Manchester City Women’s Football Club and 2021 MLS Cup Champions, New York City FC, have today announced a new partnership with JLab, a leading personal technology company based in the United States and available in 80+ countries globally.
The new agreement will see JLab become the Official Headphones Partner of both MCWFC and NYCFC.
An accessible and innovative brand, JLab aim to deliver high performance headphones and audio products to all football fans by focusing on value, authenticity and enhancing the user experience. As the #1 sport headphone brand under $100 in the US, JLab’s products vary from sport headphones to office accessories and the new GO Air POP true wireless, which were released in the UK in January.
The new agreement with Manchester City Women is JLab’s first international sports collaboration and the partnership with NYCFC further extends the brand’s established relationship within Major League Soccer in the United States.
As part of the new relationship with MCWFC, the brand will feature across a number of digital and social channels, in addition to bespoke content creation and in-stadia assets at the Academy Stadium.
Speaking about the collaboration, Gavin Makel, Managing Director of Manchester City Women, said: “We are delighted to welcome JLab as an official partner of our women’s team.
“Having an international brand of their calibre working with the Club is fantastic, especially in terms of expanding Manchester City Women’s reach and profile in the United States of America.
“We have been hugely impressed with the overall commitment to women’s sport that JLab have shown and we’re very excited to work with them moving forwards.”
“JLab is excited to reach the global soccer community in a meaningful way through partnerships with Manchester City Women’s Football Club and MLS Cup Champions NYCFC. Being a ‘girl dad’ this is super exciting for not just JLab, but me personally to support women in sports. We’re excited to share the JLab experience with more soccer fans in the UK, US and internationally, while supporting a sport that is growing, just like our brand,” said Win Cramer, JLab CEO.
JLab will also be featured across NYCFC social and digital channels throughout the upcoming season, including a fan sweepstakes later this year. NYCFC will integrate JLab products into the Club’s matchday DJ performances at all MLS regular season home matches and other official Club events.
About Manchester City women’s team:
Formerly known as Manchester City Ladies FC, the club was founded in 1988 by City in the Community. In the 30 years since then, their affiliation with the men’s team has taken various forms, culminating in the statement of a formal partnership with Manchester City in August 2012.
The Club was granted entry to the FA Women’s Super League in April 2013 and subsequently re-launched as Manchester City Women’s Football Club in January 2014. In 2016, Manchester City opened their girls’ academy having received tier 1 status from the FA for a Regional Talent Club and now provides eighty young players from U10 level upwards elite training to maximise their potential
The Club mirrors and benefits from its association with its male equivalent and is structured in all aspects of its operations to take advantage of the resources of the wider organisation – from community programmes, to youth development, scouting, coaching, sports science, digital coverage and first team football operations.
In their inaugural season, Manchester City made history when they clinched their first ever trophy, the FA WSL Continental Cup. In the 2015 campaign, the Club finished second place in the FA WSL and with it secured their place in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, which they have competed in for the last three seasons.
In 2016, the Club celebrated their most successful season to date being crowned the FA WSL Champions for the first time in their history, lifting the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup for a second time and becoming Women’s FA Cup winners in another historic first.
In 2018-19, they scooped a domestic double with the Women’s FA Cup and FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup before the 2019/20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During 2020-21 however, as well as securing the Women’s FA Cup once again in the carryover from the previous season, City finished runners-up in the FAWSL, securing a record sixth successive year of qualification for the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
The team, which includes multiple England internationals, play their home games in the 7,000 capacity Academy Stadium at City Football Academy, the facility which they share alongside the men’s and academy teams. For more information, please visit: www.mancity.com.
About New York City FC:
New York City Football Club (NYCFC) is an American professional soccer team that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Eastern Conference of the League. It was announced as the League's 20th franchise on May 21, 2013 and is the first and only MLS Club located within the five boroughs of New York City. NYCFC kicked off its inaugural MLS season in March 2015 and is majority owned by City Football Group (CFG). Since its inaugural season, the Club has qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs the last six consecutive seasons. In 2021, NYCFC won the MLS Cup in the Club's first ever appearance, becoming the first professional sports franchise based in New York to win a championship in a decade. NYCFC’s Academy currently features teams from the U-12 to U-18 age groups and became the first Academy in the country to win back-to-back national titles at the U-19 level. NYCFC proudly supports City in the Community (CITC) foundation to use the power of soccer to uplift communities; one of the programs, New York City Soccer Initiative (NYCSI) is a first-of-its-kind public-private community partnership to open 50 mini-soccer pitches in underserved NYC neighbourhoods in five years.
About JLab
JLab imagines and delivers the personal technology products that consumers want. With our line of personal audio gear and office accessories, we’re innovating absolutely everything to make way better personal tech. Based in San Diego, we’ve been offering the right sound, the right features, and the right value since 2005. Learn more at jlab.com.
[1] *Source: The NPD Group, Inc., U.S. Weekly Retail Tracking Service, based on dollar sales, full year 2021. JLab Audio defines Sport Headphones as water resistant In Ear Clip and Ear Bud Clip stereo headphones.