In Wales, Dafydd Pritchard noted EPL club Swansea City and shirt sponsor 32Red “have reached an agreement to end” the online casino's contract with the club “a year early this summer.” The company has been Swansea City’s “primary sponsors for four years, but they have agreed to forgo their deal for the 2013-14 campaign.” 32Red signed the initial contract when Swansea City was “still a Championship club," but after a few seasons in the EPL, "Swansea are now looking to capitalise on their growing stature” (THISISSOUTHWALES.co.uk, 3/21).
END OF AN ERA: The GUARDIAN’s Sachin Nakrani reported England's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Montenegro on Tuesday “represents the last in which the national team will wear shirts made by Umbro, ending an association that dates back to the 1950s.” The Umbro shirts have never had an advertiser’s logo, and “leaked images” of the soon-to-be-launched Nike shirt “suggest that” Nike will continue that tradition (GUARDIAN, 3/21).
BOXING DAY: In K.C., Tod Palmer reported National Women's Soccer League club FC Kansas City “signed a three-year deal” with Title Boxing Company to sponsor the club’s three jerseys, which were unveiled yesterday at The Jacobson restaurant. Title Boxing Club was founded in Overland Park in ‘08 and “now operates more than 400 franchises nationwide," including 13 in K.C. The new league “kicks off its inaugural season” on April 13 (K.C. STAR, 3/21).
