Sporting Programmes 2023

It’s been a very busy year to date for PPL’s publishing and onsite sales teams, see the reel below for a glimpse of the souvenir sporting programmes we’ve published so far this year – up to 24th August 2023

Sporting programmes published by The PPL Group:

The PPL Group have been publishing sports programmes and providing onsite sales services for over 75 years, it all started when a naval officer asked the proprietor of the company to produce a programme for the 1947 Cowes week, and since then The PPL Group have published hundreds of programmes for some of the UK’s most iconic sporting occasions.  Over the years we’ve covered athletics, boxing, cricket, cycling, football,  golf, gymnastics, horse racing, motor racing, rugby league, rugby union, show jumping, tall ships race, and tennis.

We have many long-standing clients, who we have been provided publishing services to for many decades including:

• The All-England England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club – 70+ years
• The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews – 60+ years
• Rugby Football Union – 50+ years
• UK Athletics – 12+ years

Whilst each client’s programme will vary in size, paper and print specifications and the number of pages; the process of creating a programme for any sporting event is structured generally the same.

The PPL Design Studio work with the client to plan the programme, creating a page plan which consists of editorial, advertising, promotional and information content, such as

1. Cover Page: featuring the event’s name, date, and captivating image or logo.
2. Welcome Message: introduction from a senior figure/personality associated with the event.
3. Schedule: details of the day/s events
4. Participant / Team Profiles: information about their achievements and statistics.
5. Featured Articles: In-depth articles.
6. Interviews: Interviews with athletes, coaches, or sports experts
7. Fan Zone: A section for fan contributions, such as fan art, messages, or stories related to the sport.
8. Sponsor acknowledgements: page/s highlighting and thanking sponsors.
9. Sponsor Pages: for sponsors to advertise.
10. Venue Information: Details about the event location, including maps, parking information, and facilities available.
11. Rules and Regulations: An explanation of the rules and regulations for the sport being featured.
12. Historical information:  player, team, or tournament records

The PPL Group commissions journalists to write some of the editorial content, this provides an independent voice and can bring fresh insights to features.

The programmes, once signed off by the client are sent to print, the nature of sport means this is often very close to an event starting and The PPL Group works with only the best and most reliable printers to ensure programmes are printed and delivered on time.

Onsite Sales & Distribution, and Retail Services:  The PPL Group offers a comprehensive package of publishing services including onsite sales & distribution and retail, we will set up a retail sales operation at venues and provide an online sales service.  Programmes which are part of the hospitality package; we ensure that they are delivered to hospitality locations within venues so they can be distributed to guests.  If required, we can set sell publications into the retail trade for sale at newsagents and supermarkets.  We work with ventures to deliver programmes to hospitality locations.