Sponsorship in Rugby: All Blacks from NZ Is Now Supported by French

The “brand value” and the media weight of the sports team or individual athlete must be comparable or higher than the “brand value” of the potential sponsor. Air New Zealand, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Sanitarium (health food manufacturer), Barkers (clothing brand), and Bvlgari (chain of fashion stores) – this is only a small list of sponsors that supported the New Zealand national rugby team. Nowadays, All Blacks is not only a powerful brand but also a team that enjoys the partnership with such popular brands. Read below more about the current sponsorship contracts of the team.

All Blacks Were Sold to the French Altrad

The All Blacks’ title sponsor – insurance company AIG – stopped its partnership with New Zealand rugby this year. The best online casinos NZ began to compete for being sponsors of this popular team. According to Midi Olympique, the sponsor of the French national team, Altrad (owned by Montpellier boss Mohed Altrad) was considered as a new investor. This deal had to bring $300 million to the NZRU treasury.

The Altrad trademark has 55 years of experience in the production of equipment for the construction, food industry, and agriculture. The company has a turnover of over 122 million euros per year and employs 40,000 people worldwide. Altrad owns 13 factories in Europe and one in Tunisia.

Thus, Altrad will become the official front sponsor of the All Blacks from 2022. According to the deal, the 6-years partnership will be concluded, according to which four other teams in black will receive the sponsor’s financial support – the All Blacks Sevens,  Māori All Blacks, Black Ferns Sevens, and the New Zealand U20s.

Sponsorship in Rugby: Beneficial Cooperation?

Sponsorship of professional sports is almost always patronage in one form or another. This is not a direct way to solve the commercial problems of the sponsoring company. In fact, there are very few capacious markets in terms of the audience and its solvency. There are also few large solvent sponsors that are ready to allocate a lot of money at once for an athlete or a team. Hence such a phenomenon as “nascarization” appeared – when the game uniform is hung with sponsor logos like Christmas decorations. This is because you need to attract a dozen sponsors if there is no major one. This is also a problem for professional rugby.

Another issue is that sponsors come and go away very soon. Accordingly, if a team needs a new owner or general sponsor that does not have a strong brand (unlike All Blacks), it is worth looking for it among those who love this sport or are longtime fans of the team or sports community. This person (owner or top manager of the company) will perfectly understand that the allocated money will not be repaid. For example, here is what Mohed Altrad, Founder and President of Altrad, said after accepting the sponsorship proposal, “Rugby upholds the values that I have always defended in my life. The partnership between Altrad and NZR is a natural next step in our pathways”.