Current sponsor Npower announced that,
'We can confirm that we will not renew our sponsorship of the Football League when the current season ends at the end of May'.
Npower paid £21 million over three years for the property and have left the Football League with plenty to do to replicate this level of sponsorship, especially when you consider that the BBC are no longer covering live games.
The Football League have no current announcement planned for who will be the principal sponsor replacement. However speculation around what sector the sponsor is going to come from has centered around the Betting, Alcohol and Energy industries. Although with the Bet Butler sponsorship only starting in October 2012, I find it unlikely that a betting company will be announced come mid August.
The man charged with finding a sponsor is the Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Heaselgrave, and judging from his past experience Richard is more than capable of doing so. Previously Head of European Sponsorship at Anheuser-Busch (Brewery for Budweiser, Becks etc) which included properties such as FIFA World Cup, Ryder Cup and Manchester United. Heaselgrave was then Head of Sponsorship Sales at UEFA for the European Championships. Richard's last role before joining the Football League was Vice President of Business Development at the NBA.So where is Richard likely to look? If his experience is anything to go by, I would be inclined to say an Alcohol brand is the most likely. Needless to say his time at Anheuser-Busch will have thickened his contact book in that industry. Furthermore the 2008 Euro's saw four title sponsors of McDonald's, MasterCard, Coca Cola and Carslberg.
Nothing is ever a certainty with sponsorship, and of course much depends on who is in the market at the moment, I can't help but feel that the betters out there shouldn't be betting on betting.
JL
No comments:
Post a Comment