Sponsorships in Rugby are vital for the sport, both for Rugby League and Union. This also includes national teams too. In fact, England rugby has 25 sponsors to date, some of these partnerships have been established for years.
It's interesting to see which types of companies rugby sponsorships come from, so that's what we're going to look at. As well as the difference in football and rugby sponsors.
Rugby vs Football Sponsorships
There's a large price disparity when looking at rugby sponsorships compared to football sponsorships. This is due to football being a more popular sport in the United Kingdom, whereas in other countries like New Zealand and Australia this would be the other way round.
In recent years, we've been seeing million-pound football sponsorships from gambling companies in the Premier League, and in the hundreds of thousands for a Championship side.
This isn't as prevalent in rugby though. The most recent gambling sponsor in rugby was with Leicester Tigers who were sponsored by the online casino and sportsbook, LeoVegas. As well as offering players the ability to bet on rugby and other sports, they also give new players 10 free spins no wagering. Although the Tigers no longer hold this sponsorship, a LeoVegas Group brand, BetUK, is now the official betting sponsor of the Premiership Rugby League.
The big difference can be seen when comparing how many teams in the Gallagher Premiership there are compared to the Premier League. 8 out of 20 Premier League football teams have gambling sponsors as their primary sponsor. Whereas in the Gallagher Premiership no gambling sponsors are primary.
Which Companies are the Largest Rugby Sponsors?
It's hard to pinpoint one or two businesses that are the largest rugby sponsors. But we can look at what types of businesses rugby sponsorships appeal to. The most obvious types of sponsorships are sports-related businesses. For example, the sportswear brand Gilbert is one of the largest global rugby sponsors, as well as Canterbury International, Adidas, and Nike.
Next, health businesses are also large rugby sponsors, companies like Holland & Barrett, Optimum Nutrition are a natural fit due to rugby being such a physical sport. Players need to recover and do so by taking supplements like protein powder, creatine, and others.
Another industry known for being prominent rugby sponsors is alcohol. People often assume that rugby players and fans are big drinkers, so we can see why this might appeal to alcohol firms, especially beer-focused brands. These types of partners even hold sponsorships with England Rugby, including Guinness, Bollinger, and the Majestic Wine stores. There are of course a whole host of other industries that look to rugby for sponsorships.
Sponsor a Player
Some rugby teams now even give you the chance to sponsor players. This is of course another avenue for sponsorship revenue, aimed at local businesses. Two clubs that offers this are Gloucester Rugby and Exeter Chiefs.
Some may find this as going a bit overboard, but it's a good way to get the local community on side with the team. Included in these player sponsorships is your company logo and name in every home matchday programme, and a position on the partner page of the website. As well as this, your logo will be displayed on the team announcement board when that specific player is called out.
National Team Sponsors
Rugby national teams also rely on sponsors for some of their funding. In fact, if you look at the England rugby partners page you can see the full list. Sponsors are usually big national and international businesses, for example, NatWest, British Airways, O2, and Virgin Active to name a few.
National rugby teams keep away from any gambling sponsorships due to it being a whole family sport, and gambling logos shouldn't be shown to under 18s. This is the same in football now, the FA ended its £4m-a-year sponsorship with Ladbrokes back in 2017.
