T20 Champs. Hampshire Sign Two New Sponsors

The Hampshire Royals Twenty20 cricket side have secured two new sponsorship deals for the 2011 Friends Life T20 cricket tournament.

The Barbados Tourism Authority have become the shirt sponsor of the side and their “Visit Barbados” log will appear on the 2010 champions shirts in a deal which coincides with a three-year agreement which will see Hampshire Cricket play their pre-season warm-up matches on the Caribbean island for the next three years.

Under the terms of the deal, the Royals will also continue to take part in the Caribbean T20, in which they finished runners-up to Trinidad and Tobago in January.

Hampshire Cricket Group Commercial Director Zac Toumazi said: “The team spent a lot of time in Barbados earlier in the season and found the facilities and welcome they received to be second to none. We are, therefore, proud to have them on our shirts for the upcoming Friends Life t20 competition and look forward to this, hopefully, being the start of a long-term relationship with the island. We hope that, in our own way, we can bring awareness to the jewel in Caribbean that is Barbados.”

Petra Roach, the vice president of marketing at the Barbados Tourism Authority, added: “Barbados has long been the Mecca of sports in the Caribbean, especially in cricket, and boasts a long association with Hampshire through the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Gordon Greenidge. What better way to solidify that relationship than through the sponsorship of the reigning Twenty20 champions. We wish the Royals every success in defending the title they won so dramatically on home turf last season.”

In addition, a deal has also been agreed Virgin Atlantic, who will become the club’s official travel partner after signing a one-year contract awarding Virgin Atlantic a presence at a number of Hampshire’s games at The Rose Bowl, and at the Business South conference at the stadium in February 2012.

Toumazi said: “Having a prestigious company such as Virgin Atlantic as an Official Travel Partner is a major development for Hampshire Cricket. The Club is hugely excited about the potential benefits of this deal and the opportunities afforded to it to move ahead creatively. I welcome Virgin Atlantic to our family of partners and look forward to many years of us working together.”