Today, England Netball and the Vitality Netball Superleague announced the 2021 Vitality Netball Superleague season will start on February 12. Featuring 11 teams, the 2021 season is set to be the most competitive and exciting yet. It will feature big-name signings from across the world of netball who will showcase their skills on court and make their mark on the competition as the domestic game returns.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic the decision was made to host the Vitality Netball Superleague behind closed doors across two venues this season, to enable strict and consistent COVID-19 protocols to be in place for all games, supported by an extensive season-long testing programme across the league. The season will get underway at Studio 001 in Wakefield for the first nine weeks and move to the Copper Box Arena in London for the remaining fixtures.
The fixtures for the highly anticipated Vitality Netball Superleague 2021 season have now been confirmed and can be viewed here.
England Netball also announced today a new multi-year broadcast deal with Sky Sports UK. The partnership will see every match of the Vitality Netball Superleague 2021 season broadcast across Sky Sports channels (each game will be available for fans to watch live in some format across YouTube or Sky Sports Mix/ Arena), giving the competition its greatest exposure to date.
Fran Connolly, CEO of England Netball, said: “It is such a pleasure to be able to announce this new deal with Sky Sports. Over recent years they have been able to capture huge moments in our sport and bring fans closer than ever to netball.
“We were delighted to bring elite netball back to the court during our recent Vitality Netball Legends Series, that saw the Vitality Roses play an international All Stars side, made up of talent from the Vitality Netball Superleague, and we cannot wait to continue that momentum and give our Netball Family something to look forward to.
“This partnership is a huge milestone for netball in this country and underlines the continued interest in our sport. The increased visibility this will bring will shine a light on the incredible role models in our game and help to inspire a nation of women and girls to take to the court.
“I am very much looking forward to our ongoing relationship with Sky Sports and hope to see more netball history made together in the coming years.”
For more information visit the England Netball website here or the Vitality Netball Superleague website here.