lottery funding has been distributed to grassroots sports organisations across the UK.
Sports Minister, Nigel Huddleston, explained: “We’ve been clear that we must continue the push for greater participation, employment, commercial opportunities and visibility in the media for women’s sport. This announcement is great news for Women’s and Girls’ Rugby League. As we look ahead to the start of the 2021 professional season, this funding from The National Lottery will provide the sport with certainty as we work towards getting crowds back at matches as soon as possible.”
