Sports Ticker #160 - World Bog Snorkelling Championships turns forty, HYROX ties the knot with dating app Surf and Prem Rugby streams ahead with YouTube

In a fortnight that saw London lose its bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships to Nairobi and England Rugby announce its first ever back-of-shirt deal with Lloyds, we bring you news on HYROX’s budding commercial relationship with dating app Surf, a look at the London City Lionesses’ landmark deal with Nike and celebrations galore as Wales’s World Bog Snorkelling Championships enters its fortieth year.

Nike ticks all the boxes for London City Lionesses
London City Lionesses, the only Women’s Super League team not affiliated with a men’s side, has announced a landmark deal with Nike, extending its kit partnership so that Nike becomes the club’s front-of-shirt sponsor in an arrangement believed to be worth more than £3m a year. As part of the deal, Nike has produced a new team shirt for the Lionesses featuring an image of the Greek goddess Nike, from which the sportswear brand takes its name. Club owner Michele Kang described the deal as the largest women-only front-of-shirt sponsorship in football, telling the BBC its value exceeds some Premier League men’s front-of-shirt arrangements, though she did not confirm specific figures.

Streaming Ahead: PREM Rugby extends coverage on YouTube
PREM Rugby is returning cup coverage to YouTube for a second straight season after a breakout 2025/26. Free-to-air streaming of early-round fixtures helped lift the channel’s total views by 438% last season, with the first two matches alone drawing over 200,000 viewers. This year, Sale Sharks v Bath Rugby streamed live on 6 September, followed by Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears on 12 September. Rights holder TNT Sports aired two other games across the same weekends. With last year’s numbers already strong, PREM Rugby will be hoping the format can build even further momentum this season.

Off Menu: Just Eat axes sponsorship team 
Food delivery platform Just Eat has made all but two of its sponsorship team redundant, coinciding with the company’s early exit from its £40m-a-year Champions League partnership. The deal began in 2021 and was renewed in 2024 for a further three years but is now ending a year early as part of wider cost-cutting measures by the business. Just Eat will remain a sponsor of the Europa League and Conference League this season. Hyundai has stepped in to fill the gap, agreeing to bring forward its planned 2027-31 Champions League partnership so it takes over as automotive sponsor immediately. The change lands just as this season’s 36-team league phase begins, featuring Arsenal, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.

HYROX ties the knot with dating app Surf with expanded partnership
HYROX and Surf have expanded their partnership into the UK, Ireland and Latin America. Surf, previously the official dating app partner of HYROX Americas and Australia, allows singles on its platform to browse profiles without swiping and filter by shared interests, including a dedicated HYROX affiliation tag. The expanded deal centres on Surf’s “Blind First Dates” format, which will run at two of HYROX’s newly added races (Rio de Janeiro in November and London’s ExCel in December) pairing previously unmatched singles to compete together in a doubles event. Previous collaborations have seen 90% of participants either stay in contact or go on a second date with their event partner, according to Surf. By joining forces, HYROX and Surf intend to build on their growing social media presence, with previous New York and Miami events generating over 9 million views on social media and attracting more than 7,000 applications. The expansion gives Surf a presence across three new geographic markets, with events planned in São Paulo, Birmingham and Dublin across the remainder of 2026.

The Last Frontier: UEFA referees to be sponsored by Strauss
For the first time, referees are donning a sponsor on their sleeves across UEFA’s club competitions. The chosen partner is German workwear brand Strauss, expanding its existing relationship with the confederation, having already sponsored Euro 2024 and the Europa and Conference Leagues since 2021. The deal covers the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Women’s Champions League this season, with Euro 2028 and Women’s Euro 2029 added for future tournaments. The three-year deal took effect with the opening phase of the Champions League last week. The deal marks another  milestone in the commercial sponsorship of football officials, after deodorant and antiperspirant brand Rexona placed its branding on the shirts of officials at this summer’s FIFA World Cup in North America.

Extra time...

…and finally, Wales’ World Bog Snorkelling Championships marked its fortieth year over the August bank holiday weekend, held in the Waen Rhydd peat bog outside Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys — an event Lonely Planet once named among the top 50 “must do” things in the world. Kitted out in mask, snorkel and flippers, competitors complete two lengths of a 60-yard trench, with conventional swimming strokes banned. More than 200 entrants took part this year, with competitors travelling from as far afield as Brazil, Sweden, Switzerland, Australia and the US. Sweden’s Adrian Sandstrom took the men’s title in 1:28.30, while Emily Hall claimed the overall crown with the fastest time of the day, 1:27.97. Six-time champion Neil Rutter, who has since retired from competition, still holds the world record of 1:12.34, set in 2023.