Sky Sports and Kick It Out are delighted to announce the extension of their partnership for another year, reinforcing both organisations’ commitment to promoting inclusion and tackling discrimination in football.
Now entering its fifth year, the partnership will pledge an additional £1m investment over the next year in a mix of cash and value-in-kind support to the drive to tackle discrimination and create career opportunities in football.
In 2024, Sky Sports supported the ‘Kick Sexism Out’ campaign to address misogyny in football as pundits including Kelly Cates, Jobi McAnuff and Sue Smith showed how the abuse can be challenged and reported.
The partnership also continued its joint scholarship programme with the University of Liverpool Management School to provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with the opportunity to earn an MBA in Football Industries.
The latest graduates have gone on to thrive in the football sector after completing their MBAs, including Christina Taylor, who recently secured a £150,000 investment in her business aimed at improving representation in media and sports.
Taylor said: “The MBA has been crucial to the success of what I’ve started because of the knowledge I gained within the football industry. My dissertation was a business plan to scale the business, and I used that plan to enter a competition with Havas Media Network who then awarded me £150,000 equity free in investment.
“It meant the world to win it. My main goal is how can we create a business and have a social impact to change the world in whatever small way you can.”
In a further sign of diversifying the football industry, Sky also supported Kick It Out’s Raise Your Game initiative, which provides career opportunities for underrepresented communities.
Sky Sports presenter Bela Shah and reporter Dharmesh Sheth spoke about their experiences during the media-focused event at UCFB’s Wembley campus, while Chris Reidy and Danyal Khan delivered a workshop to over 100 enthusiastic and engaged delegates.
Funded through Sky’s £30m commitment to tackle structural inequality, Sky’s multimillion pound investment has supported several other initiatives during the last five years.
These include ‘The Edit’, a digital and media literacy skills programme for young people across the UK & Ireland in collaboration with Adobe which reached over 40,000 students from 646 schools; Kick It Out’s digital learning platform, The Academy, which has delivered educational content on equality, diversity and inclusivity to over 3,600 people; and continued support in its programmes through Kick It Out visuals and branding.
Jonathan Licht, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: “Sky is the unrivalled home of domestic football, working hand-in-hand with our partners in both the men’s and women’s game. With this comes the commitment and responsibility to support and contribute to initiatives that make the game more inclusive and tackle discrimination in the sport.
“By investing additional funding this year and continuing our partnership with Kick It Out, we aim to create more opportunities for underrepresented communities and drive meaningful change in football.”
Samuel Okafor, CEO of Kick It Out, said: “Over the past five years, our partnership with Sky has provided vital educational opportunities, helped underrepresented communities carve out careers in sport, and amplified conversations about inclusion and fair representation.
“We look forward to another year of working together to deliver new initiatives that create pathways into football, drive meaningful dialogue about discrimination, and push for greater transparency in tracking representation in the game.
“Kick It Out remains committed to tackling discrimination in all its forms, and we’re grateful for Sky’s continued support on this journey.”
