Sponsorship / Partnership of the Year
AFC Bournemouth & MSP Capital
AFC Bournemouth is proud to work with MSP Capital to authentically improve people’s lives within the community in which we operate.
Our relationship covers many different areas, including community projects, supporter competitions, promoting girls’ and women’s football, and to create positive content that captures hearts and minds.
The partnership is embedded in both organisations, with staff at all levels involved either by volunteering, or by being part of the planning and delivery of the various fan and community focused initiatives.
It is refreshing to see an organisation with a very niche target market that perhaps would not be front of mind when thinking of brands committing to a football partnership, recognising, and investing in a partnership with AFC Bournemouth to enrich people’s lives and give them experiences they will never forget.
We are looking forward to more exciting and rewarding projects to come and hope that our partnership continues for many years ahead.
American Express Shirt Buy Back – with Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Hope&GloryPR
As a long-term sponsor of Brighton & Hove Albion FC (BHAFC) and a backer of the local community, American Express sought a way to celebrate its 10 seasons of support for the Club, activating around the final game of the season in a way that would directly engage fans – including both existing and prospective Cardmembers – and cause an uplift in brand consideration.
The American Express Shirt Buy-Back put Brighton’s long-standing fans at the heart of the story, giving them the chance to get a new season BHAFC shirt for free in return for a shirt from the previous 10 seasons. Thanks to American Express, fans got a coveted Club asset for free, resulting in a positive boost for the brand on social and editorial media.
The story reached over 30 million people, generated 49 positive press articles and resulted in an 18% increase in brand consideration amongst non-Cardmembers following the campaign.
Arsenal FC & Visit Rwanda
Rwanda is Open
Visit Rwanda has been Arsenal’s first and only official sleeve partner since 2018. This ground-breaking partnership sets out clear objectives to leverage Arsenal’s global profile and reach to promote Rwanda as a luxury eco-tourist destination.
Like elsewhere in the world, COVID-19 deeply affected Rwanda’s positive tourism growth. For two seasons, Arsenal was unable to facilitate any core rights – no talent visits to the country took place. 2022 was therefore a crucial year to reconnect with Arsenal fans and beyond to showcase what this amazing country has to offer.
Once Rwanda was ‘open’ again, a record number of player, legend and influencer visits were activated, to catch up with reduced activity during Covid-19:
Rwanda continues to make significant progress in its efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth, despite the global challenges that were faced during COVID-19.
In 2022, the partnership contributed to a remarkable increase in tourism revenues, with $445M recorded in 2022 compared to US$164M in 2021, representing a 171.3% increase.
There’s clear evidence that through the Arsenal x Visit Rwanda partnership is reaching a global audience which is increasing consideration of supporters visiting Rwanda.
Crystal Palace FC & cinch
At the start of last season Crystal Palace set out on a mission to find a principal partner that could unite fans, engage with the community, and enjoy the benefits of working with an established Premier League football team. The perfect partner was found in cinch, a brand which has been rising through the ranks in the marketplace and leading the way with innovation and technology behind their product. cinch currently appear on the men’s front of shirt for the first team, as well as the women’s front of shirt, all academy teams’ front of shirt and replica retail kits, making them the first brand to ever appear across all shirts at the Club. The partnership has not only made a positive impact in the local community, cinch have united our fanbase with an increase in replica shirt sales, up 15% compared to this point last season and have benefited from a positive increase in car sales on their platform.
EE & the Home Nation FAs
Purpose is the core of EE’s ‘4-3-3 Game Plan’: the most ambitious sponsorship strategy in UK football that straddles the four Home Nations Football Associations.
The goal? Supercharge overlooked areas of the game: para and disability, women’s and grassroots.
It’s a lead partnership like no other – a promise to elevate the game and positively impact society. The work is a true embodiment of the brand’s ‘We Connect for Good’ purpose, and our mission is a simple one – how can EE continuously positively impact football communities, making the game more accessible, innovative & inclusive than ever before?
We’ve been busy and this year, some highlights that are doing just that, include…
• Recruiting our 100,000th EE Playmaker, a major milestone in EE’s support of the grassroots game
• Starting our search for the world’s first British Sign Language football pundit team
• Giving 28,000+ grassroots players the digital skills they need to tackle online hate
• Telling the stories of seven non-binary teams to raise awareness about discrimination in football
• Supported both England and Wales teams as they played each other in a historic men’s FIFA World Cup game
Liverpool FC & NIVEA MEN
‘For us, this is a brand doing exactly what their product describes: caring for men And using this platform in partnership with Liverpool FC, we can truly show there is strength in numbers’ Ben Akers – CEO of Talk Club.
NIVEA MEN with Liverpool FC hold significant synergies that help to showcase NIVEA’s modernity and relevance in a way which is authentic to men across the UK Season 2021/22 saw Liverpool FC and NIVEA MEN cleverly intertwine their assets into three campaign executions, creating a platform to create change and challenge negative stigmas in Men Across two executions of the infamous Dear Liverpool series, one Strength in Numbers campaign and a heartfelt stand-alone piece with Sir Kenny Dalglish and life-long Liverpool Fan, Eric Farrington, NIVEA MEN far exceeded their return on objectives objective Resultant to the three campaigns in season 2021/22, NIVEA MEN and LFC interviewed over 450 UK Men, to find that having viewed the stand-alone content pieces, men were 89% more likely to consider speaking about their mental health 88% found the 1-10 tool useful to discuss their mental health Furthermore, the Anthony Nolan stem cell donation, foundation received an increase in 400% sign-ups in the first week
Southampton FC & Starling Bank
Southampton FC Women have gone from strength to strength, experiencing three consecutive promotions and rising to The FA Women’s Championship.
Southampton Football Club is on a mission to encourage fans to support the women’s team. As part of this drive to grow the women’s game, all Southampton FC Women’s games are played at St Mary’s Stadium. The team also trains at Staplewood Campus, the same facilities as the men’s side, and are now full-time professionals.
When Southampton FC were looking for a new front-of-shirt partner for their women’s team, it was important to find a brand that shared their goals in growing and developing the women’s game. Starling Bank is on a mission to do exactly that. Coming off the back of their successful sponsorship of UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, they were looking for a partner that would invest and grow the game together.
The overarching partnership goal of ‘empowering positive change’ was set out and increasing participation in women’s football, particularly across grassroots football coaching was also identified as a key objective.
Tottenham Hotspur & AIA
Tottenham Hotspur and its Global Principal Partner, AIA, celebrated their 10th season in partnership in the 2022/23 season, making it one of most established front-of-shirt partnerships in Premier League history. AIA is the largest life insurance company in Asia with a presence across 18 markets and it uses its high-profile partnership with the Premier League club to support its ambition to generate business leads, incentivise agents / employees to move the business forward and drive awareness through the promotion of its core brand message supporting the population to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.
The Club’s tour to Korea in July 2022 presented a unique opportunity to activate on the ground in a key AIA market for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, a strategic campaign was developed and delivered in the three months around the tour to help meet AIA’s objectives. Overall, promotion around the visit generated 146% of the KPI for lead generation, over 5,000 employees / agents were directly engaged through various activities and AIA brand awareness increased by 9%.
