Two new county sponsorship deals have been signed this week with Hunky Dory crisps taking over from the now out of business target express with Tyrone and Rainbow Communications taking over from Morgan Fuels as the main backer of Armagh.
Both of the deals are reported to be for six figure sums.
The Armagh deal sees the end of a 17 year relationship with Morgan Fuels who have also ended their sponsorship of the County Athletic Grounds which had recently been redeveloped.
The head of the company Hugh Morgan was critical of Armagh GAA for ‘complacency’ in the latter years of the deal and criticised the fact that some of the branding and hospitality requirements promised had not been delivered.
Further west in Tyrone the deal with Hunky Dory’s means that parent company Largo Foods now have two counties on board with main brand Tayto a new sponsor for the Meath senior teams.
Hunky Dory’s will also sponsor county leagues and championship competitions bringing a deeper and more grass roots feel to their involvement.
The brand previously used sponsorship of Navan Rugby Club as the premise for a controversial campaign featuring scantily clad female rugby players and suggestive messaging.  It was though the tagline ‘proud supporters of Irish rugby’ that caused difficulties with the IRFU and highlighted the fine line between cooperation and competition between sponsors in sport.
A similar campaign last year involving social media campaigns around two teams of similarly dressed women playing football aroused fewer complaints while the GAA itself did not become involved, directing all queries to the company itself.  It may be that this more relaxed approach to knowing the boundaries of when to get involved in a ‘battle’ has paid dividends.
Cork GAA are expected to announce new sponsors shortly after the ending of their long term relationship with 02 and the teams competing in the National League will have as many as ten new sponsors when the first games take place in February.
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