Supervalu Goes Local with GAA

Supervalu has launched the fourth year of its partnership with the GAA All Ireland Football Championship by unveiling a ‘Community Den’ initiative that will lead to four local clubs sharing an overall prize fund in bursaries of €25,000.
Each of the 196 Supervalu stores around the country will be pushing the promotion locally. After an application level, successful clubs will then have an opportunity to pitch why they deserve to be supported from this fund in the style of Dragons Den, the TV format originally created in Britain but brought to life in Ireland by RTE with the help of ‘Dragons’ like Gavin Duffy who was on hand yesterday to lend his support to the campaign.
There will be a winner from each county with those going on to provincial level and a national award winner. Application forms will be available through local stores and online with a closing date of July 12th. Provincial winners will be named on July 26th.
Each of those will be guaranteed a prize of €5,000 with one national winner, named on September 11th, doubling that to €10,000 and having a gala dinner hosted at the club to howcase local food and attended by GAA President Liam O’Neill.
“This is an innovative way of engaging our clubs with the GAA Football Championship while at the same time offering them an opportunity to enter a competition with the possibility of raising welcome funds,” said O’Neill.
“It is another example of SuperValu’s imaginative support of our Championship and the GAA as a whole. I wish the Community Dragons and indeed the clubs every success in their efforts in the weeks ahead.”
“Much like the GAA, Supervalu lies at the heart of communities in Ireland,” said Supervalu Marketing Manager Margaret Bannon.  “We believe in the power of local and want to celebrate our sponsorship of the Football Championship by giving something additional back to the communities in which we operate.”
“Supervalu’s partnership with the GAA was borne out of an audit we completed in 2008 of how our local stores give back into the communities in which they are rooted,” said Niamh Skally of Supervalu speaking to Sport for Business at Croke Park at the launch.
“Of the €5 million in community support, no less than 70% was channelled through local GAA Clubs.”
“The Supervalu sponsorship of the Football and Centra of the Hurling Championships are the elevation to national level of what is happening on the ground in towns and counties around the country.  It is very much driven and supported by those who make up our independent retailer network.”
The rollout of capacity to sell tickets for Championship matches has continued since last year.  170 of the 196 national Supervalu and over 100 Centra stores now have the ability for fans to walk in and buy tickets.
“This gives us a very strong point of difference in a competitive food retail environment and is a major plus to the relationship we have with the GAA,” added Skally.
“The partnership works very well for us.  We monitor awareness of our messaging through RedC on a monthly and quarterly basis and the results show that Supervalu is leading the way as a brand that makes a difference.”
One of the Dragons or judges of the applications will be Kerry footballer, Paul Galvin, who tapped into the value of player endorsement by speaking candidly with media about his own commitment entering a tenth year of Championship football and so appearing in all today’s on and offline as well as broadcast media.
“In these hard times, clubs are really struggling to raise much needed funds. With this initiative SuperValu is providing them with an opportunity to get money that will make a real difference to their club and its members.”
Gavin Duffy, who stars in the RTE show on which the promotion is modelled added “As a Dragon, I listen to a lot of people looking for funding for various projects around Ireland.  The GAA is at the centre of every town and village in Ireland and has the power to really lift the nation. This is a fantastic way to launch SuperValu’s sponsorship of this year’s All-Ireland Football Championship.”

Read more about the commercial world of the GAA
Read more about Supervalu and the GAA 
Read more about player endorsement

Sport for Business is a subscription based community that develops innovative ideas to bring sport and business closer together with many mutual benefits.
Sports organisations and businesses can avail of membership of Sport for Business for a monthly subscription that costs between €25 and €90, depending on size.
In return you get unique intelligence and analysis of the commercial world of Irish sport; a monthly programme of networking events enabling them to connect with sporting and business leaders and a platform to showcase your projects in sport. Click here to find out more.
Sport for Business articles are free to view for a time limited period before being added to our comprehensive archive of over 1000 articles on the commercial world of Irish sport.