Soccer Ireland Three 2013Three has extended its partnership with the Irish National football team and the Football Association of Ireland until 2016 in a deal worth an additional €4 million. This adds to the current agreement and already committed investment by Three of €7.8 million to the FAI.
As primary sponsor of the Irish national football team, Three will continue to have exclusive branding rights to include training and playing gear and kit, ticket branding and high visibility pitch-side branding at the Aviva Stadium.
It is the latest in a series of high profile and high value sponsorships announced within Irish sport and is testament to the continued appeal of sport as a means of engagement with consumers, even in a time of economic uncertainty.
A report in the Financial Times this week suggested that soccer on a global scale had attracted sponsorship income of over €4 Billion in 2012, an increase of more than 60 per cent even on the previous 12 months.  The involvement of brands from across the financial, energy, drinks, retail and communications sectors shows no sign of abating, even as other marketing media struggle to attract attention.
“Three have built a very positive and mutually beneficial partnership with the FAI and the footballing public in Ireland since 2010 and we’re delighted to continue this until 2016,” said Three CEO Robert Finnegan.
“The fans are at the heart of Three’s sponsorship strategy, evident through the range of exciting offers already in place, with lots more planned over the coming years.”
“While the sponsorship centres around the national team, Three will also continue its support of grassroots football in Ireland. To date, in addition to the value of the sponsorship fee, FAI affiliated clubs up and down the country have earned over €500,000 by switching to Three through our Three Club Offer. This initiative has been a huge success and we look forward to continuing our support of grassroots football as part of our extended deal.” I
Welcoming the announcement FAI CEO, John Delaney said: “Three have been fantastic partners for the FAI over the past three years. I thank them, and Robert Finnegan in particular for taking a broad approach to our partnership by working closely with the grassroots, which has made this an exceptional Primary Sponsorship for Irish Football.”
“We look forward to working with the team at Three throughout the business end of the current campaign as well as the EURO 2016 campaign which should prove very exciting given the increased number of qualification spaces available and the young, promising players we have coming through.”
Irish football remains at the forefront of the Irish sporting agenda.  The return to training with the squad of former captain Richard Dunne dominated sports bulletins throughout the day yesterday as will the historic game against England at Wembley on Wednesday.
Sue Ronan, Manager of the Irish Senior Women’s team will be one of the speakers at the Business of Women’s Sport Conference at UCD Smurfit Business School on June 20th.
Fan ExperienceRead more of our recent coverage of the commercial world of soccer
Read more about our recent Round Table on Fan Experience in which Three participated
Read more of our recent coverage of Sponsorship
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