Celtic League needs new sponsor

profitius

The Celtic League is in search of a new sponsor after Magners confirmed they will end their relationship at the end of this season.

A number of multinational companies are said to be considering taking over the sponsorship of the competition after the cider company pulled the plug after five seasons sponsoring the league that involved teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy.

"Given the brand direction of Magners, the group wants to look at other opportunities and is doing so," a spokesperson for parent group C&C said.

Italian car makers Fiat are believed to be among the companies sizing up the sponsorship of a competition that has flourished in recent years after a difficult start that saw it go without a sponsor for five years between 2001 and 2006.

Irish Independent

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/celtic-league-needs-new-sponsor-2622259.html

Looking at it from the outside it seems like Magners have been priced out of the market. They were getting a good deal and were rightly rewarded for putting their money where noone else would.

You'd think the next sponsorship would be worth alot more to the CL as it has grown into a serious competition and theres no talk about teams not taking it seriously these days.

phog

I really dont mind who sponsors it but I hope the league continues as it's too important to the Irish teams for it to disappear.

hardCopy

So will it be insurance or booze related this time?

Fair play to Magner's, I think the branding of the league has helped it's image.

I'm still surprised Magner's didn't use their sponsorship of the league as an opportunity to drop the Bulmer's name in Ireland.

CIARAN_BOYLE

I can completly understand Magners dropping out.

They don't have a presence in Italy and they would need to rebrand bulmers in Ireland in order to gain benefit here in Ireland from their sponsorship of the league here.

On another note I understand that Celtic Rugby have recently trademarked Pro12 so maybe the league's name is being changed to that

buck65

FIAT are strongly rumoured to be involved and a league name change on the way too to include the Italian temas. Celticano League?

JustinDee

buck65 wrote: »

Celticano League?

How about Italieltic League? :cool:

CIARAN_BOYLE

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

I can completly understand Magners dropping out.

They don't have a presence in Italy and they would need to rebrand bulmers in Ireland in order to gain benefit here in Ireland from their sponsorship of the league here.

On another note I understand that Celtic Rugby have recently trademarked Pro12 so maybe the league's name is being changed to that

ugh, sounds horrible.

Can't be the Celtic League anymore with the Italians involved, so a name change is inevitable. Pro12 sounds like a poor rip off of S15/Top14. Hopefully they can do better than that!

durkadurka

At least there will be a new term of insult for the Mick o driscolls and stephen keoghs of the world.

sarah_lennon

Batter Sausage & Chips league.

That's as Italian - Celtic as ya get

brock92

What about "Fantastic 12" :-)


ok, i will get my coat

GerM

Here we are, complete with logo:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/t-find-number?detailsrequested=C&trademark=E9863275

CatFromHue

there has always been problems with magners as its known as bulmers in ireland which makes it difficult on their part to market their product in ireland.

the league itself is the strongest its ever been so should be able to secure a main sponsor. if you look at the english league they change sponsor nearly every year so we shouldnt be too "worried" about it.

i suppose it cant be called the celtic league now with the italian teams in it, but what do you call it?

the super..mario league maybe!

ugh, looks like a logo you'd find on a €2 Store Jersey

CIARAN_BOYLE

I've seen this one on munsterfans

cp

hardCopy wrote: »

So will it be insurance or booze related this time?

Fair play to Magner's, I think the branding of the league has helped it's image.

I'm still surprised Magner's didn't use their sponsorship of the league as an opportunity to drop the Bulmer's name in Ireland.

I'd imagine they kept the Bulmers name in Ireland as a blocking tactic against the British version.. Agree though, they missed a trick there.

TBH I think the league is due a bit of a re branding, the marketing hasn't kept up with quality of the competition.

Not gone on PRO12, but at least it's something - sponsors come and go, so the league needed some kind of moniker that was independent of them, something that the casual fans can identify straight away every time a new title sponsor comes aboard.

And a new website please! that black and yellow is awful.

ambid

Slightly off topic, but does anybody know when Bank Of Ireland's sponsorship of the provinces expires?

I imagine that, like the league, they'd also secure another major sponsor given the following of the big teams. I just wonder would they match the terms of the Bank's sponsorship.

CIARAN_BOYLE

ambid wrote: »

Slightly off topic, but does anybody know when Bank Of Ireland's sponsorship of the provinces expires?

I imagine that, like the league, they'd also secure another major sponsor given the following of the big teams. I just wonder would they match the terms of the Bank's sponsorship.

I think BOI's sponsorship of Leinster expires this summer I think, I don't know about the others

BTL

GerM wrote: »

Here we are, complete with logo:
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/t-find-number?detailsrequested=C&trademark=E9863275

Would I be correct in thinking that this is a strong indicator that there is no plan to expand the magners league soon? The trademark is registered as PRO12, not PRO13 or PRO14.

I know the welsh have been talking about a fifth region for a while, and eventually, you have to think the Italians would want more than two teams - is this a short-sighted move by Celtic Rugby, or is there some reason they couldn't trademark the obvious expansions?

GerM

BTL wrote: »

Would I be correct in thinking that this is a strong indicator that there is no plan to expand the magners league soon? The trademark is registered as PRO12, not PRO13 or PRO14.

I know the welsh have been talking about a fifth region for a while, and eventually, you have to think the Italians would want more than two teams - is this a short-sighted move by Celtic Rugby, or is there some reason they couldn't trademark the obvious expansions?

That's um, an interesting point.....one moment please...

*trademarks PRO13, PRO14 and PRO15*

I doubt the league will expand any time soon. It would be equally wise to trademark PRO11 and PRO10 with Connacht and the Scottish teams constantly operating under a cloud of uncertainty.

Monty Burnz

BTL wrote: »

Would I be correct in thinking that this is a strong indicator that there is no plan to expand the magners league soon? The trademark is registered as PRO12, not PRO13 or PRO14.

I know the welsh have been talking about a fifth region for a while, and eventually, you have to think the Italians would want more than two teams - is this a short-sighted move by Celtic Rugby, or is there some reason they couldn't trademark the obvious expansions?

They are going to try to relaunch a fifth region? Where were the Celtic Warriors based, again? They died a horrible death if I recall correctly.

Monty Burnz

GerM wrote: »

That's um, an interesting point.....one moment please...

*trademarks PRO13, PRO14 and PRO15*

I doubt the league will expand any time soon. It would be equally wise to trademark PRO11 and PRO10 with Connacht and the Scottish teams constantly operating under a cloud of uncertainty.

If the two Scottish teams die, that will be the end of Scotland as a serious rugby country.

GerM

Monty Burnz wrote: »

They are going to try to relaunch a fifth region? Where were the Celtic Warriors based, again? They died a horrible death if I recall correctly.

Bridgend. The area between Cardiff and Swansea. The barse of Wales.

CIARAN_BOYLE

There is a 5th region operating in North Wales in underage competition. Its a welsh name I'm not sure exactly what it is.

Its supposed to foster Rugby in north Wales which is currently under represented at the moment.

That said its going to be 10 years before a full blown professional region there is viable.

ormond lad

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

There is a 5th region operating in North Wales in underage competition. Its a welsh name I'm not sure exactly what it is.

Its supposed to foster Rugby in north Wales which is currently under represented at the moment.

That said its going to be 10 years before a full blown professional region there is viable.

team was based in colwyn bay, went into liquidation in january but continue to play games after being absorbed into the WRU National Academy

profitius

Does anybody have any figures to compare leagues? ie the AP, the T14 and the ML sponsorship deals per year.

Interestingly it said yestersay that Munsters shirt sponsorship is €5.8m over 3 seasons while the new Celtic and Rangers shirt sponsor is €1.8m per season. If thats true than Munster are getting more than those per season.

hardCopy

profitius wrote: »

Does anybody have any figures to compare leagues? ie the AP, the T14 and the ML sponsorship deals per year.

Interestingly it said yestersay that Munsters shirt sponsorship is €5.8m over 3 seasons while the new Celtic and Rangers shirt sponsor is €1.8m per season. If thats true than Munster are getting more than those per season.

I'm nearly sure I read on here that Munster sell more rugby jerseys for Adidas than anybody outside the All Blacks

No idea how the numbers stack up against Celtic but I'd well believe Munster is an extremely valuable brand

little173

hardCopy wrote: »

I'm nearly sure I read on here that Munster sell more rugby jerseys for Adidas than anybody outside the All Blacks

No idea how the numbers stack up against Celtic but I'd well believe Munster is an extremely valuable brand

I am sure they shift a fair number of jerseys but am not sure that is a great stat given that Addidas' sponsorship of rugby teams is pretty limited, Pumas and Stormers are the only others that come to mind.

JustinDee

hardCopy wrote: »

I'm nearly sure I read on here that Munster sell more rugby jerseys for Adidas than anybody outside the All Blacks

Just guesswork on a hunch.
One of the highest-selling replica shirts is actually London Irish, believe it or not. No-one knows which actually sells the highest particularly across brands.

hardCopy

JustinDee wrote: »

Just guesswork on a hunch.
One of the highest-selling replica shirts is actually London Irish, believe it or not. No-one knows which actually sells the highest particularly across brands.

After half an hour on google and reading Rangers annual report from 2010, I can confirm that this kind of information is indeed hard to find.

mikedragon32

little173 wrote: »

I am sure they shift a fair number of jerseys but am not sure that is a great stat given that Addidas' sponsorship of rugby teams is pretty limited, Pumas and Stormers are the only others that come to mind.

And Stade Francais! How could you miss those! :eek:

On topic: I had often wondered about Magners/Bulmers sponsoring the Celtic League. Given that Heineken have the biggest and best club competition in the NH, the CL struggles to be the next best competition and somehow that might reflect on a sponsor from the same industry: Magners: Not quite as good as Heineken.

Given the speculation that it's to be renamed Pro12 (although Dirty Dozen seems more appropriate sometimes), chances are it won't be a single "title" sponsor, which opens the door for a pool of "partners" along the lines of the way the Champions League operates eg: all venues have the same advertisements around the pitch, promo stings bookending ad breaks etc...

little173

mikedragon32 wrote: »

And Stade Francais! How could you miss those! :eek:

On topic: I had often wondered about Magners/Bulmers sponsoring the Celtic League. Given that Heineken have the biggest and best club competition in the NH, the CL struggles to be the next best competition and somehow that might reflect on a sponsor from the same industry: Magners: Not quite as good as Heineken.

Given the speculation that it's to be renamed Pro12 (although Dirty Dozen seems more appropriate sometimes), chances are it won't be a single "title" sponsor, which opens the door for a pool of "partners" along the lines of the way the Champions League operates eg: all venues have the same advertisements around the pitch, promo stings bookending ad breaks etc...

I certainly think this would be the way to go if it can be done, means not so exposed to a title sponsor and I guess Top 14 and Super Rugby have this arrangement too. This kind of muliple sponsor set up relies heavily on TV exposure though and am not sure the league have sorted this out sufficiently to sell it to companies.

Crash

Super Rugby sells naming rights by conference area, doesnt it? for instance, Investec Super Rugby in NZ, Vodacom Super Rugby in SA etc.

tolosenc

Crash wrote: »

Super Rugby sells naming rights by conference area, doesnt it? for instance, Investec Super Rugby in NZ, Vodacom Super Rugby in SA etc.

Correct. No rights currently sold for Oz.

Hyperbullet

I really hope Fiat take over the sponsorship. That way we could make jokes about "the breakdown".

Digifriendly

Personally I'm pleased that an alcoholic beverage is no longer sponsoring the league as my job entails regularly dealing with people whose lives have been destroyed by alcohol.

profitius

Digifriendly wrote: »

Personally I'm pleased that an alcoholic beverage is no longer sponsoring the league as my job entails regularly dealing with people whose lives have been destroyed by alcohol.

I fully agree. Theres a good reason why alcoholic companies pay big bucks to sponsor sporting events and it ain't because they're feeling generous.

ScrubsfanChris

Dam, no more corporate freebie tickets for me then

Pro12 isn't bad but not great either, at least its not as pompous as "Super Rugby"

CouchSmart

Pro12 is far too similar to the French second division, "ProD2", for my liking.

Foxtrol

Digifriendly wrote: »

Personally I'm pleased that an alcoholic beverage is no longer sponsoring the league as my job entails regularly dealing with people whose lives have been destroyed by alcohol.

Not meaning to drag the thread off topic but I disagree. I see very little ties between sponsorship of sporting events and alcohol abuse. In my eyes its like not wanting the league to take sponsorship from Volkswagen or Fiat because of deaths on the roads. Both products when used correctly are fine but can cause hurt and death when mistreated.

Getting back on topic, though i dont like the pro 12 name i think the general idea of giving the league a title is a good move as it puts it in a better standing worldwide than being linked to a sponsor which the rest of the world may not have heard of.

profitius

Foxtrol wrote: »

Not meaning to drag the thread off topic but I disagree. I see very little ties between sponsorship of sporting events and alcohol abuse. In my eyes its like not wanting the league to take sponsorship from Volkswagen or Fiat because of deaths on the roads. Both products when used correctly are fine but can cause hurt and death when mistreated.

They want people to drink more. As much as possible and having signs of alcohol everywhere means its happening. As well as that kids are drinking more these days.

Risteard

profitius wrote: »

They want people to drink more. As much as possible and having signs of alcohol everywhere means its happening. As well as that kids are drinking more these days.

I don't think having the competition sponsored by an Alcohol company has anything to do with the amount drank at a rugby match tbh.

Podge_irl

profitius wrote: »

They want people to drink more.

No, they want people to drink their product.




I'm genuinely surprised by this. I thought Magners were doing fairly well out of their sponsorship and with the move to RTÉ it's certainly expanded the interest in the league in Ireland. Still, unlike last time I don't think the league will have serious problems finding a new sponsor.

Foxtrol

profitius wrote: »

They want people to drink more. As much as possible and having signs of alcohol everywhere means its happening. As well as that kids are drinking more these days.

Just like car companies want people to drive the newer and more expensive models which tend to be faster and more powerful. These ads have also made younger/less experienced people want to buy/drive them which you could say has lead to the higher level of road deaths over the years.

I believe demonising sponsorship by drinks companies is an easy target and any actual ceasing of sponsorship would be a very hollow victory and do nothing to solve the issues our society has with alcohol.

RuggieBear

eh...rugby?

Guy:Incognito

RuggieBear wrote: »

eh...rugby?

In fairness, it's a thread about sponsorship and lobby groups etc , if they succeeded in getting bans like the ones in France could limit money available to Teams .

Does anyone in France really benefit from the "eineken" being deleted from the name, or from teams with alcohol sponsoship (in football mostly, ie Liverpool when they had Carlsberg) having no shirt sponsor when playing there. Has it solved all Frances alcohol issues?

johnnysmack

profitius wrote: »

As well as that kids are drinking more these days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo

profitius

I think some of you are very naive regarding how the mind works. Companies spend billions on advertising and hire the top teams because they want to get their product into peoples subconscious. Drink companies want people spending as much on drink as possible and don't be foolish enough to think they're worried about peoples health or all the other things that go with drink.

Personally I'd prefer to see drink companies banned from sport advertising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij3OexJXkrg

CatFromHue

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Does anyone in France really benefit from the "eineken" being deleted from the name, or from teams with alcohol sponsoship (in football mostly, ie Liverpool when they had Carlsberg) having no shirt sponsor when playing there. Has it solved all Frances alcohol issues?

its too early to tell. its a generational thing if you ask me.

we can only properly gauge its effect in 30 years or so.

durkadurka

Lets reconvene in 2041 to assess

CatFromHue

we can have a beer maybe watch a game at the same time

profitius

Rumours are that Rabobank are also in the running as a potential sponsor.