English Football Association brokering partnerships

The Football Association will announce a number of partnerships for its new four-year Partner Programme.

The partnerships would take effect in August 2006 and go through the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup.

"We are deep in negotiation with a number of sponsors regarding the remaining Team England sponsorship packages and will be making announcements in August at the end of the current term," said FA Group Commercial Director Jonathan Hill.

"The extraordinary level of interest in the England team - both here in England and globally - during the World Cup has underlined the unique marketing and sponsorship platform that the team represents. The reality is we look after the England team on behalf of the nation, and its attraction continues to grow.

"This is confirmed by the media evaluation of the space on the England's team training kit where a sponsor's logo would appear - which over the last five weeks alone is independently estimated at some GBP 12 million.

"For example, the estimated total UK TV audience of last Saturday's World Cup quarter final was 30 million people, both in and out of home. That, combined with the growing number of iconic players within the squad, means on a commercial level we are extremely confident of both retaining existing partners and attracting new sponsors to the Programme. In turn, that means we will significantly increase revenues to The FA to invest back into the game at all levels.

"We are now also commencing negotiations for a range of Official Supplier deals across The FA's properties, including the introduction of the unique new platform for all of The FA's future events, Wembley Stadium, and we expect significant interest from new companies to the Programme in the coming weeks."

Carlsberg is poised to take up the new headline sponsorship package for the England football team as it looks to renew its long-standing association with the Football Association.

Negotiations over the four-year deal are close to completion, with the contract estimated to be worth more than GBP 32 million. Carlsberg will join utilities brand E.ON, which is backing the FA Cup, as the FA's top-tier sponsors, in a revamp of its commercial structure unveiled at the turn of the year.

The existing FA packages expire at the end of the World Cup. Carlsberg is likely to be joined by McDonald's on the sponsor roster, with the fast-food brand putting the finishing touches to a renewal deal for a second-tier package with responsibility for grass-roots programmes and the Community Shield.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.