There
was a time in our league when a few bob from the local butcher down the road
got him a freshly painted homage within the surroundings of his local League of
Ireland ground. A banner which thousands would see on a Sunday afternoon as it
stood side by side with a Londis banner or the most popular pub in town.
Of
course I’m talking of advertising hoardings. Back in the day before Social
networking, You Tube or, well, television, Bernie’s Butchers had to rely on the
printed word and a dodgy snap in the local newspaper complete with this week’s
specials. Every now and then when business was good, a local junior league side
would be the beneficiaries of a fresh set of jerseys and a handshake from an
eager manager.
Times
have changed and the world of corporate sponsorship has taken over. In
basically every sphere of sport you cannot participate, go to, or watch your
pastime of choice without
seeing
a major brand name associated with it.
Corporate sports
sponsorship seems like a win-win proposition. By attaching their names to
sports teams, companies reap international publicity at relatively low cost,
while their executives and customers get to hang around athletic events and
call it "work."
Be it
a name emblazoned on a chest, a stand branded with the product or a whole
stadium named in honour of the new sponsors, it’s here to stay.
In the
case of Newcastle supporters, already battered by Chairmen in brothels
comparing their star striker to a fictional Julie Andrews character and
denouncing Geordie lasses as man’s best friend, the rebranding of St James Park
to the Sports Direct Arena may seem like the last straw, but the club will
argue in order to bring in more sponsorship and prove the Magpies are a viable
asset, this needed to be done.
Not as
much as the money is needed here though!
I know
only a few Drogheda United supporters but I’d wager my royalty cheque that real
Drogs fans still refer to their ground as United Park and not that of the current
crisp that adorns the entrance to the ground. That said the sponsorship of
Hunky Dory’s was one in a line of grounds that brought much needed funds to
make United’s commercial manager sleep a little easier at night.
The
same could be said of Monaghan United fans. On my visit there the world
Kingspan Stadium and Century Homes Park wasn’t uttered once; however the club
knew the value of such brand names when the 620 seated stand was renamed with
such brands.
Extra
revenue for a sponsored stand doesn’t equate to fans losing their memory.
Gortakeegan
it’s been. Gortakeegan it will stay.
One or
two grounds followed suit. Even St Mel’s Park was briefly known as Golden
Island Park at one point – to the corporate fraternity anyway.
One
sponsor seems to have bucked that trend.
Longford Town have acquired a new sponsor for
their impressive 1500 seated stand and although some fans will point out the
ground’s correct name of Strokestown Road, the branding of warehousing and
logistics firm Flancare in 2000 took not only a name-change to the Northerners
ground, but in a slick piece of advertising, coined the term the ‘Flan-siro’.
It was a hook the print and television media
latched onto and rolled out the name whenever Longford caused a shock or two.
You may not think of Golden Island Park, Hunky Dory’s Stadium or Century Homes
Park in ten years but you’ll remember the Flan-siro.
With the economic downturn and clubs fighting
to survive, the world of corporate sponsorship may seem evil (I’ll always refer
to the Aviva Stadium as Lansdowne Road) but ask yourself...if Conor’s Colostomy
Bags handed you €500K to rename your local stadium to
Colostomy Corner in the morning would you turn
him down?
Or do you think he’d be taking the piss.
The choice is yours....
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