Danish insurance brand Gjensidige Forsikring has signed as the new title sponsor of the Danish women’s football league from 2019-20.
Under the three-year deal with the Danish Football Union (DBU), the eight-team league will be called the Gjensidige Women’s League.
The deal is worth about DKK 6m ($0.9m/€0.8m) over the term, according to the Danish sports platform TV 2 Sports – making it the biggest sponsorship deal in the league’s history.
The TV 2 Sports website reported that a betting company had been interested in the rights, before the insurance company stepped in and doubled the money on offer.
Mats Gottschalk, chief executive of Gjensidige in Denmark, said: “We are pleased to be able to contribute to the development of Danish women’s soccer and believe that the sponsorship enables Gjensidige to be widely exposed throughout the country, where we have customers, partners and employees.”
The deal comes on the back of a revamped commercial plan for the women’s league based on studies of successful leagues in Sweden, Norway, Germany and England.
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In cooperation with European football’s governing body Uefa, the DBU and the Women’s Division Association, a new brand strategy has been put in place focused on strengthening the league, developing the clubs and creating a better framework for fans and spectators.
Further commercial improvement is expected with the involvement of more men’s clubs from the Danish Superliga.
Only three of the country’s elite men’s clubs are currently represented with an elite women’s team: AaB, Brøndby and FC Nordsjælland.