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Bank of Ireland and Ulster Rugby break new ground through first £1m+ team sponsorship
24th January 2007
Bank of Ireland today became the first ever £1million plus sponsor of a sporting team in Northern Ireland when it unveiled an unprecedented three-year deal with the Ulster Rugby squad.
In a joint announcement with Ulster Rugby, the Bank said it had signed the ground-breaking deal to become sole sponsor of the team for “a substantial seven figure sum.”
Colm McKenna, Head of Marketing Bank of Ireland said: “The deal we’ve signed today is the highlight so far of a hugely successful relationship between Bank of Ireland and Ulster Rugby. This further three-year sponsorship builds on an association between us that began in 1997/98 ahead of Ulster’s historic European Cup win.”
“Ulster Rugby continues to enthral spectators and inspire huge numbers of supporters of all ages. More importantly, it leads the field in the development of professional sport here. Since we began our sponsorship of them nine years ago, the team has grown out of all recognition.
“From a side dominated by part-time players, Ulster Rugby has grown into the only sport in Northern Ireland running a full-time professional team with a supporting structure underneath it to ensure the development of the game.”
Ulster Rugby Chief Executive Michael Reid said "Over the past nine years, the Bank of Ireland have become our major partner in every sense of the word and it's support of this sort, which represents much more than just financial sponsorship, which has allowed us to bring high calibre players to Ulster and to further develop our own young players to build the successful team we have today. This ground-breaking deal, which is a major step forward for Ulster Rugby, highlights the ever increasing strong relationship between sport and business and the Bank of Ireland have been with us from the very beginning. We look forward to our continued partnership together."
Bank of Ireland is one of Northern Ireland’s leading sponsors of sport and the arts. Its sporting sponsorships also include the Irish Cricket Team and GAA competitions.
© Bank of Ireland 2008
