The British and Irish Lions composite rugby union touring organization has today unveiled a multi-year partnership with UK sports and TV production firm Whisper.
Through the deal, the duo have created the Lions Productions arm, which will produce a documentary covering the men's team’s tour of Australia in mid-2025. In addition, Lions Productions will produce an array of in-house and behind-the-scenes content for the Lions’ women’s team, which launched in January and will tour New Zealand in 2027.
The deal builds on - and formalizes - an original deal between the Lions and Whisper which was struck in advance of the team’s tour of South Africa in 2021. Out of that trip, the documentary Two Sides was created by Whisper.
As was the case with that tour, Whisper will film the entire array of in-camp content that is produced in Australia - for broadcast, digital platforms, and highlights clips and packages.
The production firm will also act in an official capacity for the range of sponsors which will activate with the Lions in Australia, across the three tests in July and August next year.
That stable of commercial partners - at the moment - includes Fanatics, Canterbury, and Howden (front-of-shirt sponsor).
Whisper adds this contract to its extensive rugby union content portfolio, having been a multi-year production partner for the World Rugby governing body, and having produced a show for the New Zealand Rugby official streaming platform, NZR+, during the men’s Rugby World Cup last year.
In addition, the company is a production partner for the Welsh Rugby Union, and broadcaster S4C in Wales, as well as for the BBC (the UK public-service broadcaster) for the Women’s Six Nations competition.
Ben Calveley, the British and Irish Lions chief executive, said: “The formation of Lions Productions with Whisper presents a milestone moment … For the first time the Lions now has an exclusive, in-house content offering which will allow us to bring fans premium and engaging content throughout our tour cycle.”
In March, the Lions - alongside Rugby Australia - entered into an exclusive tie-up with the Pitch International sports marketing agency.
The two organizations have appointed Pitch as the sole international media rights distribution partner for the tour of Australia.
Carys Owens, managing director at Whisper Cymru (its Welsh division), added: “Our last partnership brought great success and we will once again draw on the expertise of our documentary, digital, entertainment, and broadcast teams to produce exciting content for this groundbreaking agreement.”
The Australia tour marks the first time since 2013 that the country will play host to the Lions, which as a side is made up of players from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
The three tests are set for July 18 (Brisbane), July 26 (Melbourne), and August 2 (Sydney).
In mid-October, the Lions unveiled IMG, the global sports and entertainment agency, as their worldwide licensing agency through 2027.
In early 2023, meanwhile, the Lions and Rugby Australia launched a joint venture to combine their respective commercial offerings for the tour and brought in CSM as the tour’s exclusive sponsorship agent.
