Thousands attend our client Manchester Thunder’s first netball match of the season
Achieving press coverage and selling tickets for Manchester Thunder’s standout season opener at the AO Arena
One of the ways we assist our clients is to generate public awareness and excitement for upcoming events. For sports events, especially in up-and-coming sports such as professional netball, the aim was to help sell tickets to their big arena games, generate excitement around the new Netball Super League and attract new fans of the UK’s most participated women’s sport.
This weekend, our team attended their first ever professional netball match at the AO Netball Manchester Live, securing hundreds of pieces of press coverage before the event, and managing press and photographers who were reporting on the match.
An event worthy of the stars
The event was complete with a fun soap opera opening match, with the stars of Emmerdale and Coronation Street taking to the court to entertain the family packed crowds. Throughout our PR campaign in the run up to the game, we targeted local media in and around Manchester to ensure we sold people on how much of a fun family day out it would be. The soap match had garnered significant press interest, with coverage in the Manchester Evening News, Leeds Live, Bolton News, Secret Manchester, ManchesterWorld and Blackpool Gazette.
One of our highlights as a team was seeing the excitement on many little girls’ faces as they saw their favourite netball team live. Part of our campaign was about the league’s move towards professionalisation, which will hopefully see the Thunder athletes inspire future generations in a similar way to the Lionesses when they won the Euros.
On the day, part of our role was to escort press and photographers in the venue and ensure they have everything they need – in a venue as big as the AO Arena this definitely kept us on our feet! But we still had enough time to watch the exciting, action packed match against Loughborough Lightning, the league’s reigning champions.
Media coverage for NSL 2.0
With the Netball Super League only just beginning, we have managed to secure key coverage across broadcast, radio, national and regional press in the run up to the game, resulting in a whopping 244 pieces of coverage so far.
National coverage in the Telegraph, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Sports News helped to put Manchester Thunder on the map as a key title contender and one of the best teams in the game, as well as raising awareness of how greater investment in grassroots sports are needed for netball to flourish.
Sustained regional coverage helped to promote the player’s personal stories, showcasing their resilience and determination, with a particular focus on new captain Amy Carter and successful Head Coach Karen Greig. Key coverage included BBC North West Tonight, ITV Granada, Manchester Evening News, BBC Radio Manchester, I Love Manchester and more – with a current estimated audience of 443M and 6.38M estimated views in just two months. And with four more months left of the 2025 Netball Super League, it’s exciting to be a part of a rapidly growing sport.
See here for some of the coverage from the visit
Photo Credits: Manchester Thunder
Here at High-Rise we can support with events and getting your sport team’s success story in the media. Ready to tell your unique story? Contact us here for more information.