Vitality, the health-focused insurance company, has withdrawn as title sponsor of the 2023 Netball World Cup set to be hosted in South Africa later this month.
Vitality’s parent company Discovery, the financial services firm, confirmed its partnership with World Netball had come to an end by mutual agreement three weeks before the tournament takes place at the Cape Town International Convention Center in South Africa from July 28 to August 6.
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The company said: “As indicated in our earlier statement in February, it was our intention to be the title sponsor of the 2023 Netball World Cup. Regrettably, following negotiations, we were unable to reach a mutually agreeable partnership.
“Discovery is therefore focusing its support for netball on the national teams in South Africa and England, namely the Proteas and the Vitality Roses.
“This is aligned to the update from World Netball and the Netball World Cup 2023 announcing Telkom and Spar as premium partners of the tournament sharing the major billing, with a roster of other major partners now coming on board.”
South African companies Telkom and Spar will now replace Vitality as the World Cup’s major sponsors.
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By GlobalDataDiscovery is the official wellness partner of Spar Proteas, the South African national team. That deal will see Discovery support the team’s well-being with health, wellness, financial, and nutritional resources over the next three years.
Vitality has been the title sponsor of England’s national team since 2015.
Discovery added: “As part of its commitment to netball, Discovery has developed and implemented a netball legacy program to support netball at grassroots level in South Africa [much like the one it has within football], with the aim of donating over 10,000 netballs to schools in need over the next year.
“We wish the organizing committee, our national team, and all teams competing in the Netball World Cup 2023 every success for the tournament.”
The news comes days after the World Netball governing body announced that all action from the World Cup will be made available globally via the NetballPass streaming platform.
NetballPass will show all 60 matches live and for free in countries where no exclusive broadcast deal has been struck.
The last broadcasters to come on board as World Cup partners were Australian pay-TV heavyweight Foxtel and the public-service broadcaster SBS.
Foxtel will cover every game from the 16-team tournament live, while SBS will show both the semi-finals and the final free-to-air.
