THE UNITY CUP.

TURNING THE UNITY CUP INTO A CELEBRATION OF FOOTBALL, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY.

THE BRIEF.

The Unity Cup appointed Soapbox following a competitive pitch process to build excitement, awareness and drive ticket sales ahead of the international four-team football tournament at The Valley.

The tournament marked the return of international football to Charlton Athletic’s home ground for the first time since 2004, bringing together the national teams of Nigeria, Jamaica, Zimbabwe and India for a celebration of football, culture and community.

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STRATEGY.

We developed an integrated PR and communications strategy designed to position the Unity Cup as more than a football tournament, creating a compelling story around the nations, players, personalities and communities represented.

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Our approach combined proactive media relations, high-profile talent engagement, reactive storytelling and on-the-ground event delivery to build momentum ahead of the tournament and maximise visibility across the two matchdays.

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EXECUTION.

Across the campaign, we delivered a fully integrated PR programme combining proactive storytelling, strategic media engagement and live event delivery.

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Our proactive media strategy engaged mainstream, sports and football outlets to elevate awareness of the Unity Cup and establish the tournament within the wider sporting agenda. We secured interviews with players representing all four nations, generating high-profile broadcast and national media coverage, while also arranging major profile opportunities with Paul Elliott CBE MBE and developing reactive storytelling around key moments from the tournament.

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On the ground, we managed press conferences with the managers and captains of all four nations, ensuring the media had direct access to the tournament’s key personalities.

Across the two matchdays, we hosted more than 100 media outlets and influencers, delivering a seamless press office operation from accreditation through to on-site media management. We created and managed a pitchside mixed zone and dedicated content creator mixed zone, giving attending media and creators unrivalled access to players and generating additional opportunities for real-time content and storytelling.​​

14,000

tickets sold across the two days​

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200+

earned pieces of media coverage secured across the course of the campaign

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100+

media in attendance on the ground throughout the event week​​​​​​

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5k+

online articles that mentioned The Unity Cup​​​​​​

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2m

social interactions​​​​​​

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40k+

live views on the talkSPORT YouTube stream​​​​​​