Bigbluetube bowled over by ECB deal

Bigbluetube bowled over by ECB deal

By Tony McDonough Deputy Business Editor, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL-BASED sports memorabilia firm Bigbluetube and England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have struck a landmark licensing agreement.

Bigbluetube, one of the UK's leading supplier of authentic signed sports memorabilia, has announced details of the agreement with the ECB to become its first official memorabilia partner.

The new partnership means that for the first time, consumers will have the chance to own officiallylicensed ECB cricket memorabilia.

The three-year deal will see Bigbluetube release a range of limited editions signed by some of biggest names in English cricket, including Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham.

The deal, says the company, gives the clearest indication yet that the thriving UK memorabilia industry is set to follow the well-developed US model. Across the Atlantic, sports memorabilia has been big business for some time and the market is currently estimated to be worth in excess of £1bn.

Although the UK market is some way behind this figure, the industry has developed rapidly over the last few years.

The rising popularity in collecting and investing in sports memorabilia seemingly knows no bounds, and Bigbluetube has, since 2000, been at the forefront of the UK challenge in this booming global industry.

This is the first time in the history of the ECB it has entered into a licensing agreement with a sports memorabilia company and both firms are rightly excited about the opportunities afforded by the partnership. Bigbluetube had previously struck a similar deal with the British Olympic Association during the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Matthew Wilkinson, managing director of Bigbluetube, said: "This partnership is really great news for cricket fans and sports memorabilia collectors in general.

"Consumers can now readily secure some terrific items of official ECBlicensed cricket memorabilia and what's more, through our Authenticate guarantee, be certain of its authenticity."

John Perera, commercial director of the ECB, added: "The team at Bigbluetube has extensive experience in creating authentic memorabilia products, and we are looking forward to developing a superior range of official licensed England cricket memorabilia with them."