Hollis Sponsorship Bulletin

Recent innovations in cricket such as the Twenty20 format have created a more broad-based appeal for the sport. It has caught the imagination of women, the young and old alike according to results from the Sponsoring 21+ study conducted by Sport+Markt in the four key cricket markets of India, United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia. It is evident that cricket is beginning to draw a much younger and wider demographic base on TV.
 
“Cricket is finally attracting the attention of non-traditional cricket audiences – the more hard to reach demographic groups of women and youth”, states Ravi Chavan, cricket expert at Sport+Markt. There has been a significant increase in women following cricket on TV in
the United Kingdom (+12%) and South Africa (+6%) between 2008 and 2009.

Similarly, during the same period, cricket has also experienced an increase amongst the target audience of 16-29 year olds in countries such as Australia (+5%) and South Africa (+4%), whereas there was a marginal decrease of one percentage point in India and the United Kingdom. However, given the fact that there has been an overall increase in the following of cricket on TV in India (+ 5 %) and the United Kingdom (+1%),the total number of 16-29 year olds following cricket on TV has nevertheless increased in 2009 as compared to 2008. This trend is further expected to continue, as the Twenty20 cricket format matures and attracts a greater number of viewers.

“Twenty20 format is primarily designed for television and with its high octane contests appeals to women and young people, whose attention is much craved by sponsors and advertisers alike”, the Sport+Markt project manager emphasised.
 
Interesting to note is the considerable decline in the 30-44 years old age category in all the countries. This can be partly attributed to the fact that this category represents the traditional cricketing audience, which are more inclined towards the longer version of the game and have a cynical view towards the new format. On the other hand there has been a considerable increase in the 45 plus age category in all the countries.

However, from a long term perspective, according to Ravi Chavan, the challenge for cricket’s governing bodies will be to sustain the spectator appeal of these valuable new found audiences, and more importantly to find a way to resurrect the declining interest in Test cricket.

Sky Sports is seeking a sponsor for the live coverage of England’s Home Test Match Series against both Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2010 in June and August.

Sussex County Cricket Club signed the largest sponsorship deal in the club’s history when it appointed Farnrise Construction as the club’s major sponsor for the next three seasons. This arrangement will see the Farnrise branding on the LV= Championship and Friends Provident T20 kit, as well as the brand new Clydesdale Bank 40 strip.
 Under the arrangement, which includes an option to extend for a further two seasons, Farnrise will be supporting cricket at all levels in Sussex and will also be sponsoring the Academy and County Age Group squads along with the age group area representative teams and the Sussex Women including their junior section.  In addition, Farnrise will be supporting the community work of Sussex Cricket and the Sussex Cricket Board, as the Club and Board seek to grow participation and develop our local talent.
 Farnrise has sponsorship experience with Crystal Palace FC, though this will be their first foray into cricket.  This will be the biggest sponsorship deal in the club’s history and shows the growing commercial interest in cricket.

Brewer Marstons has pronounced its sponsorship of this summer’s Ashes series as an unqualified success. With England coming out on top after five tests, the company said that an extra million pints of its flagship brand Pedigree had been drunk in UK bars and homes during the series. According to Marstons, the brand beat sales records with 350,000 pints sold over the eight week Ashes period.

Commenting on the beer’s performance, Marstons marketing manager Des Gallagher said: “As a passionate supporter of the England team, we’ve always had faith that victory over the Aussies was in the making. Now our faith has been rewarded not only with a historic victory, but with the knowledge that more cricket fans than ever before have chosen Pedigree to accompany the world class action.”

Marstons centred its entire summer strategy around the series – changing Pedigree’s brand colours to the red and white of St George. Its England Has It campaign poked fun at the Aussies with straplines such as Britannia Rules. Matilda Waltzes. Marston’s also gave drinkers the chance to win Ashes tickets or apply for Ashes giveaways. In terms of on the ground activity, most notable was its March of the Maidens which saw supporters “caught with a Maiden” in pubs and cricket grounds with pictures posted on a blog.

A good week for English cricket… After winning the Ashes comes the news that Npower is extending its title sponsorship of domestic Test Match cricket through to 2011. The renewal means it will now be at the crease for the 2011 Test series against India with the option to extend until after the end of the next Ashes series in 2013. The company will also continue to develop its grassroots programme Urban Cricket however it has decided not to renew its partnership of the Twenty20 Cup.

While England has managed to sign up Brit Insurance as its team sponsor, Twenty20 cricket also continues to be of great interest to brands. This week, for example, saw Indian telco Airtel sign up as title partner of the new Twenty20 Champion’s League tournament which starts in October of this year.
Airtel has signed up as title partner for five years in a deal with the event’s commercial rights holder ESPN Star Sports. The deal is said to be worth £4.2 million over the five-year period – though this hasn’t been confirmed by the rights holders.

The event will involve 12 teams from India, Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. They will play 23 matches in 16 days, competing for £4 million in prize money. Commenting on the deal, Bharti Airtel marketing director Shireesh Joshi said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with ESPN for the title sponsorship of the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament. We have seen a great synergy between our brand and cricket, since both cater for and connect to a wide spectrum of consumer segments.”

The England cricket team’s Second Test Win over Australia appears to have had a knock-on commercial impact following the news that Brit Insurance is to become a major news sponsor for the team. The company replaces Vodafone, which pulls out later this year after 12 years as national team sponsor.

Governing body the ECB is believed to have secured around £4 million a year for the deal – which runs for four years starting from January 2010 .

Brit Insurance is regarded as a good fit for the sponsorship – since it is already a high-profile friend of cricket. Currently, it has a naming rights deal with the Oval which also involves the sponsorship of Surrey county cricket club.

Under the terms of the deal, the Brit Insurance logo will appear on all playing and training kit worn by the England cricket teams. The brand will also have advertising in stadia during England matches, image rights and access to players for marketing purposes. “We are delighted to welcome Brit Insurance as the new principal sponsor of the England Cricket Teams,” said ECB CEO David Collier. “With an established brand and excellent reputation within the sport we are looking forward to working closely with them.”

Brewer Marston’s has extended its sponsorship agreement with the England & Wales Cricket Board. As a result, it will stay as the ECB’s official beer until the end of 2011. Marston’s has done a good job of the sponsorship – which gives it access to England players in its marketing activities. In 2008 the brand won a Hollis Sponsorship Award and has seen sales lift during the first three years of the partnership.

The Brit Oval has partnered up with the London Evening Standard for Twenty20 Cup matches played at the ground.

During May and June, the Standard will be the official media partner of the Brit Oval for the Twenty20 Cup. As a result, its readers will get access to free tickets, exclusive player interviews and in-venue promotions during match days. Commenting on the deal, Danny Mansfield, promotions manager at the Standard, said: “We are delighted to team up with the Brit Oval. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate London than to offer our readers exclusive opportunities to enjoy cricket in the capital.”

Specialist marketing consultancy Synergy has been appointed to handle Betfair’s sponsorship planning and activation. Synergy will now develop a long term sponsorship strategy for Betfair as well as managing the brand’s experiential, PR and digital activation around this summer’s Ashes Test Series.

Commenting on the news, Synergy CEO Tim Crow said: “This is a fantastic win for us. Betfair offers consumers a best in class proposition which sponsorship can really bring to life, and we’re really looking forward to making that happen.”