Premiership Rugby, the governing body of the top division of English rugby union, has engaged the ESP Properties agency to aid its search for a new title sponsor.
Premiership Rugby recently confirmed that its title sponsorship agreement with insurance company Aviva would come to an end after the 2016-17 season and the body has now stepped up its campaign to secure a replacement.
ESP, which is part of GroupM, the global media investment company belonging to public relations firm WPP, will market the rights to prospective partners.
“With the tremendous growth in the competition over the last few years, both domestically and internationally, there is a fantastic opportunity for a brand to partner with the league for the long term,” Premiership Rugby commercial director Dominic Hayes said.
“The partnership will deliver year-round access to our high quality and engaged rugby audience, and we believe that we are well placed to move our league title opportunity to the next level commercially – the process starts now.
“Having worked with ESP’s Two Circles in analysing our title sponsorship offering, we have been very impressed by the ESP Properties sales proposition. They have unique access to the WPP and GroupM global networks, and have incredible insight into long-range brand planning.”
Aviva has title sponsored the Premiership since 2010.