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Westpac Ball sponsorship. Bit more info in here:
With sponsorship of professional sport by fossil fuel companies coming under scrutiny as athletes find a voice on social and environmental issues, Westpac is stepping into the breach.
The Sydney-based bank this week inked a multimillion-dollar, multi-year sponsorship deal with the National Rugby League.
Having fended off the AFL’s charge, rugby league remains the biggest winter sport in NSW and Queensland – states where Westpac is looking to sell more mortgages.
Westpac joins Telstra, which remains NRL naming rights sponsor for another five years; as the official banking and payments partner, Westpac’s brand will appear on all NRL match balls from next season.
While rival lenders might chuckle at the prospect of the Westpac logo being kicked around the park and smashed up between burly forwards, the bank hopes to have the last laugh as it uses the greatest game of all to drive into Blue and Maroon heartlands.
“It’s a sponsorship that suits our brand and lifts our profile, and that is why we have picked the NRL,” Westpac chief executive Peter King, a big league fan who barracks for the St George Illawarra Dragons, said at an event at North Sydney Oval.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but industry insiders said it was between $15 million and $20 million over three years. The same amount will be spent on the men’s and women’s games, while the bank will also fund grassroots development programs.
With banks back in the ascendancy after repairing reputations tarnished by the Hayne royal commission, the partnership seems unlikely to provoke the same sort of player backlash that has targeted major resources companies over the past few weeks.
It’s the biggest sport sponsorship deal for Westpac since the Sydney Olympics, and comes alongside support for Queensland’s other favourite footy code, the Queensland Reds rugby union team.
Westpac also has a toehold in rugby league in the southern suburbs of Sydney, with its St George brand, appropriately, branded across the jerseys of the Dragons.
Westpac’s backing of physical, full-on contact rugby league contrasts with its Sydney rival Commonwealth Bank, which prefers to work with women’s sports, including cricket and the Matildas football team.
True to its Melbourne roots, National Australia Bank remains a major sponsor of the Australian Football League, including naming rights partner of the NAB AFL Women’s competition.
ANZ Bank, meanwhile, has been pulling back. It has ended a decade-long partnership with the Australian Open tennis, and has taken its name off the former Olympic Stadium in Homebush, now known as Accor. (ANZ sponsors more sports in New Zealand, including the Black Caps, who thumped Australia in last weekend’s T20 World Cup clash).
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said rugby league had “been looking to create a meaningful partnership with a bank and to have that opportunity now with Westpac is an exciting day”.
Its sponsorship will help the women’s NRL competition expand from six to 10 teams next year, he said, and also fund junior development, including the Rise and Road to Regions programs.
Having the Westpac logo on match balls was a “good first step in our partnership”, Mr King said. “But what we are really excited about is the investment in the regions, and rural regions in particular.”
www.afr.com
With sponsorship of professional sport by fossil fuel companies coming under scrutiny as athletes find a voice on social and environmental issues, Westpac is stepping into the breach.
The Sydney-based bank this week inked a multimillion-dollar, multi-year sponsorship deal with the National Rugby League.
Having fended off the AFL’s charge, rugby league remains the biggest winter sport in NSW and Queensland – states where Westpac is looking to sell more mortgages.
Westpac joins Telstra, which remains NRL naming rights sponsor for another five years; as the official banking and payments partner, Westpac’s brand will appear on all NRL match balls from next season.
While rival lenders might chuckle at the prospect of the Westpac logo being kicked around the park and smashed up between burly forwards, the bank hopes to have the last laugh as it uses the greatest game of all to drive into Blue and Maroon heartlands.
“It’s a sponsorship that suits our brand and lifts our profile, and that is why we have picked the NRL,” Westpac chief executive Peter King, a big league fan who barracks for the St George Illawarra Dragons, said at an event at North Sydney Oval.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but industry insiders said it was between $15 million and $20 million over three years. The same amount will be spent on the men’s and women’s games, while the bank will also fund grassroots development programs.
With banks back in the ascendancy after repairing reputations tarnished by the Hayne royal commission, the partnership seems unlikely to provoke the same sort of player backlash that has targeted major resources companies over the past few weeks.
It’s the biggest sport sponsorship deal for Westpac since the Sydney Olympics, and comes alongside support for Queensland’s other favourite footy code, the Queensland Reds rugby union team.
Westpac also has a toehold in rugby league in the southern suburbs of Sydney, with its St George brand, appropriately, branded across the jerseys of the Dragons.
Westpac’s backing of physical, full-on contact rugby league contrasts with its Sydney rival Commonwealth Bank, which prefers to work with women’s sports, including cricket and the Matildas football team.
True to its Melbourne roots, National Australia Bank remains a major sponsor of the Australian Football League, including naming rights partner of the NAB AFL Women’s competition.
ANZ Bank, meanwhile, has been pulling back. It has ended a decade-long partnership with the Australian Open tennis, and has taken its name off the former Olympic Stadium in Homebush, now known as Accor. (ANZ sponsors more sports in New Zealand, including the Black Caps, who thumped Australia in last weekend’s T20 World Cup clash).
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said rugby league had “been looking to create a meaningful partnership with a bank and to have that opportunity now with Westpac is an exciting day”.
Its sponsorship will help the women’s NRL competition expand from six to 10 teams next year, he said, and also fund junior development, including the Rise and Road to Regions programs.
Having the Westpac logo on match balls was a “good first step in our partnership”, Mr King said. “But what we are really excited about is the investment in the regions, and rural regions in particular.”
Westpac sponsorship rugby league NRL
Sports sponsorship is risky business these days but Westpac boss Peter King welcomes the views of players.
