News

The Rugby Players Association (RPA) and Pickstar Marketplace, the world’s fastest growing marketplace for brands and businesses looking to connect with and hire sports stars, entertainers and personalities, have today announced a one-year partnership agreement set to drive commercial and sponsorship opportunities for the group’s plus 1000 registered professional players, past and present.

The move means that players such as Danny Care and Mike Brown will now join the online platform, making it easier for them to connect with brands and businesses, as well as selecting preferred commercial opportunities, helping to drive more authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships.

It also means that in the midst of a packed rugby season, with a Lions Tour on the horizon, businesses looking to connect, engage, and hire players can do so with ease.

Pickstar was created out of the lived experience of its founders, James Begley and Matthew Pavlich, both ex-professional AFL players, based in Australia. The platform provides greater visibility and a simpler talent selection and booking process, supporting both talent and talent agencies in finding the best commercial opportunities available. From ambassadorships and virtual appearances to paid social media partnerships and sponsorship deals, registered RPA players will now be able to take advantage of this sophisticated, machine learning, data-driven platform.

Head of Commercial, Gaia Bursell, said: "Having seen the work Pickstar have done in Australia and their work with other Player Associations, we are really excited by this partnership. Helping our members across the board to earn additional revenue and explore other commercial opportunities both big and small is one of our objectives. Opportunities are available for all levels of profile, which is really encouraging for those players who haven’t played internationally but still offer a lot of value to businesses and we will encourage all members to sign up.”

James Begley, CEO of Pickstar, said: .“The partnership with the RPA is testament to the association’s forward looking and progressive nature. We’re naturally delighted to be supporting the team and providing players and their management with more control and visibility to the opportunities that exist. Already we’ve seen a number of successful partnerships come out of the RPA’s adoption of Pickstar Marketplace which gives us great confidence this will be something benefiting players, past and present, for years to come.”

For more information on Pickstar Marketplace, go to www.pickstar.pro