Case Study: Solar energy at Utilita Bowl

About the Client

We’ve worked with Hampshire Cricket for many years, providing powerful media coverage for the club, and the venue – now known as Utilita Bowl.

Collaboration

In 2024, the club announced a partnership with Utilita, which saw the energy firm take the ground naming rights for the newly named Utilita Bowl.

The partnership led to the venue announcing ambitions to become the world’s greenest cricket ground. We set to work generating positive profile around the partnership and ground’s new name, getting stuck into phase one of the partnership – the panels.

In September 2024, Utilita Bowl officially switched on 1,044 solar panels, marking the culmination of a summer-long installation. This represented the first major step in the venue’s ambition to become the world’s greenest cricket stadium, through a pioneering partnership with Utilita Energy.

Our job was to amplify this.

Our Objectives

Build a strategy to mark the completion of the panel installation

Generate positive media profile for the partnership

Set the narrative for venue’s ambitions

The Results

Around 600 pieces of media coverage, reaching an estimated audience of 41m says it all.

Utilising an England international fixture at Utilita Bowl provided us with the opportunity to align with the wider news agenda, where county cricket often struggles to cut-through. Demonstrating the potential impact, working with journalists across sport, news, trade and sustainability.

Featured across BBC Sport, TalkSport, Sky Sports, PA, ESPN, trade and regional media, the launch rounded off phase one brilliantly.

Marking the one year anniversary of the switch on, Utilita Bowl announced significant environmental impact achieved by the installation. Since going live, the array has generated 367,791 kWh of clean electricity; enough to power around 105 homes for a year. By reducing reliance on conventional energy sources, the venue has also prevented 55.17 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of removing 24 cars from the road for a year or planting more than 2,400 trees.

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Sport and impact focused PR and communications agency, New Reach, has renewed its partnership with Hampshire Cricket and the iconic Utilita Bowl for a fourth consecutive year. This continued collaboration underscores New Reach’s commitment to delivering exceptional PR and media relations that has amplified profile for the club and venue, alike. Since 2022, New Reach has worked closely with Hampshire Cricket to deliver strategic media relations, innovative campaigns, and impactful storytelling that showcase the club’s achievements both on and off the pitch. New Reach has led PR campaigns including the historic solar project in partnership with Utilita, established new and improved relationships with media brands, driven global announcements and managed key media moments including media days, the signing of cricketing icon Ellyse Perry and the club’s acquisition by GMR Group. Throughout 2026, New Reach will closely align with a new-look team at Utilita Bowl, delivering PR strategy across key moments inside and out of cricket. This will include The Hundred in its new format, the stadium’s 25 year anniversary, positioning the club and venue as leaders across T20, women’s and international cricket, ongoing cricket and regional media engagement, celebrating impact in the community and placing the club’s leaders at the heart of the industry. Nick Rewcastle, Managing Director at New Reach, commented: “We’re thrilled to extend our partnership with Hampshire Cricket for another year. Utilita Bowl is one of the most exciting venues in global sport and entertainment, and we look forward to continuing to help Hampshire Cricket and the venue tell its story and connect with audiences in meaningful ways. “Every year is an exciting year at Utilita Bowl, and we’ve enjoyed working across such a variety of powerful projects and initiatives. 2026 is set to continue in that trajectory, but with some new faces internally at the club and the first full year of new ownership. We’re truly looking forward to backing the Rose and Crown again this year.” Jonathan Peace, Head of Brand, Digital and Marketing at Utilita Bowl added: “New Reach has been an invaluable partner in elevating our communications strategy. Their expertise and creativity have helped us build stronger relationships with fans and media alike, and we’re excited to see what we can achieve together in 2026.” With deep-rooted expertise in sport, media and events, New Reach crafts tailored campaigns across PR, social media and video that inspire action and create lasting impact. New Reach’s commitment to transparency and authenticity drives everything the agency does, with partnerships going beyond business; ensuring every collaboration is rooted in integrity, trust, and a shared purpose. New Reach will not compromise trust, morals or rules to profit.