Times Signs Guinness For Rugby Sponsorship
Times Newspapers has secured an exclusive contract with beer brand Guinness to sponsor its coverage of the autumn international rugby season, in a deal that builds on recent successes with major sponsors such as Lucozade Sport and HSBC.
The deal will see Guinness sponsor a 68-page rugby handbook to be published in The Times on 6 November. The guide includes editorial and analysis from The Times renowned rugby experts and will be distributed in and around Twickenham Stadium as part of a partnership with the Rugby Football Union.
Promotional activity including coverage on Times Online and an advertising campaign in The Times and The Sunday Times will support the handbook later this month. Claire Myerscough, TNL’s development director, said of the sponsorship deal: “We are delighted that our expertise in sports journalism together with our focus to deliver a strong communication package for clients is translating into a growing number of successful partnerships.”
Keith Blackmore, head of sport for The Times added: “The deals with Guinness, Lucozade and other important sponsors provide further evidence that The Times is the best newspaper for sport, appealing to increasing numbers of advertisers and readers. This commercial support has enabled us to produce a wide range of special editorial supplements, complementing our award-winning daily coverage and allowing us to offer our readers a greater depth and breadth of coverage than ever before.”
The Times has seen its circulation increase lately, adding 2.4% year on year in the six months to August to notch up a total of just over 654,000. However, the Sunday Times has seen a slight downturn in the same period, losing 0.6% from its total circulation to just over 1.3 million.
Both the Times and its Sunday sister title have been increasing the number of supplements they include. The Sunday Times recently moved to capitalise on one of the sporting world’s most prestigious events, publishing a 32-page guide to the Ryder Cup featuring exclusive analysis from Nick Faldo, the contest’s most successful player of all time (see Times Tees Off Ryder Coverage With Faldo Supplement).
The Times: 020 7782 5000 www.timesonline.co.uk
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