Broncos
announce 2004 shirt sponsorship

London Broncos have announced a new major sponsorship deal ahead of Saturday night's first home game against St Helens in Tetley's Super League.

The new sponsor/s will replace the Virgin Group.

This innovative approach to the major sponsorship will see not one, but at least three, 'blue chip' companies display their name on the Broncos shirtfront over the course of the season.

This unique plan, which is a departure from other major sponsorship deals in the world of professional sport, will give the London based Super League outfit a portfolio of strategic partners, each with share of the Broncos main sponsorship property.

As well as a 'time-share' on the shirtfront, each primary partner will receive a value added package of benefits that extends across the entire season.

The two other primary partners are yet to be announced, but they will join an already impressive portfolio of partners, including Victoria Bitter, Metro, Foster's, TNT Group, British Airways and Safeway.

The first of these primary partners to take pride of place on the London shirtfront on Saturday night will be Bartercard UK.

Bartercard is the world's largest trade exchange, allowing members the opportunity to trade their own products and services for those they actually require. This helps companies keep cash inside their business and introduces new customers to them.

Ian Jones, CEO of Bartercard UK commented: "We are delighted to be involved with London Broncos and the Tetley's Super League. Bartercard takes sport very seriously and we like to be associated with well known, successful clubs."

Broncos CEO Nic Cartwright: "It was never going to be easy to replace Virgin but this new and unique sponsorship structure will be highly beneficial to the club now and in the longer term.

We have a realistic commercial value for our sponsorship properties and we were never going undersell the value of our brand."

It has taken some time to get this structure in place and we were always prepared to take 'as long as it took' to strike a deal that is most beneficial for our club."

We are very happy to be in a position whereby our brand is now associated with a range of the world's leading corporations."

We are now looking forward to delivering good returns to all our partners, both on and off the pitch."

There is just one catch with this new approach. Which logo do fans want on the shirt that they will wear?

Cartwright added: "In some ways this is a 'good problem' to have but we understand it might prove a little tricky. What I will say is that our supporters will be given the choice to carry whichever logo they prefer."

We currently give fans a choice of which players' name they wear on their shirt-back, so I cannot see why the same cannot apply with the shirt-front."

The Broncos home replica is now on sale on-line without a major sponsors logo. It will also be available to buy in the club shop on Saturday.

London Broncos first home game in Tetley's Super League IX is against St Helens at 6pm on Saturday 6th March at Griffin Park - tickets for this big season opener can now be bought online at www.londonbroncos.co.uk or through the ticket booking hotline: 0871 222 1657.

Gates open at 4.30pm