NIB annouced a principal sponsor for the next 3 years

[Still Nutty]

Knights kick off new partnership with nib

Thu 27th October, 08:30AM

The Hunter’s flagship sporting team will be known as the nib Newcastle Knights following today’s historic sponsorship announcement.

The new three-year sponsorship will see nib health funds (nib) become the Principal and naming rights partner of the nib Newcastle Knights, with the company’s logo moving to the prominent front of jersey position.

The Hunter-based national health insurer will also maintain its status as the longest continuous supporter of the region’s iconic sporting club.

“This is a milestone moment for the Club,” Knights CEO Matt Gidley said.

“As we embark on our 30th year in the NRL competition, to have a sponsor with such an iconic Newcastle heritage and long standing association with the Knights become the Principal partner is terrific news for our future success.

“nib is renowned for its exceptional service, world class healthcare cover along with being a market leader in travel and life insurance products which has been part of the fabric in the Newcastle community for 65 years.

“I’m sure the players, members and supporters will be extremely proud to have a business that was built right here in the Hunter as our number one sponsor for the next three seasons.”

nib Group Executive, Australian Residents Health Insurance, Rhod McKensey, said the health fund was proud to extend its commitment to the Knights in its 30th anniversary season.

“We’ve been a corporate supporter of the Newcastle Knights since day one and have maintained a strong partnership ever since, taking pride of place as the Club’s sleeve sponsor from 2003,” Mr McKensey said.

“An important element in our overall brand strategy, the Knights sponsorship provides nib with exceptional brand exposure across the traditional rugby league heartlands of New South Wales and Queensland, as well as Victoria,” he added.

According to Mr McKensey brand sponsorships such as the Knights have played an integral role in the ongoing customer growth and expansion of nib beyond the Hunter.

“For more than a decade we have sustained above industry growth in a very competitive industry.

“While the Hunter remains our heartland, much of this growth has been in new markets with brand exposure playing an integral role in this success.

“We are excited that our new front of jersey sponsorship of the Knights will play a significant role in maintaining our strong growth customer performance,” he added.


http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/n...k_off_new.html

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

That jersey is horrid..

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I like the jersey.

Wonder how much they paid to be our sponsor. Why anyone would want to sponsor us is beyond me.

 

[Still Nutty]

This also has to be a positive for any new purchaser of the club to see corporate commitments like this...I don't care what the jersey looks like - I'd happily see bugger all of our jersey for a kaleidoscope of sponsor patches stuck across every piece of material...as Jerry Maguire said 'Show me the money!!'

 

[Swarzey]

Yay for white collar <3 Don't like the sleeves; should have kept the old style.

Nice to finally have a decent sponsor on the front. Varies greatly from the corruption and literally traceless sponsors in recent years.

 

[Haffa]

Explains why last years gear was 60% off.

 

[Zoidberg]

Good to have a known sponsor.

And yeah, those sleeves just look weird.

 

[Glendale]

I like that jersey, it just needs a sleeve sponsor.

 

[Knightmare]

I like the sleeves, the stripes now run vertical in keeping with the rest of the jersey, as was the case from the 1997-2000 jerseys by Canterbury and Fila.

I much prefer integrated sponsors or sponsors that match the team colours, but at least NIB is a well-known company and the shade of green isn't a garish shade of snot like the Coco's sponsorship on Manly or ME Bank on the Storm before they jumped ship after the cap scandal.

Only thing I really don't like is the upper jersey sponsor- I'm not a fan of upper jersey sponsors at the best of times as they cheapen the whole look of on-field apparel. But Huntlee have suddenly decided to put a green background to their logo which makes it look awkward...integrated was way better!

 

[Alex28]

When we get virtually no FTA games and we get buried in shit times every round, we have to give the sponsors some value for money. Unfortunately that means we have to give way to the sponsors colours and logos on the jersey just to secure them...

 

[macavity]

Only thing I really don't like is the upper jersey sponsor- I'm not a fan of upper jersey sponsors at the best of times as they cheapen the whole look of on-field apparel. But Huntlee have suddenly decided to put a green background to their logo which makes it look awkward...integrated was way better!

Tweet them - they reply!

On topic, I really want a change of jersey. Something inspired by our original - even simply horizontal stripes instead of vertical. Just something different - this jersey needs a break.

Although probably makes sense to get our three consecutive spoons in the same strip.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I love our modernized retro round jersey.

 

[Caped Crusader]

I dont agree Macavity Personally i hate it when teams change strip dramatically all the time.

The best thing we can do is stick to our current one and build the brand off it. Its iconic and is a direct link to the 1st real success we had as a club, 1997

Keep the "Henny Penny" horizontal strip for heritage

 

[Alex28]

Tweet them - they reply!

On topic, I really want a change of jersey. Something inspired by our original - even simply horizontal stripes instead of vertical. Just something different - this jersey needs a break.

Although probably makes sense to get our three consecutive spoons in the same strip.

Or they can get inspired by our first premiership from the strip. Depends on how positive you want to be about it.

 

[macavity]

Or they can get inspired by our first premiership from the strip. Depends on how positive you want to be about it.

If you are a Knights fan and positive, you gunna have a bad time...

 

[Nuke]

I dont agree Macavity Personally i hate it when teams change strip dramatically all the time.

The best thing we can do is stick to our current one and build the brand off it. Its iconic and is a direct link to the 1st real success we had as a club, 1997

Keep the "Henny Penny" horizontal strip for heritage

I absolutely love our original jersey design, but yes, I agree with this post. I hate it when teams change jerseys every 3rd year, and to be honest, I think the current design (even allowing for the garish green sponsorship boxes on it) is still up there with the best looking jerseys in the comp.

The white collar thing, I'm not such a big fan of as I thought we nailed it last year with the red one, however this is clearly a throwback to our 1997 jersey for our 30th year, so I can handle it..!

I'm hoping the sleeves, if a sponsor can't be found, will have a charity on them like we did for the first few games of 2011 (or was it 2012?) when we had Ronald McDonald House on there.

 

[macavity]

I have some very very fond memories of that strip, but can't agree it is a good looker or "iconic".

Hides the gut ok though I guess.

I don't think we should be a club wedded to one design. That doesn't mean we want another bra jersey, but we should embrace the occasional change. Clubs with far more history (and iconic designs) than ours are fine with it, because it is something that drives revenue - which we are desperately in need of.

The fact that we are now recycling awful away designs shows just how myopic the club has become.

I just don't understand the current approach to image and design.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Wait, youre saying clubs with a distinct jersey are fine to keep it cause it drives revenue, but should regularly change ours because...?

I really don't follow where you are going with the need to change. inevitably it leads to crap designs imo born out of change for change sake. I'd much prefer the club builds it's identity off a consistent look and keeps the change cycle purely to the away and 9s kit

If we are relying on a jersey change to drive merch sales then our management is incompetent

 

[steven p white]

Totally agree with last post, at least current strip looks like one for rugby league, not some mess more suited to the catwalk(emphasis on cat). Lets build some tradition & pride in the outfit & as Caped Crusader said sticking with same strip shouldn't lessen merchandise sales if the mob running the show are doing their job properly(couldn't run a tuck shop let alone a football club) Just look at the ridiculous outfits trotted out in the(ridiculous) superhero rounds, belongs in fashion parade or fancy dress not on the football field.NRL call the game their product which is total B.S, nobody owns it,its a sport for all to enjoy not to be trivialised with cheap marketing ploys to turn a buck.

 

[macavity]

Wait, youre saying clubs with a distinct jersey are fine to keep it cause it drives revenue, but should regularly change ours because...?

Manly, Raiders, Panthers, Eels, Broncos... all clubs with more iconic "classic" jerseys than ours who change regularly. They keep design elements (well maybe not the Panthers until recently) but they embrace change.

I really don't follow where you are going with the need to change. inevitably it leads to crap designs imo born out of change for change sake. I'd much prefer the club builds it's identity off a consistent look and keeps the change cycle purely to the away and 9s kit

We can agree the away kits are embarrassing at present. Recycling designs that were bad to start with and have no "warm and fuzzy" feelings associated with them.

If we are relying on a jersey change to drive merch sales then our management is incompetent

um, yeah.

Probably a more important point TBH - the home jersey wouldn't be as big a deal if we could get the rest right.

Has Newcastle EVER had good merch? We could do so much with it - good colours, a wealth of imagery and iconography to pull from.... but we can't even get our logo right.