Gilbert and United Rugby Championship renew global partnership

Gilbert and United Rugby Championship are pleased to announce the renewal of their successful long-standing partnership, with Gilbert continuing as the official ball supplier for the URC globally.

As part of the new agreement, Gilbert will continue to supply its world-class balls to all 16 URC clubs for URC matches, as well as all URC community and development programmes, as well as a full licensed URC supporter ball range in the Northern Hemisphere and South Africa.

In recent season’s Gilbert has helped amplify the URC Communities United project, which sees teams travelling across hemispheres visiting and engaging with local communities and fans. Gilbert will continue to show their dedication to this partnership through their support of URC campaigns aimed at engaging with fans.

Gilbert have also supported a number of our themed rounds that take place throughout the URC season which are designed to create an environment where everyone feels welcome and to hype up the match day experience for some of our younger future fans. Uniquely designed Gilbert rugby balls have added a fan-centric touch to these occasions.

The United Rugby Championship renewal comes on the back of Gilbert recently renewing a number of their key rugby partnerships including with; RWC 2025, the Federation of Italian Rugby, the Scottish Rugby Union, the Welsh Rugby Union, the Federation of French Rugby, Rugby Romania and with leading rugby provinces in South Africa. The URC is proud to continue an already long-standing partnership with a trusted and respected global rugby brand.

Martin Anayi, United Rugby Championship’s CEO said: “The renewal of this partnership with Gilbert Rugby ensures that the BKT URC continues to benefit from the world’s premier rugby ball brand. As an elite rugby league, we are proud to collaborate with an equally esteemed partner whose ball is synonymous with top flight rugby union. We are delighted to have been able to extend this longstanding relationship, with a focus now on further engaging with rugby fans globally via Gilbert’s retail network and look forward to working with them to innovate for the benefit of the game and fans."

Gilbert Rugby Commercial CEO, Richard Gray said “We are delighted to be renewing our long and successful relationship with URC. This represents a ringing endorsement of the Gilbert match ball and the wider brand strength and service we offer by players and officials alike, across all the participating clubs. We are excited by the potential the enhanced deal gives us to work more closely together to help URC to continue to build the impact of the Tournament, across what is a unique blend of influential and iconic rugby nations.”