Endeavor Launches ‘NXT UK: Women in Sports’ Programme to Increase Access to Sports Industry for Women in the U.K.

Endeavor, a global sports and entertainment company, today announced the launch of NXT UK: Women in Sports, the latest in Endeavor Impact’s series of virtual education and development programmes created to expand industry access.

NXT UK: Women in Sports is a six-week virtual programme designed to engage women in the UK aged between 18-24 who want to pursue careers in the sports industry. It will run during Summer 2024 and will be free to all.

Launched in partnership with the Embassy of the United States of America in the UK and the Women’s Sport Collective, the programme will provide exclusive educational courses to enhance its participants’ career readiness and confidence. Endeavor and the Embassy of the United States of America kicked off the NXT UK: Women in Sports programme last night with a celebratory event at Winfield House, London, hosted by U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Jane D. Hartley, and Endeavor’s SVP and Head of Impact and Inclusion, Romola Ratnam. 

The series will feature live introductory sessions on sports media, licensing, entertainment, representation, and sponsorship, as well as executive mindset, the power of networking, career navigation and strategic thinking. The sessions will be delivered by executives from Endeavor-owned businesses IMG, WME Sports, 160over90, and On Location, as well as leaders and allies from across the global sport industry, such as Sue Anstiss MBE – founder and CEO of the Women’s Sport Collective. Registrations for NXT UK: Women in Sports will launch on May 1, with details of the full program to be unveiled soon. Interested attendees can pre-register here.

Endeavor’s SVP and Head of Impact and Inclusion, Romola Ratnam commented: “Through our various Virtual Pipeline Programs, including the NXT series, we want to democratize access to the sports and entertainment industries for under-represented groups. NXT UK: Women in Sports aims to provide free education and inspiration that anybody can access from any device, no matter where they are, and help kick-start a career in sport. It’s important we take steps to increase diversity within our industry and encourage the next generation of talented women to build a career in sport – whether that’s at Endeavor or beyond.”

Jane D. Hartley, U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom stated:

“As women’s sports fans, we all love to celebrate our team’s victories. The real celebration will come when we push the boundaries facing women in sports upward and outward until there are no more barriers, and no more ceilings. We can achieve this through getting more women interested and involved in sports as a career by creating real pathways for their advancement and development. Now is the right time to make a push on these issues. Women’s sports are reaching a tipping point. From the global popularity of the Women’s World Cup to the U.S. Women’s college basketball tournament that just concluded – the most watched in history – to the way we all followed the Lionesses in their Euro winning campaign, the interest in and investment into women’s sports is unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

Since Endeavor launched its virtual education and development programmes in 2021, more than 25,000 participants have enrolled across the various initiatives, including NXT: NYFW, NXT Africa, NXT/Latinx and the Excellence Program, with 55 participants hired as full-time employees or for internship positions within Endeavor and other companies across the industry. The NXT UK: Women in Sports programme is designed to increase the pipeline of talented women applying for roles at Endeavor, IMG and in the wider industry, to build a strong network within the UK, and to encourage the next generation of women leaders in sport.

Endeavor has a strong footprint in the UK. Its businesses include global sports, events and representation company, IMG; leading entertainment agency WME; premium experiential hospitality leader, On Location; global cultural marketing agency, 160over90; and sports betting, data and technology company, OpenBet.