Kildare search for new sponsor

Reports on Hoganstand suggest Kildare an Tegral have parted company.

Heard a figure of €90,000 is what they contribute annually. Not enough in my opinion.

The search is on.

I would imagine that the stature that Kildare currently occupy would be able to pull in a much larger figure that that. Seems a very low figure, a new sponser should see a much larger amount being pulledin.

On the same note if the sponser changes does kildare get any cut out of the club jerseys being sold in the shops ?

Two words, Pitman Moore.

I would presume that this has not just been landed on the board and in fact may be a result of the board's desire and indeed teh absolute necessity of Kildare cashing in on their marketability, having not done so for the last few years. So I presume this is something they have been working on. I hope they have good people working on it. And if that is the case, I would hope that this announcement is timed to coincide with another one, concerning a new sponsor, with significantly more money, very soon.

Wouldn't it be funny if it was that crowd who announced 900 jobs for Naas, I can see it now Kildare sponsored by Kerry Group ............ muhahhahah kinda like Formula 1........

€90,000 p/a is pathetic, about time they were dumped, that would barely cover the hurlers.

Surely we won't have a problem getting €300,000-€400,000 from the likes if Intel, pfizer or maybe Sheikh Mohammed will give us a dig out.

It's not Tegral we should be knocking here lads it's the county boards over the last 19 years who were incapable of forging a better deal. Tegral are a business who were looking for the best deal for themselves.
At the same time I didn't hear of any other business's falling over themselves to sponsor us. Plenty of candidates out there who could be potential sponsors so lets hope we can get a 250/300k per annum deal but I wouldn't put my life on it .

To be fair to Tegral they've served the county well over the last number of years, especially considering the financial hit their industry has taken.

In general though if the €90,000 figure is true then it's a pretty poor return considering the coverage we've received over the last five years. That'd be the same figure Offaly were making from Carroll's a few years ago and roughly the same as what Ladbrokes were paying to sponsor Derry.

Hopefully whoever is taking charge of the sponsorship from a county board perspective knows what they're doing with this.

It's not enough for us to be able to say we've reached the quarter finals and an All Ireland semi, or we've been on tv X amount of times.

Any sponsor willing to part with a decent chunk of cash will want a detailed plan on how their investment will be spent, how it will be broken down between various teams etc, as well as wanting a certain amount of access to particular players and trophies (if we're lucky enough to win anything) over the course of the year. There needs to be a proper plan drawn up to outline the benefits of sponsoring Kildare and the return on investment a company will make.

There's a great chance for the county board to make some money here. With the hurlers also being promoted, along with the minor and under 21 squads doing well there's a lot more potential publicity for a sponsor than there has been for a long time.

It'd be great if we were able to follow the Dubs along the lines of multiple sponsors; for training gear and so on.

Intel and Hewlett Packard already give out a lot of donations and sponsor quite a few GAA clubs and other sports groups around the country, whether either of them would be willing to sponsor a county team though is a different issue altogether. Again we'd have to consider the negative press that's gone against over the last year or so, we wouldn't exactly be flavour of the month in the eyes of the media / press so that could indeed have an influence on things.

Bottom line though, we're one of the best supported counties in the country, with one of the biggest populations, after reaching the last eight for consecutive years there's no reason why we can't attract a big name company / brand to boost the finances.

Ideally there'd be a Sheikh or an oil billionaire from the Middle East out there who already has interests in a stud farm in the county, and also has a stake in Etihad or Emirates airlines, who'd be willing to give us a million per year no strings attached...

Tegral were great partners for nearly 20 years but it's no surprise to see them pulling out given the decline in the construction sector.

The timing is far from ideal because it is hardly a great time to be looking for sponsorship in the current economic climate. Hopefully there is something already in the pipeline but I can't imagine it will be easy to get a big deal. It is encouraging that both Wyeth (Senior Football Championship) and Hewlett Packard (County Hurlers) have been been involved in the past but you have to wonder why those deals were discontinued?

This will mean new jerseys for 2013 so that will bring in even more money.

Stonecold wrote:

Wouldn't it be funny if it was that crowd who announced 900 jobs for Naas, I can see it now Kildare sponsored by Kerry Group ............ muhahhahah kinda like Formula 1........

Red Bull Kildare has a bit of a ring to it...

Ogie wrote:

I would hope that this announcement is timed to coincide with another one, concerning a new sponsor, with significantly more money, very soon.

Ogie I'm reading that like there is going to be a separate sponsorship announcement soon. I have not heard anything on the grapevine. Is it a decent amount , any clues or is it being kept under lock and key.

As for Tegral, yes they were stable sponsors, but they got a bargain over the last 19 years. As has been said, Kildare has a large population, has one if not the best supported County teams around and has a high profile recently. I don't go in for the "not the media darlings thing" any publicity is good publicity when it comes to sponsors. Unless we suddenly adopt the swastika or start abusing puppies on match day all is good.
We have Div 1 games next year on the tv, our Championship games are generally on the box too and every bit of clothing sold will have the sponsor on it. I'm no marketing or advertising expert but I think we are a decent team to have you Company across it's jersey.

I don't think lads should be running down Tegral. While the value of the sponsorship may not have reflected our high profile over the last few years, they did stick by us through some fairly lean times too.

In terms of a new sponsor, how about Persil or Daz? Whites whiter than white etc.

What about looking outside the county for a bigger company. After Dublin, Kerry and Cork we're not a bad draw for sponsors in my opinion. With our fan base, our location to Dublin, Population , our recent high profile and unique all white jersey I think we wouldn't be a bad draw for any company if approached with a good business plan as to how its going to benefit a company to sponsor us.

After Cork and Dublin we're the highest population in the Republic.

Paddy Power, Boyle Sports, 3 Mobile, Meteor/Eircom, Ryanair, UPC, Microsoft, Intel, Dell, Facebook, Ebay, Musgrave Group, Toyota, Ford or VW Ireland.

A main sponsor and then maybe something like an official car supplier to Kildare GAA like VW Toyota.

Ryanair Official Airline to Kildare GAA... ect ect ect.

We have to strike while the iron is relatively hot.

However I'd be very sceptical of who within the county board is approaching businesses looking for sponsorship given how they have handled the press recently and indeed different incidents in the last couple of seasons.

This 1000 club wasn't hugely successful nor was getting in Charlie McCreevy to help with the finances it seems.

Would you honestly be surprised if we ended up with a deal far less than what we were getting from Tegral. Honestly?

Charlie McCreevey benefit to Kildare was in the form of stats man to the U-21 mentors for the last couple years and we all know how those stats added up under those mentors.......... ...although i seen him in at the U-21 trial games last friday night.......clip board and all.....what a benefit he will be to geezer and co.........

Maybe this is why I saw Mick Foley walk in to a bank in the IFSC in full Kildare gear a few weeks back. Who knows, possibly the Co Board had something lined up all along.

overthebar wrote:

Charlie McCreevey benefit to Kildare was in the form of stats man to the U-21 mentors for the last couple years and we all know how those stats added up under those mentors.......... ...although i seen him in at the U-21 trial games last friday night.......clip board and all.....what a benefit he will be to geezer and co.........

You serious?

That's like Bertie appearing on The Premiership

Intel or Bord Na Mona? surely they could be options!

Ah ye'd have to believe that even a half arsed effort in getting in new sponsers would pull in much more than Tegral. How in the name of jaysus did we ever settle for 90k even in the bad times. Every kildare team we sent out in the last 20 years had Tegral emblazened on the shirts.

Forget about this being bad news this is an opportunity to make real inroads into the current debt in Kildare Gaa.

lilywhites on tour wrote:

Intel or Bord Na Mona? surely they could be options!

Bord na Mona wouldn't be a runner as they a semi state organisation. However Intel or Hewlett Packard would be two companies with plenty of money set aside for advertising and sponsorship.

Baba O' Reily wrote:

Ogie wrote:

I would hope that this announcement is timed to coincide with another one, concerning a new sponsor, with significantly more money, very soon.

Ogie I'm reading that like there is going to be a separate sponsorship announcement soon. I have not heard anything on the grapevine. Is it a decent amount , any clues or is it being kept under lock and key.

As for Tegral, yes they were stable sponsors, but they got a bargain over the last 19 years. As has been said, Kildare has a large population, has one if not the best supported County teams around and has a high profile recently. I don't go in for the "not the media darlings thing" any publicity is good publicity when it comes to sponsors. Unless we suddenly adopt the swastika or start abusing puppies on match day all is good.
We have Div 1 games next year on the tv, our Championship games are generally on the box too and every bit of clothing sold will have the sponsor on it. I'm no marketing or advertising expert but I think we are a decent team to have you Company across it's jersey.

I have absolutely no inside line at all, I'm only surmising. I would hope that given the financial situation, discussions have been ongoing for some time with Tegral initially. And perhaps this is part of a phased PR process. I would say Tegral were not in a position to provide what is the going rate for a county of Kildare's national profile - that has been the case for three or four years but the board didn't seem willing to cash in. I suppose there was a sense of loyalty there but it wasn't wise.

I would echo all positive comments about Tegral. What they paid is not there fault, and they have coughed up a lot of money for Kildare GAA in 20 years. They have done well out of the association with Kildare too, but they have had to make big cuts including in terms of jobs over the past few years and have bigger fish to fry.

However, there are plenty of companies within the county that are thriving... I am just hoping that this is not something that was suddenly sprung on the board. I am hoping that this is the result of ongoing discussions and negotiations. But I have absolutely no clue, I have no inside track on local GAA at all. But that's what you'd expect. Fingers crossed.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/tegral-parting-ways-with-lilywhites-as-downturn-takes-toll-211008.html

Tegral are citing the downturn in the construction industry as the reason behind their decision. It also says that they will "assist the Kildare board in finding a new sponsor".

By the sounds of that there is nothing lined up as yet. Wouldn't be a major surprise given our forward thinking board. What are the chances of us having no sponsor as well as no ground to play home games next year?

The first company I would approach is Proctor & Gamble. They seem to have a major advertising campaign ongoing and a lot of it is through sport. Their advertising is directed at the general population and they have a major presence in newbridge, so for me they'd be head and shoulders above the likes of Intel and HP.

Intel for me,- a bit of Leixlip representation on the Kildare GAA scene would be nice considering our players havent featured that much on the team!!

how about kerry group? could be the lucky charm!!

I'm loving the avatar lilywhites on tour!

Nostalgia Nostalgia! Having said that it will be very strange seeing the Kildare geansai without the red Tegral logo!