Swansea signs up shirt sponsors for new season

Premier League football club Swansea City has agreed shirt sponsorship deals with Asian gaming company Letou and US online security specialist Barracuda Networks.

The lengths of the agreements were not disclosed, but they will be effective from the 2017-18 season.

Letou will serve as the Welsh club’s new front-of-shirt sponsor. The company replaces Asian online betting company BetEast in the role.

Swansea’s chief operating officer Chris Pearlman said: “Swansea City has ambitions to grow our brand in Asia, where Letou has a strong presence and a lot of experience. With over a billion people likely to watch the Premier League over the course of the season, a third of the league’s total TV audience, it’s a major partnership that will benefit both parties.

“Letou has a significant global reach, including a strong market share in Asia, and is committed to helping us grow our presence in that part of the world. We believe Letou can help us tell our unique story to a global audience. The story about how we play the game our way, with ‘Grit and Beauty’.

“But it was also their commitment to the local community in south west Wales which really captured our imagination. We were drawn to Letou because of their drive to support local charities in Swansea, even though they are based thousands of miles away. We are looking forward to working with them through their ‘Goals for Good’ programme over the season to make a real difference and give something back through their support.”

Local charities that will benefit from the partnership include Shelter Cymru and Disability Sport Wales.

Meanwhile, Barracuda has agreed a deal to become Swansea’s first-ever sleeve sponsor. Its branding will feature on the left sleeve of the team’s shirts as part of the agreement.

The company will also provide the club with its IT security services to guard against cyber threats.

Pearlman added: “ A recent internal review highlighted the fact that our IT security system wasn’t protecting us from every attack and needed a major upgrade. With the club’s players, management team and administration staff all relying on the network day-to-day, we needed to ensure that it was fully protected from advanced threats.”

Swansea becomes the latest Premier League club to sign a sleeve sponsor for next season. Premier League club and league representatives agreed to allow sleeve badge sponsors starting from the 2017-18 season in November 2016. The sponsor logos will be a maximum size of 10cm x 10cm.