Virgin Media downgrades Saints shirt partnership

UK telco Virgin Media has dropped its front-of-shirt asset at Premier League club Southampton, retaining only the shirt sleeve asset in its latest renewal.

The brand was the club’s main shirt sponsor for three years from 2016-17 to 2018-19. It added the shirt sleeve asset in the 2019-18 season.

Under the new deal, Virgin Media will remain the sleeve sponsor of the men’s first team shirt for the next three seasons, from 2019-20 to 2021-22. It will also appear on the sleeve of Southampton’s U18 and U23 men’s sides.

Virgin Media will also become the first ever shirt sponsor of Southampton’s women’s team from the start of next season.

This month, Southampton’s women’s team completed its second full season in the national women’s football pyramid, winning the Southern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division without dropping a point.

Virgin Media will work to raise further awareness of the team at a local and national level through a range of initiatives.

The club ruled out the option of a betting partner for the shirt front before Virgin Media’s deal in 2016, but has signed betting brands SportPesa and TLCBet as major club partners in recent seasons.