Europe

Mobile phone manufacturer Alcatel OneTouch has agreed a one-year deal to sponsor the Super League, the top division of UK rugby league.

Swiss watchmaker Jean Richard has agreed a long-term partnership with English Premier League top-tier football club Arsenal.

Irish sponsorships picked up two of the most prestigious awards at the ESA Excellence Awards last night, with Liberty Insurance winning the Business to Consumer category for its joint sponsorship of Gaelic Athletic Association sports, hurling and camogie, and Electric Ireland winning the gold medal in the ESA Best of Europe category for its sponsorship of Team Ireland in the London Olympics 2012.

Italian Serie A football club Parma has signed a one-year extension to its shirt sponsorship deal with vacuum cleaner manufacturer Vorwerk Folletto.

English Premier League top-tier football club Crystal Palace has agreed a deal with Italian sportswear company Macron.

The British Biathlon Union has announced a four-year sponsorship agreement with Birmingham-based outsourced medical support supplier Aspen Healthcare Solutions – a deal the organisation said will secure its survival.

Spanish MotoGP motor-cycling team Aspar has agreed a deal to make Malaysian energy drinks brand Drive M7 its title sponsor for the 2014 season.

Cruise ship company MSC Crociere has agreed a deal to become a premium sponsor of Italian Serie A top-flight football club Lazio for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.

Beazley is a specialist insurance company that relies heavily on strong relationships with insurance brokers. Its five-year commitment to sponsor British Fencing, from 2011 to the end of 2015, provides the business with different ways of engaging with brokers - including through PR in target media and client entertaining opportunities.

Specialist real estate investment advisory business Delancey has reached a commercial agreement with the British Ski and Snowboard governing body ahead of the winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

Electric Ireland, Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank, Mercedes-Benz, Panasonic, RATP, Sky and Vodafone are the shortlisted brands in the “ESA Best of Europe” award category for the 2013 ESA Excellence Awards to be decided tonight in London.

English Super League rugby league team Hull Kingston Rovers has announced a five-year stadium naming rights agreement with locally based company Kingston Communications (KC).

New Zealand-based sportswear brand Canterbury has reached a six-year agreement to replace Puma as the kit supplier to the Irish Rugby Football Union.

Liverpool has unveiled the Garuda Indonesia airline as the first ever official training kit partner of the English Premier League football club.

RaboDirect, the savings bank based in Dublin, Ireland, which is part of the Dutch co-operative, Rabobank, is looking for more locally-driven sponsorships in Ireland to replace its title sponsorship of the RaboDirect PRO12, the major rugby union club competition for top teams from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy.

German Bundesliga football team Eintracht Frankfurt has announced US sportswear firm Nike as its kit manufacturer from the 2014-15 season.