The end of August saw The RFU and British Airways announce a new partnership that sees the airline become the inaugural ‘principal partner’ to Twickenham Stadium as well as a principal partner and the official airline partner to England Rugby.
The deal was activated via PR and social media immediately upon the announcement led by a striking image of the team dressing room with England shirts hanging in lockers beside a pilot’s unifform that ran across both the rights-holder’s
Proud to welcome @British_Airways on board as our official airline partner and principal partner to Twickenham Stadium ✈
More here: https://t.co/mzkPlxAxtM pic.twitter.com/j0Y6PGXnwM
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) August 30, 2018
and the airline’s social channels – including Twitter and Facebook.
We’re proud to be part of the team. Click here for more information on our new partnership with @EnglandRugby and Twickenham Stadium: https://t.co/u3FTGO5dSC pic.twitter.com/as1B85CpYa
— British Airways (@British_Airways) August 30, 2018
This image was supported by a set of PR images featuring BA pilots and cabin crew in uniform at Twickenham.
and Facebook).
This new multi-year deal looks set to see British Airways and England Rugby work closely together on several strands of stadium activation – particularly on the digital experience at Twickenham Stadium – which include the development and launch a new stadium app and of e-ticketing.
In terms of branded stadium spaces linked to hospitality, the deal also sees the revamped top floor facility of the redeveloped East Stand named the ‘British Airways Rose Garden’.
The principal stadium partnership will also see British Airways leverage exclusive stadium branding rights including to the roof of Twickenham – visible from incoming flights into Heathrow.
“We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with British Airways and are extremely excited about working together,” said RFU CEO Steve Brown.
“Twickenham Stadium is the home of rugby and we’re so pleased to have an iconic British brand as our first ever principal partner of the stadium. We are proud to be working with British Airways, a brand that has such a strong heritage that is aligned with our core values.”
Alex Cruz, chair and CEO of British Airways, added: “We’re getting behind England Rugby and looking forward to supporting the men’s and women’s squads, by delivering them ready to win on their travels all over the world.
Comment:
An ‘inaugural principal partner’ to a sports stadium as a seldom used sponsorship delineation that essentially is as close as the industry gets to a ‘naming rights’ deal without actually putting the name on (and before) the stadium.
(There are some echoes here of the EE/Wembley Stadium deal between the telco and the FA.)
Whether this is the result of not quite getting the rights fee the rights-owner sought for a naming rights deal, or whether the complete naming rights option wasn’t ever on the table isn’t clear.
Either way the geographical synergies make some sense: after all, BA’s Heathrow headquarters is very close to Rugby HQ and its planes fly directly over the ground on an all too regular basis.
Surely an opportunity for some official ‘bottom-of-aircraft’ branding if we’ve ever seen one?
Links:
British Airways
https://www.britishairways.com
https://twitter.com/British_Airways
https://www.instagram.com/british_airways/
https://www.facebook.com/britishairways
England Rugby
https://www.youtube.com/user/officialRFUTV
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEnglandRugby/
https://www.instagram.com/englandrugby/
