Hyundai. Kia do the Dogs. No reason why Hyundai couldn't be our sponsor unless there is a exclusivity clause with the A League.
i wonder if AFL sponsors have to sign exclusivity contracts seeing a few years ago QANTAS told them to take a hike seeing they wanted them to sign one and refuse to fly any footballers from any other code anywhere
they are a bunch of tossers as Souths would probably attest to seeing the AFL cost them a sponsorship
http://www.smh.com.au/business/sponsors-drawn-into-fierce-code-rivalry-20110927-1kvgo.html
Sponsors drawn into fierce code rivalry
Australia's two biggest football codes hold their grand finals this weekend, with the AFL decider between Collingwood and Geelong at the MCG on Saturday and the NRL decider between the Sea Eagles and the Warriors at ANZ Stadium, Homebush, the following day.
The AFL have already won the business bragging rights, in terms of revenue from gate takings, sponsorship, licensing sales and probably TV audience numbers.
Collingwood is the biggest club tribe in Australian sport and their chase of a second successive premiership should attract more TV eyeballs than the NRL grand final between Sydney's most hated team and a Kiwi club.
Last year's AFL decider between Collingwood and St Kilda just eclipsed the NRL's, won by St George Illawarra, who have a big following.
This year's AFL grand final is expected to generate net profit in excess of $10 million, based on the $8 million yield from last year's replay when the AFL decided to release some tickets to club members, rather than repeat their gouge of the corporate sector.
But this year, the AFL has hiked the price of tickets yet again, increasing premium seat prices from $270 to $295; prime seats from $235 to $254; standard seats from $161 to $170; and standing-room from $142.50 to $150.
Ticket prices for the NRL grand final range from $190 to $65, with an anticipated net profit of $4.5 million.
Their co-operation on poker-machine legislation aside, the relationship between the two codes has reached a level of acrimony unimaginable in the era when the ARL's John Quayle took a State of Origin match to the MCG in 1995 and drew a then Australian record crowd of 87,500.
Quayle achieved this, partly off the back of the close co-operation of the AFL's then chief executive, Ross Oakley, with whom he has maintained a close relationship.
A cosy meeting between the AFL's Andrew Demetriou and the NRL's David Gallop would be impossible, based on recent comments.
Demetriou responded to an observation from Gallop that Melbourne AFL clubs are becoming rebellious about the generous draft and salary-cap concessions given the AFL's expansion clubs, saying, ''He would know.'' The inference was that Gallop is also under siege from Sydney clubland.
But Demetriou went on to say he was seriously considering scheduling the Greater Western Sydney (Giants) debut game next year for the weekend before the usual AFL season kicks off. It would be a stand-alone game in Sydney, with the other eight AFL games played the following weekend.
Demetriou noted it would clash with an early round of the NRL season and ''give us the opportunity to put a game of AFL against that''.
Last year, the NRL released its draw first and the AFL targeted the Titans, scheduling big matches, including Collingwood, on the Gold Coast.
While the NRL is confident it has enough showcase games not to be worried by the Giants in round four next year, the AFL's incursion into sponsorship territory has angered many officials.
When the AFL's deal with Qantas expired, Demetriou approached a Melbourne-based senior executive of the Flying Kangaroo, Ken Ryan, and insisted a renewal of their sponsorship was only possible if the AFL was given exclusive status. It meant ditching the other three football codes.
Ryan pointed out the Wallabies are an iconic brand with upmarket supporters and travel overseas extensively; ditto the Socceroos, particularly at the time of the qualifying matches leading to the World Cup; NRL, with 16 teams, is played in three states and two countries and the Kangaroos also travel internationally.
But Demetriou was intransigent and went to Virgin, which agreed to be the exclusive AFL carrier. Virgin, at the time, had a sponsorship arrangement with the NRL's Rabbitohs.
The South Sydney chief executive, Shane Richardson, says: ''At the end of last year we agreed to terms with Virgin for another 12 months. Suddenly, they pulled the pin and the deal was off. We found out two weeks later that they had done an exclusive deal with the AFL.''
Tony Shepherd, chairman of Transfield and the Giants, is fond of telling Melbourne mates how impressed he is with the way the AFL does business. The Rabbitohs have a different view.
