NRL announces naming rights for State of Origin will be available in 2021
Holden’s closure at the end of 2020 has provided a gap for a new naming partner for the 2021 NRL State of Origin for the first time in eight years.
The sport has already entered discussions with a number of brands on the rights, according to chief commercial officer Andrew Abdo.
For the first time in eight years the naming rights are up for grabs on the State of Origin
“It is rare for an opportunity like this to arise – so many of our partnerships are long term. This is an attractive proposition to automotive brands because there is a significant fleet vehicle component to our business,” Abdo said.
NRL reports the 2019 Origin drew a live TV audience of more than 8.9m viewers. It held three of the top four spots for most-watched television in 2019. Nine currently holds the NRL broadcast rights.
Beyond broadcast, the series sold out all three matches in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney, including a ground record in Perth’s Optus Stadium.
“State of Origin is the biggest sporting brand in the country,’’ Abdo said.
“No matter your metric, there is no greater exposure than our Origin series and this is a rare opportunity to begin a new partnership. More than three million people watched the series opener last year, more than any other program in Australia.
“Now more than ever before Origin is a national brand. We took the series to Perth for the first time last year and broke the attendance record and this year the series will open in Adelaide for the first time before going back to Melbourne next year.
“Multiple governments are talking to us about wanting to host an Origin match outside of Sydney in Melbourne beyond 2021 and that’s exciting for our game.”
Abdo also thanked Holden for loyal partnership over the past eight years.
“Holden have been outstanding partners for a very long time and we thank them for their enduring relationship. We take our responsibility to deliver a return on investment very seriously and you can see by the longevity of this partnership that we delivered that to Holden.”
The other question on the horizon is what will happen to the Supercars, which Holden has been heavily involved with. The motor brand has said it will continue with its involvement for 2020, but has not commented on the ongoing ramifications of the exit.
