Supervalu has extended its association with Gaelic Games through announcing a three year partnership with the Cork Ladies Gaelic Football team.
The retailer is based in Cork but operates over 400 outlets nationwide and is one of the three main sponsors of the All Ireland Football Championship in the men’s game.
Supervalu’s original investment at national level with the GAA was decided after a national survey of it’s retail owners and managers revealed that over 70% of local community support was being spent on Gaelic Games.
Since then the relationship has been deepened by Supervalu (and it’s sister brand Centra) becoming an exclusive retail partner for GAA ticket sales through tickets.ie, and by being the only retail outlet to sell Cadbury’s GAA themed Moro Bar launched earlier this year.
An additional element to the Cork Ladies team sponsorship is that local stores will also now stock the official Cork jerseys in store. The Cork Ladies jersey is produced by Kukri, with a base in Northern Ireland. They also manufacture the Sligo County kits and were seen on the England team at the Commonwealth Games earlier this summer. This will be a first for them to be stocked in Supervalu stores.
Supervalu will also work with the county board on developing a new website, just as AIG has in Dublin.
Delighted
“We are delighted to continue our strong relationship with Gaelic games through our three year sponsorship of the Cork Ladies Gaelic Football team,” said Supervalu Managing Director Martin Kelleher.
“As the leading Irish retailer, we are focused on helping the Cork Ladies’ Football community share their passion for the game and we look forward to working with them to support this fantastic group of athletes.”
“We hope to drive passion and energy behind them in their quest to continue their unprecedented success.”
Dominant
The Cork Ladies Football team are the most dominant Irish sports team of the last decade and are now bidding to win their ninth All Ireland title in 10 years. They face Mayo in the All Ireland Quarter Final this Saturday.
“We are thrilled that Supervalu have decided to come on board with the Cork Ladies football team as well as their other GAA commitments,” said Valerie Mulcahy (pictured left).
“Together we can continue to promote ladies’ football and get more Cork fans to come down to support and watch the team play.”
An interesting development to watch as part of the sponsorship is how the relationship will be managed with rival brand Tesco who support the Tesco homegrown under age championships at national level but also within Dublin and Cork.
Image Credit Inpho.ie / Cathal Noonan
