By Ismail Uddin

Toronto 2015 chief Saad Rafi has revealed they will be announcing 12 new sponsorship deals in the coming weeks.

The Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games partnership programme has already seen a number of sponsors come on board with Molson Coors the latest to come on board. Rafi, who was appointed CEO in January, believes they ‘have nice mix of local firms as well as international firms’ but suggested they were ‘not finished yet’.

Speaking to iSportconnect, Rafi said: “We will be announcing maybe a dozen more sponsorships over the ensuing weeks.

“I am a person not easily satisfied so I would like more of corporate Canada to see the value of the games and that continues to happen.

“When we add the next dozen that we are about to add than I think we will have about 25+ sponsors, I’m not sure how I define enough, we have a lot of interest yet to tap.”

Read the Full Interview Here

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Super Rugby team Melbourne Rebels has renewed their partnership with Massey Ferguson until the end of the 2016 season.

Massey Ferguson are a Platinum Partner of the Club and have been associated with the team since 2011.

Simon Hole, the Director of Marketing (Australia/New Zealand) for Massey Ferguson: “We are very excited to add the additional two years; the Rebels are a very good fit for our business in that we share very similar core values, and we see that in the way that our customers got on board with the Rebels right back in 2011,” Hole said.

As a brand with a focus on rural strongholds, Hole believes continued regional pushes by the Rebels remain a really positive way in which to utilise the partnership to the best of its ability.

“The rural areas are obviously our heartland, especially north of the river where Rugby is very, very strong,” Hole said. “We have seen our customers get on board when we’ve had sessions with the Rebels, whether it be games, team or player events.

“It was great to see the Club play pre-season games in Albury and Geelong, and we are keen to be involved again too. It was really hot last year, so hopefully if we go out to rural areas again it can be a bit cooler!”

Rebels’ CEO Rob Clarke added: “Massey Ferguson has been a big part of our development as a Club, and we’re so pleased that they share not only our core values but also our vision for the future,” Clarke said. “They have helped to spread the Rebels gospel to the wider Victorian community, and assisted us in growing this great game throughout the state.

“I would like to thank them for their continued invaluable support, and look forward to sharing in the success of years to come with them.”

Leeds United has signed a patnership with MBi Consulting as they look to push their support for the local community.

The Grassroots scheme allows groups of juniors to attend games at Elland Road and take part in a number of matchday activities including guard of honour, ed shake the shirt, order player escorts and the half time parade. The junior groups are offered discounted match tickets to encourage attendance, over 14,000 people attended last season.

As part of the relationship MBi will also be supporting The Corner Cafe, a hugely rewarding scheme run by the Leeds United Foundation to support people within the local community that are affected by Dementia.

The partnership will see MBi receive marketing inventory and enjoy significant profile at Elland Road with MBi branding featured across the South East Corner of the stadium where our Grassroots participants are located for matches.

Leeds United Director of Commercial Affairs, Paul Bell said: “We are delighted that MBi are joining our Commercial Partners programme and will become our Grassroots Partner for the new season. The Grassroots scheme continues to go from strength-to-strength, last season we welcomed over 160 local clubs to Elland Road and we are looking forward to developing the scheme further alongside MBi.”

Robin Forster, Managing Director of MBi commented, “Our MBi group of companies has seen recent expansion across the north with our worldwide audience and client base through delivering unique funding and management in our development of luxury hotels, student accommodation and care facilities. We are proud of our partnership with Leeds United in supporting young and old alike through the Grassroots Scheme within the local community.”

German fashion house Hugo Boss is set to drop its long-time sponsorship of McLaren F1 for title favourites Mercedes, it has been revealed.

Hugo Boss has been a partner since 1981 but was looking to partner Mercedes in a number of intiatives which required them to drop their ties with the Woking based outfit.

“Hugo Boss has recently decided to co-operate with Mercedes-Benz on a number of international marketing projects unrelated to F1,” a McLaren team spokesman said.

“That being the case, it would be inappropriate for Hugo Boss to continue in partnership with an F1 competitor to Mercedes-Benz, however successful that partnership has been in the past and remains now.”

This announcement coupled with the F1 team still not revealing a new title sponsor will only add to the outfit’s current problems.

But Eric Boullier, McLaren team boss, denied this was a financial problem.

“No, we have thirty two sponsors,” he is quoted by Italiaracing, “even though you don’t see them all on the team shirts.

“And I can guarantee that the support from Honda will be considerable,” added the Frenchman, referring to the looming works engine deal that will end McLaren’s 20-year association with Mercedes-Benz.

“If you want to conquer this world you need to be a high level team, and we are,” Boullier insisted. “You also need a good engine and the support of a manufacturer.

“We will have all of this next year.”

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Eurosport’s coverage of the Tour de France will showcase new branding after health and life insurers PruHealth and PruProtect agreed to sponsor this year’s coverage. 

From 5th of July onwards Eurosport, celebrating its 25th consecutive year of reporting on the Tour de France, will have ten broadcasts in full, including the opening weekend in Yorkshire, the third stage in London, the fourth in Lille, the fifth in Arenberg featuring the dangerous cobblestone section, the tenth in the Vosges, “La Planche des Belles Filles”, the 14th in the Alps in Risoul, the 17th and 18th in the Pyrenees, Plat d’Adet and Hautacam, and the final stage to Paris. 

Neville Koopowitz, CEO of PruHealth, commented on the announcement: “We understand that sport has the power to inspire, entertain and bring people together, so we are delighted to sponsor the coverage of this year’s Tour de France. This is an amazing opportunity for Vitality to build further association with elite athletes on an international stage.

“We support sport teams and individuals that exemplify health and wellbeing and through this we’ve helped encourage more people to join us and when they do, inspire them to commit to getting healthy through our programme Vitality.” 

The Tour de France partnership is the latest addition to PruHealth and PruProtect’s sponsorship portfolio, which includes the recent deal to sponsor three top flight Premier League teams: Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, as well as associations with Vitality ambassadors Jessica Ennis-Hill, Jonny Wilkinson and Lord Sebastian Coe, plus events such as The Vitality Run Series and The PruHealth World Triathlon London