Rugby shirt sponsor to swim with the Sharks
RUGBY Union club Sale Sharks have agreed a seven-figure sponsorship deal – the largest in the history of the club – with cloud firm UKFast.
The undisclosed seven-figure deal sees Manchester-based UKFast return as shirt sponsor of the club after a five-year break.
The deal comes as Sale Sharks get ready to compete for the European Champions Cup this season after finishing sixth in the Aviva Premiership.
It follows last month’s takeover of the club by investment company CorpAcq and the departure of long-term owner Brian Kennedy.
Sale Sharks have since boosted the squad with a host of new star signings, including ex-Wales international Mike Phillips and Halani Aulika, who joins the club from London Irish
UKFast sponsored the club from 2000 to 2010, when chief executive Lawrence Jones ended the deal following the departure of fly-half Charlie Hodgson and several other senior players.
Jones said: “ I remember the first day I wedged my foot in the door of their portacabin at Heywood Road in 2000. They had a good laugh after I predicted their fans would one day use the internet for tickets and news!
“It was a great relationship; we couldn’t afford to give money so we invested huge amounts of our time and we built technology that helped the club fill the stadium.”
Director of Rugby Steve Diamond said the latest sponsorship deal was done after bumping into Jones on a Sharks ski trip in Verbier.
He said: “It turned out he owned the [hotel] and we ended up talking rugby. Lawrence said that if we wanted to buy the club, we could count him in. Cueto and I called him before the ink was dry and it was the quickest deal I have ever done.”
Sale Sharks’ commercial director, Mark Cueto, who retired last year after a 15 year stint at the club, said: “[Lawrence] has already helped us secure a number of other high-profile businesses to the mix and the energy he brings is infectious. I can already feel the momentum gathering.
“Manchester needs top-level professional sports clubs and not just football. We have squash, cycling and for Manchester to be a truly international city we have to be winning on all fronts.”
