The Vanarama National League is coming – along with two new broadcasting initiatives and a new three-year TV deal with BTSport.
The Football Conference is proud to announce that The Vanarama National League is coming to a ground near you!
In a rebranding initiative, which will underline the competition’s status at the pinnacle of the semi-professional game, and linked to a community programme the length and breadth of the country, the Vanarama National League will engage fans not only of the competition’s 68 member clubs but football throughout the UK and beyond.
The new Vanarama National League will officially take its place in the football family on June 6th. The changes will include a new-look logo, which acknowledges the past but also looks to the future, to strengthen the competition’s identity. The Vanarama National League will also launch a new broadcasting company, NLTV, which will be the first fully-dedicated broadcasting channel focusing solely on the 68 member clubs, creating a regular narrative for the competition that will run throughout the whole season.
Lastly, in yet another first, the competition will create the all new NLTV Broadcasting Academy, whereby forty eight media students from around the country will be given the opportunity to be part of this exciting new initiative. They will be trained in filming techniques and then embedded with clubs, provided with BT professional broadcasting equipment and taught by BT Sport technical staff how to film, edit and stream media to a new production hub.
Brian Barwick, incoming Chairman of the new Vanarama National League, says: “I am delighted to be joining at this vibrant time with this exciting new branding. It offers so much to our existing partners whilst at the same time opening up potential new opportunities. I look forward to steering this great competition to new levels of awareness and visibility.”
In a further resounding endorsement for this level of the game, and in support of the new branding initiative, BT Sport have agreed a new three-year deal with the competition which will extend the live coverage of matches and feature a regular weekly highlights show to be broadcast on a Sunday evening.
Tony Kleanthous, board director responsible for broadcasting, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with BT Sport and indeed embracing their expertise and experience. NLTV’s aim is to launch a very affordable internet subscriber portal in 2016 where fans anywhere in the world can keep up to speed with what’s going on across the activities of all member clubs and everything which affects them, their players and even their fans. The NLTV daily show will include short clips, podcasts and updates from clubs around the country and our new digital platform will also feature highlights from every game every week so you never need miss the action.”
Steve Norris, Commercial Director at BT Sport, said: “We are proud to continue our sponsorship of this level of the game with a significant further investment for another three years. We are also pleased to support the academy initiative which underlines our commitment not only to grass roots football but the future education for all the young students out there who want a helping hand up the sports broadcasting ladder.”
Chairman of Vanarama, David Bernstein, said: “My extensive involvement in football over the years has allowed me to be connected with a wide range of initiatives. I am particularly excited by this announcement and the Broadcasting Academy is an educational project to which Vanarama is proud to extend its support. We have demonstrated our commitment to football and their communities up and down the country and want to continue working with an organisation whose vibrancy and ethos matches our own.”
The final words come from the outgoing Chairman of the Football Conference, Brian Lee, who will complete his tenure at the end of this current season: “Our announcement around the name change, broadcasting channel and academy excites me and I sincerely hope it excites the football world. I know I am passing on this organisation in good shape and there is much more to come with the positivity showed so far it can only be more exciting for our clubs, our fans and the future of our game.”
