Rugby Australia and Cadbury sign new deal for Wallabies
Rugby Australia has signed on Cadbury as the new principal partner for the Wallabies, replacing Qantas as the jersey sponsor after 30 years.
The partnership will see the Mondelez Australia-owned Cadbury logo on the front of the Wallabies jersey for test matches and on training apparel for the next five years.
Rugby Australia CEO, Andy Marinos, said: “What a fantastic and proud day for Australian Rugby. We’re incredibly excited to partner up with the team at Cadbury, and to see the opportunities for us both over the coming years.
“From the alignment on values to their commitment to the development of women’s sport, as well as increasing the opportunities and profile of the game, this partnership will only further encourage the growth of our game across all levels.
“I look forward to seeing our partnership grow over the coming years and witnessing its positive impact on our community,” Marinos added.
The partnership with Qantas is set to finish at the end of 2021, following the detrimental impact the COVID-19 pandemic on the airline. At the time of the announcement chief customer officer, Stephanie Tully, said it was a tough decision to make, but the right one for the beleaguered business.
“Qantas has had a very long association with Rugby Australia and the Wallabies, and we’ve stuck with each other during difficult times. Unfortunately, this pandemic has been the undoing. Like all Australians, we’ll continue to cheer them on from the sideline,” she said.
The Cadbury partnership will see the flying kangaroo replaced for the opening test against France at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday 7 July.
Cadbury will also be a major partner of the Buildcorp Wallaroos with the logo to be on the back left of the Wallaroos shorts, including at the Buildcorp Wallaroos opening Test match against Samoa on 17 July at Suncorp Stadium.The iconic brands will also look to combine further off the field with opportunities for product integration right across Australia.
Mondelēz International President Australia, New Zealand and Japan, Darren O’Brien, said: “Many Australians have a deep and long connection with Cadbury, which has been proudly made and enjoyed in Australia for 100 years. We look forward to building on this with Rugby Australia, by jointly creating many positive shared moments for Australians to be proud of, through local communities and at the elite level with the Wallabies and Wallaroos.
“We are particularly thrilled to build on our existing support for women in sport by supporting the Wallaroos in their ambitions to bring home the Women’s World Cup next year.”
“We have great belief in the vision of Rugby Australia and support their plan for the game in this country, from the grassroots through to the international arena,” O’Brien said.
Rugby Australia Chairman Hamish McLennan said that just like the Wallabies, “Cadbury are an iconic brand who have stayed at the very top of their game for generations”.
“I have spent my life working with great brands and there is no better brand than Cadbury in terms of its values and its success, and they are perfect for Australian Rugby,” McLennan added.
Last week Rugby Australia also announced a three year deal with global multi-asset investment platform eToro as a major partner of Rugby Australia.
The deal will see eToro as the naming rights partner for all inbound tests including The Rugby Championship and a major Wallabies partner until the end of 2023. The eToro logo will also feature on official Wallabies branding, as well as on the shorts of the match kit.
Rugby Australia signed a multi-year broadcast rights deal with Nine in late 2020 worth $100 million in cash and contra. The deal resulted in Nine’s streaming sport platform Stan Sport picking up the rights for Super Rugby, Sydney-based competition the Shute Shield and Queensland comp the Hospital Cup, the Mitre 10 and Currie Cup, plus SANZAAR Union home games, all broadcast live and ad-free on Stan.
The recent Super Rugby AU final was watched by an average of 207,000 metro viewers according to OzTAM, with that number reaching an average of 305,000 nationally and hitting national a peak of 467,000 viewers across Channel Nine and GEM.
Nine reported that the final was up 232% in viewership year-on-year compared with Fox Sports, while across the season audiences were also up 162% year-on-year.
Got a tip?
Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
Linkedin