HULL FC have signed Super League’s most lucrative merchandise partnership as well as the club’s largest commercial deal in the club’s history.
The East Yorkshire club has signed a multi-year deal with British premium sportswear group Castore®. Arguably the competition’s most high-profile sportswear manufacturer, Castore® have become the club’s new official kit and technical partner ahead of the 2024 Super League campaign.
The agreement, which stands as the largest commercial partnership in the club’s history, represents a major milestone for both the Black and Whites and Castore®, as the Manchester-based worldwide brand steps into British Rugby League for the very first time – having already embraced the NRL in Australia with Hull FC to line-up alongside the likes Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters.
Castore® will supply Hull FC with kits across the entire club and their 14 sides, including our Men’s, Women’s, Wheelchair, and Centre of Excellence squads, together with the club’s fanbase, producing premium branded match apparel, training and leisure wear.
Founded by athlete-entrepreneur brothers Tom and Phil Beahon in 2015, Castore® – with its slogan ‘Better Never Stops’ – is one of the fastest-growing sports brands in the world, boasting a mission to create the lightest, highest performing technical sportswear in the market by using patented technology and advanced technical engineering, and has established partnerships across the sporting world.
As well as collaborations with elite athletes including Sir Andy Murray, Adam Peaty, Jos Buttler and Owen Farrell, Castore® have a growing portfolio of sports teams, which includes Premier League sides Newcastle United, Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, European sides Rangers, Sevilla and Bayer Levekusen, the McLaren and Red Bull Formula 1 teams, national teams with England Cricket and Ireland in football plus Gallagher Premiership trio Saracens, Harlequins and Bath.
Not only will it be their first foray into British Rugby League, but it will also be the first time the brand have linked up with a Wheelchair Rugby League side, providing kits for the club’s ever-burgeoning Wheelchair first-team and development sides as they aim for further progress in 2024 and beyond.
As part of the partnership, the Hull FC will update their retail operation in the city centre with a brand-new and modernised retail store at St Stephen’s shopping centre, opening on Friday 20th October with a special kit launch event where Hull FC’s new principal and alternate jerseys, alongside some of their accompanying training ranges, will be revealed for the first time.
Hull FC’s chief executive, James Clark, said: “This is the club’s most lucrative commercial partnership of the modern day era and arguably our most high-profile, partnering with an organisation that shares our values and ambition.
“Castore® deliver products of the highest quality and are building an impressive network of international partners that we are proud to now be part of, aligned to some of the biggest teams in professional sport.
“We have been impressed with their ambition and attitude, and specifically their desire to be a homegrown success story, based in the north of England and with proud British routes, which can challenge the big players in the international sportswear market; an ethos not too dissimilar to our own.
“Our history and identity are incredibly important to us too, which Castore® recognise, and they are determined to deliver high-quality performance garments and innovative new product ranges for our players and supporters – knowing they need to satisfy one of the proudest and most demanding fanbases when it comes to merchandise sales.”
Sam Lucas, chief sports marketing officer at Castore®, said: “We’re thrilled to be Official Kit Partner’ for Hull FC. Partnering with a club with such history and success is a noteworthy step for Castore.”
“We feel the club’s relentless and competitive mentality echoes Castore’s ethos of Better Never Stops.“
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