Kit sponsorship enhanced by TV success

By Mark Stevens

With Premiership Rugby recently highlighting the significant rise in attendances and record TV audiences, so the global exposure of the Exeter Chiefs continues to grow year on year.

The top flight of English club rugby - in its first season on BT Sport - recorded an average live weekend TV audience of 358,000 across the Aviva Premiership Rugby regular season

At the same time, a combined season audience of 7.88 million watched Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs live on BT Sport last season, compared to 6.14 million for the same period the previous year.

Earlier indications are that this figure is set to rise yet again this term with this season's Premiership campaign set to be the most competitive and entertaining to date.

Playing their part in helping to make the division such an attractive proposition to the masses are the ambitious Chiefs, who have underlined in the past 12 months their ever-improving credentials and ambition as they collected not only their first-ever piece of major silverware, but at the same time invested in the region of £10 million on redeveloping their Sandy Park home.

Progression on and off the field at the Devon club is there for all to see and it's little wonder therefore that companies are looking to associate their own brand with that of the successful Chiefs.

Increased attendances at home games, together with more live TV exposure both in the Premiership and Europe, means the Chiefs remain an attractive proposition for international, national and local companies to team up with moving forward.

Already forward planning for the 2015/16 season is well advanced as the club's commercial arm look to extend exisiting partnerships, as well as bringing on board new business keen to be involved with the Westcountry's Premier Rugby Club.

Among the options now available to discuss for next season is sponsorship on the official Exeter Chiefs playing shirts.

Head of Corporate at the Chiefs, John Wood, says: "As Kit Sponsorship is our highest profile product for brand exposure, most of our sponsors have entered into long-term contracts with us for their space, but recently two of the more prominent locations on the kit have become available. so as a club we're keen to hear from any companies interested in these areas.”

Allow your company or brand to be seen in the best light worldwide through the power of sport media, which includes the likes of TV giants BT Sport, Sky Sports, BBC and ITV, as well as the international written and multi-media outlets, all of whom pick up on the coverage of the Chiefs on a daily basis.

At the same time, companies can be seen home or away in action with Sandy Park currently averaging home crowds of almost 10,000 spectators

Dominic Hayes, the Commercial Director at Premiership Rugby, said: "We firmly believe that the Aviva Premiership is the most exciting and compelling domestic league in the world and these figures prove that it is a very appealing TV proposition.

"These figures coupled with the 3% rise in attendances this year show that the league is stronger than ever. When you look at the audience for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Highlights Show on ITV each weekend (434,000) it means almost 800,000 people are watching Aviva Premiership Rugby each weekend."

For those companies keen to find out more about how they can showcase their brand on a global stage, contact Head of Corporate, John Wood on 01392 890902 or email him at [email protected]

AVIVA PREMIERSHIP BY NUMBERS

* The average match audience is now 119,000, up 38% on last season

*The weekend average live audience is now 358,000, which is 40% up on last year

* 7.88 million have watched Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs live on BT Sport this season, compared to 6.14 million for the same period last year

* ITV Weekend Audience 434,000, up 6% on this time last season
Combined weekend audience of 792,000

Figures are based on all individuals average audience