Rugby is a popular sport in the UK and, similarly to football, is at the centre of dozens of sponsorship deals. In fact, most of the English Rugby League has been involved in sponsorships since the 1980s. Since then, dozens of brands have sponsored games and events, including UK gambling firms and some rather odd brands.
The Super League
The Super League was founded in 1996 and has been sponsored every year since apart from in 2013 when the event was known as the Super League XVIII or the Super League 2013. Between 1996 and 1997, the event was sponsored by Stones, a UK beer manufacturer and distributor. This was followed by a two-year sponsorship with sports retailer JJB Sports (1998 – 1999) and then a five-year sponsorship with tea maker Tetley's (2000 – 2004).
More recently, The Super League was sponsored by First Utility, a gas, electricity and broadband supplier in the UK, between 2014 and 2016. During this time, the event was referred to as the First Utility Super League. Then, between 2017 and 2019, the event was sponsored by leading UK gambling firm Betfred and referred to as the Betfred Super League.
The Rugby League Championships
The Rugby League Championships was a latecomer and launched in 2003. When it first sprang up, the event was sponsored by LHF Health Plan, the UK's largest healthcare charity, and was known as the LHF National Leagues. When the competition was sponsored by the Cooperative Group between 2009 and 2012, it was renamed the Co-Op Championships.
After this, the Rugby League Championship was sponsored by Kingstone Press Cider (Known as the Kingstone Press Championships) between 2013 and 2017. Then, between 2018 and 2019, it was sponsored by Betfred and known as the Betfred Championships to which it's still referred to now.
The National Conference League
The National Conference League launched back in 1997 but has only been sponsored by two firms. Between 1997 and 2011, the event was sponsored by the Cooperative Group and was known as the Co-Op Conference. Then, from 2012 to today, the event has been sponsored by the Kingstone Press Cider and is referred to as the Kingstone Press NCL. Although this sponsorship has been going on for over seven years, it's unknown if the National Conference League will sign with another brand for the upcoming season.
The Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup was the first competition to be sponsored when it signed a five-year agreement with State Express and was known as the State Express Challenge Cup. Following this, The Challenge Cup launched into a sponsorship with British cigarette brand Silk Cut between 1985 and 2002, making it one of the longest rugby league sponsorships.
From 2002, The Challenge Cup has been sponsored by cereal brand Kellogs (Kelloggs Challenge Cup, 2002 – 2004), energy company Powergen (Powergen Challenge Cup, 2004 – 2008), British university Leeds Met Carnegie (Carnegie Challenge Cup, 2008 – 2012) which is known as the Leeds Beckett University. It's most recent sponsorships involved tea maker Tetley's between 2013 and 2014 (Tetley's Challenge Cup) and Ladbrokes (Ladbrokes Challenge Cup) from 2014 to today.
Brands & Gambling Firms
While the English Rugby League's sponsorships involve various brands and gambling firms, they're not as deeply rooted or as controversial as the sponsorship deals made with football teams and events. Still, you can see just how these sponsorship deals matter to English Rugby League events as most go on for several years and end up changing the event's name completely.
With new seasons of competitions coming up, we're pretty eager to see what new sponsorships will be signed in the coming years, will we see something stranger than Tetley and Kellogs? Only time can tell.
