Telstra expands NRL deal to include women's rugby league

Having held the naming rights to the men’s NRL Telstra Premiership for almost two decades, Telstra has agreed to extend their partnership to include women’s rugby league through until 2022.

The new deal extends Telstra’s commitment, one of the longest-running agreements in Australian sport, to providing greater opportunities, exposure and investment into the programs currently in place for women and young girls wishing to pursue a rugby league career.

Welcoming Telstra’s enhancing their long-standing association with the game, NRL Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Abdo stated “it’s exciting for the game’s current and emerging rugby league talent to have such an integral partner in Telstra investing in the future of the sport in such a significant way.

“Women’s rugby league across the country continues to go from strength to strength and with more opportunities to see our female stars in action on the field, online or as ambassadors out in the community - the game is in really good shape going forward.”

Telstra’s Executive - CSB Marketing and Chief Brand Officer, Jeremy Nicholas added “Telstra believes strongly in contributing to the participation, growth and professionalism of women’s sport and women’s’ rugby league in Australia.

“As a long-time partner of the NRL, we support every effort to make the game as inclusive and diverse as possible, and to provide a platform for aspiring female athletes to realise their dream.

“Young players can’t be what they can’t see, that’s why a key pillar of our partnership is to leverage our world class mobile network to bring the Women’s State of Origin and NRLW premiership to fans streamed live, fast and data-free with the Telstra Live Pass and official NRL app.”

The partnership extension will see Telstra will increase its brand integration across the Holden Women’s State of Origin and Holden Women’s Premiership, including a number of appearances and activations to be confirmed at a later date.