The Irish Rugby Football Union, the governing body of rugby union in Ireland, has sealed a new commercial partnership with telecommunications company Vodafone.
The deal will run for four years, from 2016-17 to 2019-20, and will start on June 1 ahead of Ireland’s summer tour of South Africa.
As the IRFU’s official telecommunications partner, Vodafone will use existing and new technology to activate the deal. Vodafone replaces telco rival Three in the role.
“Our aim is to bring supporters even closer to Irish rugby and we have innovative plans to do this on match days and right throughout the season,” Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O’Leary said. “We will have live mobile match highlights for Vodafone customers, exciting priority ticketing for the Guinness Series and a jersey amnesty initiative, to name just some of our plans.”
Last week, professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers extended a shirt sponsorship deal with the union’s national teams.