Welsh regions set to confirm a lucrative sponsorship deal with broadcasting big-hitters BT Sport

Welsh regions set to confirm a lucrative sponsorship deal with broadcasting big-hitters BT Sport

Regional Rugby Wales are expected to announce confirmation of the deal that will provide a substantial financial boost to the regions

As first revealed by WalesOnline in April, the deal will see the broadcasters acquire the naming rights for the Arms Park - the home of the Cardiff Blues - and become shirt sponsors for the other three Welsh regional sides.

The famous old ground will be re-branded as the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park from next season, with the Blues having secured a three-year deal with an option for a further two years.

They will retain Airbus as their shirt sponsors, but the Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons will have BT Sport on their jerseys from next term.

It’s understood that BT will also have involvement at community level within the regions.

The overall deal comes as a significant financial boost for the four regions, who have worked together on the package for a number of months.

The re-naming of the Arms Park - where the joint deal will be officially announced this lunchtime - will be a ground-breaking move for Welsh rugby.

It follows in the wake of a long list of stadium sponsorship packages in various sports, with the Aviva Stadium, the Allianz Park and the AJ Bell Stadium – the homes of Ireland, Saracens and Sale Sharks respectively – gracing the world of rugby.

In football, the list is an extensive one, with the likes of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, Bolton’s Reebok Stadium and Leicester’s King Power Stadium springing to mind.

In Wales, you have the Cigg-e Stadium (Merthyr FC), the Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium (Wrexham FC), the Book People Stadium (Bangor City FC) and of course Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, not forgetting the Swalec Stadium, the home of Glamorgan cricket.

It’s believed the Blues were insistent on retaining the Arms Park in the title and that BT were more than happy to go along with that, recognising the iconic nature of the name worldwide.

As for the shirt sponsorship deal with the other three regions, that sees the broadcasters adding to the link up they have in Scotland.

They are already shirt sponsors for both Scottish pro-teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow, who will also be hugely boosted by the £20m naming rights deal for Murrayfield which BT are set to sign with the SRU.

BT Sport have emerged as increasingly prominent players in rugby over the past year.

They have taken over broadcasting rights for the Aviva Premiership this season and are set to share coverage of the new European Rugby Champions Cup with rivals Sky Sports.

That compromise joint TV deal was crucial to the Euro peace package which was announced last month.

Good old BT.

Helping to save Regional rugby in Wales.   

Hopefuly we'll manage to buy a place into the top four, unlike Bath...

1 out of 4 teams should be able to make the top 4 in the Rabo!

Then again maybe not as we all know its a really tough league

munkian wrote:Welsh regions set to confirm a lucrative sponsorship deal with broadcasting big-hitters BT Sport

Regional Rugby Wales are expected to announce confirmation of the deal that will provide a substantial financial boost to the regions

As first revealed by WalesOnline in April, the deal will see the broadcasters acquire the naming rights for the Arms Park - the home of the Cardiff Blues - and become shirt sponsors for the other three Welsh regional sides.

The famous old ground will be re-branded as the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park from next season, with the Blues having secured a three-year deal with an option for a further two years.

They will retain Airbus as their shirt sponsors, but the Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons will have BT Sport on their jerseys from next term.

It’s understood that BT will also have involvement at community level within the regions.

The overall deal comes as a significant financial boost for the four regions, who have worked together on the package for a number of months.

The re-naming of the Arms Park - where the joint deal will be officially announced this lunchtime - will be a ground-breaking move for Welsh rugby.

It follows in the wake of a long list of stadium sponsorship packages in various sports, with the Aviva Stadium, the Allianz Park and the AJ Bell Stadium – the homes of Ireland, Saracens and Sale Sharks respectively – gracing the world of rugby.

In football, the list is an extensive one, with the likes of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, Bolton’s Reebok Stadium and Leicester’s King Power Stadium springing to mind.

In Wales, you have the Cigg-e Stadium (Merthyr FC), the Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium (Wrexham FC), the Book People Stadium (Bangor City FC) and of course Swansea’s Liberty Stadium, not forgetting the Swalec Stadium, the home of Glamorgan cricket.

It’s believed the Blues were insistent on retaining the Arms Park in the title and that BT were more than happy to go along with that, recognising the iconic nature of the name worldwide.

As for the shirt sponsorship deal with the other three regions, that sees the broadcasters adding to the link up they have in Scotland.

They are already shirt sponsors for both Scottish pro-teams, Edinburgh and Glasgow, who will also be hugely boosted by the £20m naming rights deal for Murrayfield which BT are set to sign with the SRU.

BT Sport have emerged as increasingly prominent players in rugby over the past year.

They have taken over broadcasting rights for the Aviva Premiership this season and are set to share coverage of the new European Rugby Champions Cup with rivals Sky Sports.

That compromise joint TV deal was crucial to the Euro peace package which was announced last month.

I've bolded what i believe to be the most interesting bit. How will that go down with the WRU?

I think the first question the WRU will ask is 'Community ? What's that then ?'

Wasn't it Andrew Hore of the ospreys who said they're limited in their community work as the WRU have told them not to get involved? If so, it's an interesting conflict of interests.

All in all this is good news for the regions, BT seem to be really getting behind rugby and we needed to jump on board. Increased exposure and, more importantly, increased sponsorship revenue! Having watched the Saints/Tigers match friday night it was refreshing to hear punditry that made sense and not for soundbytes.

There was a lot of circle jerking by ex Tigers players but yeah, better than Barnes

The WRU should be bricking it at the moment, they've all ready annoyed all the amateur clubs by fupping about with league structure. Even if Moffett is a bit of a donkey at least he's fired people up a but and publicly questioned the WRU

Not exactly sure how BT plan on having involvement at community level when the regions or the WRU cant even be bothered to do it. I expect Roger will be gutted about this mind as will fans of grassroots rugby where this BT money could have been really useful. Still a good day for Llanelli, Swansea, Newport and especially Cardiff rugby

Steffan wrote:Not exactly sure how BT plan on having involvement at community level when the regions or the WRU cant even be bothered to do it. I expect Roger will be gutted about this mind as will fans of grassroots rugby where this BT money could have been really useful. Still a good day for Llanelli, Swansea, Newport and especially Cardiff rugby

Not sure that's strictly true but i know where this will lead so let's leave it there.

A little harsh on the Regions - the players are always visiting schools, doing public appearances etc

Steffan wrote:Not exactly sure how BT plan on having involvement at community level when the regions or the WRU cant even be bothered to do it. I expect Roger will be gutted about this mind as will fans of grassroots rugby where this BT money could have been really useful. Still a good day for Llanelli, Swansea, Newport and especially Cardiff rugby

"He [Andrew Hore] claims to have been "told repeatedly" by the WRU that they should not be involved with "in the community game".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21957344

gcBlues wrote:Not sure that's strictly true but i know where this will lead so let's leave it there

No seriously my local village club has had no support off the WRU or our region in recent years. The bridge between grassroots and top flight rugby in Wales is getting worse. The WRU are happy for small clubs to die as long as the pink cowboy hat gang turn up paying £60 a ticket to keep Roger and co in a nice suit. The regions appeal only to the fans of clubs that they refranchised themselves as. The WRU could not care less about the regions we all know that so this investment into the Pro 4 clubs in Wales (who only serve themselves anyway as well mind) will wind up Roger and co admittedly but they both neglect the very foundations of grassroots rugby where the Wales and Lions stars first pick up a ball at 8 years old. Like I say the BT thing is good deal for the Pro 4 clubs in Wales but I doubt it will change much in the long run

Steffan wrote:

gcBlues wrote:Not sure that's strictly true but i know where this will lead so let's leave it there

No seriously my local village club has had no support off the WRU or our region in recent years. The bridge between grassroots and top flight rugby in Wales is getting worse. The WRU are happy for small clubs to die as long as the pink cowboy hat gang turn up paying £60 a ticket to keep Roger and co in a nice suit. The regions appeal only to the fans of clubs that they refranchised themselves as. The WRU could not care less about the regions we all know that so this investment into the Pro 4 clubs in Wales (who only serve themselves anyway as well mind) will wind up Roger and co admittedly but they both neglect the very foundations of grassroots rugby where the Wales and Lions stars first pick up a ball at 8 years old. Like I say the BT thing is good deal for the Pro 4 clubs in Wales but I doubt it will change much in the long run

Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

Clubs that don't call for an EGM are like Pandas that won't put out to save their species

Cardiff Dave wrote:Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

From what I have been informed yes

This EGM would be hopefully what Welsh rugby needs

My mind is still not made up on Moffett. His ideas are good but he is just so hard to trust

Great news all in all. Anyone actually know how much more money the regions are getting?

If the WRU will just put their hands in their pocket now and offer the regions more money, we can resign a deal and look forward to next season. But i have a feeling it's not going to be that easy.

Jhamer25 wrote:Great news all in all. Anyone actually know how much more money the regions are getting?

If the WRU will just put their hands in their pocket now and offer the regions more money, we can resign a deal and look forward to next season. But i have a feeling it's not going to be that easy.

Good question Jhamer, its being called a multi-million deal, but that could be as littale as £2M split amongst 4 regions over 5 seasons so just £100k per region per season. Hardly game changing! It probably needs to be at least £500k per season for each region to make a real difference.

£100k per region wont even oay the wage of a top class player in this day and age. Better than a kick in the teeth dont get me wrong...but its not like suddenly they are gonna start dominating in Europe all because of BT money

Steffan wrote:£100k per region wont even oay the wage of a top class player in this day and age. Better than a kick in the teeth dont get me wrong...but its not like suddenly they are gonna start dominating in Europe all because of BT money

Steffan, the fact is that at the moment no-one knows how much this deal is worth. If its as little as £100k per region per season, as you say it wont even pay for one decent player. On the other hand BT offered the English Premiereship teams £152M over 4 seasons for their TV rights, now that would make a difference to Welsh Regional Rugby!

But it's not broadcast rights. It's sponsorship. And it'll replace sponsorship they already have you'd think.

Seagultaf wrote:

Jhamer25 wrote:Great news all in all. Anyone actually know how much more money the regions are getting?

If the WRU will just put their hands in their pocket now and offer the regions more money, we can resign a deal and look forward to next season. But i have a feeling it's not going to be that easy.

Good question Jhamer, its being called a multi-million deal, but that could be as littale as £2M split amongst 4 regions over 5 seasons so just £100k per region per season. Hardly game changing! It probably needs to be at least £500k per season for each region to make a real difference.

Is that a guess or do you know?  Has it been published anywhere?  I agree 2 mil is not a lot of money across 4 regions and multi-years.  
Anyone know which other company is ready to invest in Rugby at the moment?  Doesn't seem like we have a lot of potential investors lined up.  Not much in recent years, at least as far as I know.  I hope BT shows there is return for Rugby sponsorship.  Still hope I am right.

"The three-year agreement will be worth some £5m to the four,"

and

"The four Welsh regions will take part in this summer's Premiership Rugby 7s series as part of their tie-up with BT Sport. The regions will provide a fourth pool to go with the three made up of Premiership clubs having secured sponsorship deals with BT following their stand with the English over the Rugby Champions Cup that was key in effecting change in Europe."

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/may/20/welsh-regions-premiership-rugby-7s-bt

Steffan wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

From what I have been informed yes

This EGM would be hopefully what Welsh rugby needs

My mind is still not made up on Moffett. His ideas are good but he is just so hard to trust

Excellent.
Defo need an EGM and according to Andrew Hore, it would seem that the WRU feel it's not good to talk. Incredible.

“Dialogue isn’t good at the moment. I honestly don’t know what we are going to do with regard to the PA. We seem to be miles apart and the whole thing seems to be stalled at this moment in time.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/ospreys-claim-hopes-fielding-james-7142234#.U3o6q8uKmcA.twitter

Plus the WRU hasn't commented on the BT deal, weird no ? Are they sulking or hiding ?

I assume both

munkian wrote:Plus the WRU hasn't commented on the BT deal, weird no ? Are they sulking or hiding ?

I assume both

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!", if you get my meaning.

I does.

Lewis is a dead man walking. There are another 2 press announcements this week from the Regions.

Steffan wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

From what I have been informed yes

This EGM would be hopefully what Welsh rugby needs

My mind is still not made up on Moffett. His ideas are good but he is just so hard to trust

A call for an EGM is not a vote for Moffett btw.
If he did eventually get voted in however and proved to be unsuitable then I spose the clubs could call an EGM and get rid.
I think that's how it works.

Moffett woke up one morning last November in a cold sweat.  It had been a spiritual visitation.  He unplugged his antigravity 'no mattress needed' bed, hit the diamond tiles floor and said to his wife:  "I need to get back to Wales, love.  I can hear the voices of their millions of poor souls calling me back.  I have unfinished work to do.  Get my toothbrush - the turbo jet one beside the i-Pad mouthwash"

He's the genuine article is Mr Moffett.  He just loves Wyles unconditionally.

The deal is worth £5m between them over 3 years with an option for another 2.

So that works out as £416k each per year . Less of course, as mentioned, probably the loss of their other main shirt sponsors.

I suppose that would pay for maybe a couple of Welsh players or much more likely 4 or 5 Fijians/Romanians/Italians/Canadians etc

doctornickolas wrote:The deal is worth £5m between them over 3 years with an option for another 2.

So that works out as £416k each per year . Less of course, as mentioned, probably the loss of their other main shirt sponsors.

I suppose that would pay for maybe a couple of Welsh players or much more likely 4 or 5 Fijians/Romanians/Italians/Canadians etc

The Aldi Player store?

doctornickolas wrote:The deal is worth £5m between them over 3 years with an option for another 2.

So that works out as £416k each per year . Less of course, as mentioned, probably the loss of their other main shirt sponsors.

I suppose that would pay for maybe a couple of Welsh players or much more likely 4 or 5 Fijians/Romanians/Italians/Canadians etc

Not including Cardiff blues of course;

"PROFESSIONAL rugby region the Cardiff Blues has struck a new three year shirt sponsorship deal with aerospace and security firm EADS.
The new deal will take the global firm’s sponsorship of the club to the end of the 2015-16 season – having first come on board in 2008.
The deal with see EADS on the front of the jersey, as well as its defence and security division Cassidian appearing on the sleeve.
The Blues also have a number of other kit sponsorship deals, which combined with EADS generates an annual commercial revenue of £655,000."

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/business-news/aerospace-firm-puts-cash-blues-2495851
http://www.cardiffblues.com/news/6732.php#.U3sxnnbrxv0

munkian wrote:I does.

Lewis is a dead man walking. There are another 2 press announcements this week from the Regions.

and another to add to the list;

David Moffett ‏@moffettrugby 39 mins
We will be holding a Press conference on Thurs at 11. Date and venue to be advised, all welcome

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Steffan wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

From what I have been informed yes

This EGM would be hopefully what Welsh rugby needs

My mind is still not made up on Moffett. His ideas are good but he is just so hard to trust

A call for an EGM is not a vote for Moffett btw.
If he did eventually get voted in however and proved to be unsuitable then I spose the clubs could call an EGM and get rid.
I think that's how it works.

If you vote him, you will be stuck with him for a while. Most organisations have rules that there is a time limit on how quickly you can call an EGM/AGM to change the Board (for good reason as well, that would be everyone's solution if they didn't like what the board did).

Moffett is a chancer. I read a document a while back where he was comparing the different models (NZ, Ireland etc). While I don't know whether he was right about the NZ model, he clearly hadn't a clue as to how the Irish IRFU/Provincial model worked.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

munkian wrote:I does.

Lewis is a dead man walking. There are another 2 press announcements this week from the Regions.

and another to add to the list;

David Moffett ‏@moffettrugby 39 mins
We will be holding a Press conference on Thurs at 11. Date and venue to be advised, all welcome

Aye, retweeted it myself.

Cardiff Dave wrote:

munkian wrote:I does.

Lewis is a dead man walking. There are another 2 press announcements this week from the Regions.

and another to add to the list;

David Moffett ‏@moffettrugby 39 mins
We will be holding a Press conference on Thurs at 11. Date and venue to be advised, all welcome

As in 'He'? 'We' always sounds more cavalcady/entourage/Presidential though as we always say

Sin é wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:

Steffan wrote:

Cardiff Dave wrote:Will your club be joining others in calling for an EGM?

From what I have been informed yes

This EGM would be hopefully what Welsh rugby needs

My mind is still not made up on Moffett. His ideas are good but he is just so hard to trust

A call for an EGM is not a vote for Moffett btw.
If he did eventually get voted in however and proved to be unsuitable then I spose the clubs could call an EGM and get rid.
I think that's how it works.

If you vote him, you will be stuck with him for a while. Most organisations have rules that there is a time limit on how quickly you can call an EGM/AGM to change the Board (for good reason as well, that would be everyone's solution if they didn't like what the board did).

Moffett is a chancer. I read a document a while back where he was comparing the different models (NZ, Ireland etc). While I don't know whether he was right about the NZ model, he clearly hadn't a clue as to how the Irish IRFU/Provincial model worked.

Gareth Davies, the Drags chief, would do for me.

He does seem to have his head screwed on and actually care about rugby.

So Blues are getting £655k a year for their total shirt sponsor. The others are getting £556k off BT. It would be interesting to know how much more (if any) they're getting.

Not a bad church of change, as the advert says. Every little helps

Is it really that good a deal?

Connacht managed to attract a similar amount "Mazda will invest over €1.5m in Connacht Rugby over the next 3 years" Back in 2011, they just signed a new deal with murray timber group, can't get a value but you'd guess it was for the same or an improvement.
http://www.mazda.ie/mazda-spirit/970/

This means thats a big team like Ospreys are getting the same main shirt sponsorship money as Connacht? Surly they could have done better?

Anyone know if it is better per team or the same as Glasgow and Edinburgh's? All I can find for them is that it is a 3 year multi-million pound deal.

To me it appears Dragons get the same money as Ospreys, which is about level with Connachts, meaning Dragons got about the right value for it, but Ospreys getting about the same as Connacht means that they have been under sold?

Its not just about the amount of money.

Its showing the WRU that the Regions aren't just farms for team Wales and can make deals and profit themselves.

Bt are also going to be investing into the grassroots of Welsh rugby - something that the WRU has discouraged the regions from doing.

I suspect there will be more announcements this week too.

Three cheers for BT

Hip hip.....

Scrumpy wrote:Three cheers for BT

Hip hip.....

McCaff!!!!!!! Hip hip McCaff!!!! Hip hip McCaff!!!!

With BT's help I bet within the next 8 years a Welsh Region will win a Euro Cup.

Where as Bath would need God's

We've already got a couple, plus a shot at one this Friday.   

Hip hip.....

  

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