Vodafone Ireland has opened entries for the Autumn edition of its See Your Business Pitchside competition, giving one Irish SME the opportunity to put its brand in front of more than 50,000 supporters at the Aviva Stadium and a much larger television audience when Ireland face South Africa on November 21st.

Now in its fifth year, the initiative has become an effective extension of Vodafone’s long-standing involvement with Irish Rugby, taking one of the most valuable pieces of sponsorship inventory — pitchside visibility — and handing it over to smaller businesses that would otherwise have little chance of accessing that level of exposure.

The competition is open to Vodafone Business customers, with entries closing on October 9th.

This year’s winner will receive an advertising package valued at more than €35,000, including visibility on screens around the Aviva Stadium during the Ireland against South Africa international.

The game will also be broadcast on RTÉ and TNT Sports, extending the reach well beyond the stadium audience and potentially taking the winning brand to viewers internationally.

Since See Your Business Pitchside was launched in 2021, Vodafone says it has attracted more than 12,000 entries, with more than ten winning SMEs sharing prizes valued at up to €300,000.

Previous winners have included Horizon Prints, Voya Seaweed Baths, JANDO, The Farmhouse Bees & Trees, Lotts & Co, SOS Cookies, Hazel Mountain Chocolate, Urban Aran, House of Hofu and Thomp2 Socks.

The competition brings together two separate parts of Vodafone’s business with a neat symmetry.

Its sponsorship of Irish Rugby provides the high-profile stage, while Vodafone Business uses that asset to connect with the SME community, which forms a significant part of its commercial customer base.

According to the Central Statistics Office, Ireland has more than 400,000 active small and medium-sized enterprises. Vodafone says it has more than 2.3 million customers in Ireland and acts as a connectivity and technology partner to six in ten Irish businesses.

This activation highlights Vodafone’s relationship with SMEs while showing how major sponsorship rights can deliver value to commercial customers beyond traditional hospitality or ticketing.

“See Your Business Pitchside provides unrivalled visibility to SMEs who continue to battle rising costs in the midst of inflation, which is why, to mark the fifth year of the contest, we are offering an increased prize value of over €35,000,” said Jo Gilfoy, Director of Vodafone Business.

“At Vodafone Ireland, we are extremely proud to have been able to give something back to smaller enterprises as they provide support to communities and the wider economy.”

She added that previous winners had reported significant business benefits after receiving the exposure.

“See Your Business Pitchside has provided unrivalled exposure for over 10 lucky Irish SMEs, with many of them reporting record profit increases after appearing pitchside.”

 

Sport for Business Perspective

From a sponsorship perspective, the concept’s strength is its simplicity.

Rather than focusing solely on Vodafone’s own branding around Irish Rugby, it uses part of that visibility to put customers at the centre of the activation.

For the winning SME, a brand normally operating on a relatively modest marketing budget suddenly appears in the same environment as some of the biggest commercial partners in Irish sport.

For Vodafone, meanwhile, the initiative adds another layer of relevance beyond the match itself, creating a clear link between its role in sport and its role in supporting Irish businesses.

With Ireland against South Africa among the highest-profile fixtures of the Autumn international programme, the 2026 winner will get one of the biggest stages yet offered through the competition.

Entries for See Your Business Pitchside are open to Vodafone Business customers until October 9th, with the winning company appearing at the Aviva Stadium for Ireland v South Africa on November 21st.

 

 

Vodafone Ireland and the IRFU are full members of Sport for Business.

If you would like to be part of the Sport for Business community and see your organisation in our content, on our stages, and in the conversation happening every day around the commercial world of Irish Sport, email us today and let’s see what is possible.

Image Credit: Vodafone and Naoise Culhane

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