"We talk about wanting to be in the Olympics and wanting to take our sport further… this is the way to go"
Tuesday 27 November 2018 12:49, UK
A multi-year deal with Nike is undoubtedly the most high profile for England Netball and Tracey Neville tells Sky Sports how it will impact the netball world on a global scale.
Hot on the heels of England's tie-up with Vitality, the Roses have added the sportswear giants to their list of partners - with Nike becoming the latest brand to associate themselves with the team, and Neville says it can take netball to places it has only ever dreamt of.
Neville to showcase Roses stars
“We talk about wanting to be in the Olympics and wanting to take our sport further - they are the biggest sponsorship deals across all countries, across all sports," she said.
“From our point of view in respect to networking, getting our sport out, it's the best way to go. Our commercial department have done an excellent job to seal that deal for the future.
"They are a global company. If you go out there to be trendy, they are the one you go to. But for them to come on and push our sport globally is huge.
“A lot of the time, with clothing companies, they just produce a product whereas they wanted to get behind the players, the history of the sport and really understand where we've come from, what our culture is.
"I’ve been told they're going to put the products through their stores and get netball products out like they have with basketball."
With a Netball World Cup to host, the backing of Nike may well be a blessing as the Roses take aim at winning the event for the first time.
The logo is synonymous with some of the world's most prominent sportswomen, including Serena Williams, but the fact that fans can be part of the movement is key for Neville.
"People are unique, they bring their own attributes to the sport, they look different, their personalities are different, but actually, everyone can succeed - it's not all the same or about the same aesthetically-pleasing person.
"What's really exciting is that they're producing so much kit for the fans to wear. We go to Australia and the fans all have the Australian kit on - it looks like a blur of yellow. Whereas you go to games in England and everyone has different kit on. But this can be one of those kits where you think 'actually, I'll wear this to the gym'."
England are back in action on home soil and on Sky Sports Action with the three-Test Series against Uganda which gets underway on Thursday November 27 at Liverpool's Echo Arena.
A huge 2019 will feature another thrilling Vitality Superleague which is just two months away and starts with the Super 10 on Saturday January 5. live on Sky Sports.
You can now receive all the latest Vitality Superleague news and more on your personal devices. The Sky Sports mobile app will keep you up to date with the latest news from your favourite sports, including netball - here's how to receive the alerts you want.
