It is of course all about the sport but every now and again, sponsors receive an unexpected boost from the luck of the draw and become centre stage themselves.
When Meath and Tyrone were drawn together in the nationally televised All Ireland Football Qualifier on Saturday night, the marketing minds at Largo Foods went into overdrive.
Since the start of this year Meath have worn the logo of Tayto Park while Tyrone have sported that of Hunky Dorys. Both of the best selling crisp brands are owned by Largo whose boss Ray Coyle is a long time sports fan and whose daughter Natalya is an international competitor in Modern Pentathlon.
On Sunday the two brands will go chest to chest at Croke Park and if the commentary on RTE Sport sounds a little muffled it may be down to the noise of 20,000 packets of crisps that are being given out to spectators as they make their way to the ground.
Opportunity is one of the intangible gifts that a sponsorship brings. In soccer Glasgow Celtic and Rangers were jointly sponsored by a number of brands and the same was the case in the premier League three years ago when 188Bet became the first brand to be worn by all 22 players in a single game.
Activation measures were put in place around the ‘sponsor derby’ motif but is is even stronger when rival brands go head to head. Vodafone and O2 were both on the shirts when Cork beat Dublin in the All Ireland Semi Final in 2010 but there are even greater opportunities when the two rival brands are within the same ownership.
According to Coyle, he will be sitting on the fence as he owns both Tayto Park and Hunky Dorys. He even has a specially commissioned split Tyrone/Meath GAA jersey.
“It promises to be a great clash on Saturday and despite my torn loyalties given these two fantastic sponsorships, both Tyrone and Meath fans are sure to witness a great match as well as getting their hands on thousand of bags of Tayto and Hunky Dorys crisps on the day,” said Coyle.
It will be interesting to see whether it was possible to organise any other promotional activity with Supervalu as the overall sponsor of the football Championships, perhaps combining a discount or give away for fans buying tickets for the match through the ticketing arrangements made possible in store by tickets.ie.
The GAA, RTE Sport and Tickets.ie are all full members of the Sport for Business Community Discover the benefits of joining them today.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
