SmartFrame Technologies, a leading UK-based tech provider that is redefining the digital image standard, has today (February 1st, 2024) announced a new partnership with Six Nations Rugby, the organisation responsible for several major international rugby competitions, including the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, Guinness Women’s Six Nations, Under-20 Six Nations, Under-18 Festivals, and the Autumn Nations Series.

The partnership sees SmartFrame become the official photography and image-streaming distribution partner for all Six Nations Rugby Championships and competitions, highlighting its significant role in restructuring the sports photography space.

Today’s announcement presents a new media model for sponsors and commercial partners associated with Six Nations Rugby, and empowers a greater number of brands to align themselves with these events, facilitated through SmartFrame's in-image advertising solution. The overall experience for fans and consumers of sports news will be enhanced through interactive features (including full-screen viewing and SmartFrame’s proprietary Hyper Zoom technology) and improved relevance of ads within content related to the competitions. 

SmartFrame’s existing advertising partners will also have the opportunity to connect with the Six Nations Rugby brand, and to reach a global audience of rugby fans and sports enthusiasts through tailored advertising for specific images, websites, geolocations, and devices.

SmartFrame’s model ensures that Six Nations Rugby retains the rights to images taken throughout its competitions and profits from the revenues generated through advertising displayed within those images, challenging the dominance of industry giants that usually retain the IP of images that sports brands pay them to capture.

Under this commercial model, publishers will be able to embed official images on their websites for free and receive a share of in-image sponsorship revenue. Six Nations Rugby’s imagery will still be available to fans and media organisations around the world via traditional photo agency subscriptions, but only publishers using official Six Nations Rugby images are able to benefit from SmartFrame’s innovative image-streaming technology and a share of sponsorship revenues.

Sarah Beattie, chief marketing officer of Six Nations Rugby, said “SmartFrame has established itself as a globally respected and widely trusted brand within the industry, with a growing portfolio of other major sports organisations. The digital and user-first approach stands to deliver a better fan experience and the commercial model provides a genuine opportunity to deliver returns for our unions and partners, which will ultimately go back into the game.”

Rob Sewell, CEO of SmartFrame Technologies, said: “We’re delighted to add Six Nations Rugby to an already impressive roster of sporting partnerships for SmartFrame Technologies. We are redefining the digital image standard and distribution model to empower image owners, offering them complete control and transparency over the use of their images, while our ad-funded commercial model is channelling substantial revenue back into the hands of content creators. We’re very proud to partner with a sports brand as iconic and forward-thinking as Six Nations Rugby.”

The Six Nations Rugby Official Photography Library can be found here