FOREIGN EXCHANGE broker FxPro has agreed a new four-year deal with the Australian Rugby Union to become the naming rights partner of Super Rugby in Australia, valued by Frontloaded at around $3m per year.
Super Rugby is the premier rugby union competition in the southern hemisphere, encompassing five teams each from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The deal, set to begin in 2012 running through 2015, will see the competition renamed the FxPro Super League in Australia and the FxPro logo will appear on the match ball at each game played Down Under and the playing jerseys of all five Australian teams.
The deal follows a similar agreement brokered in New Zealand in 2010, where specialist banking firm Investec acquired the naming rights to Super Rugby in a five-year deal valued at around $2m per year, and in South Africa where Vodacom owns the title rights to the series.
Sponsoring the Super Rugby competition sees FxPro attempting to break into a new sports market – rugby – having previously concentrated sponsorship efforts on football and motorsport.
The Limassol, Cyprus-based company is the current principal partner of Fulham in the English Premier League, agreeing a three-year deal in 2010 valued at between £1.5m and £2m per year.
FxPro also had a three-year agreement in place with Aston Villa, signed in 2010 and valued at £3.5m per year, but the brand ended the deal in 2011 after activating a clause in the contract which enabled either party to assess the agreement after one year.
Further football sponsorships for the brand include the AFC Champions League valued at $1m and front-of-shirt sponsor of French Ligue 2 side AS Monaco valued at between $250,000 and $500,000.
In motorsport, FxPro signed a one-year deal with Formula One team Virgin Racing in 2010, valued by Frontloaded at around $12m, and continues to sponsor the World Rally Championship in a deal that is set to expire at the end of 2012.