The Rugby World Cup 2011 which is to be held between 10 September and 22 October 2011 in New Zealand has been able to capture some of the biggest sponsors in the international industry.
In early October, the team of Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) announced that Coca Cola had been brought on-board. Coca Cola, in addition to providing its sports drink Powerade, would also be providing the 20 participating teams and the fans with a wide range
of drinks.
The reason why Coca Cola’s involvement is of major historic importance is because the relationship between Coca Cola and Rugby goes all the way back to the 1995 World Cup held in South Africa when Nelson Mandela had recently bought an end to the regime of
apartheid in South Africa. Coca Cola had in a sense been there when a country that had been torn apart for generations due to racial prejudice had successfully been bought together under the banner of rugby within a couple of years; an event that gave the
sport international recognition beyond even the world cup itself.
Chairman of Rugby World Cup Limited, Bernard Lapasset is also looking forward to the sponsorship with Coca Cola.
“We look forward to working closely with Coca-Cola to promote Rugby around the world as the global sporting community counts down to the start of Rugby World Cup 2011 in just under a year’s time and a Tournament that looks set to position Rugby in new
markets around the world, reaching out to new communities and audiences,” he said.
Another big name on board is DHL Express, an international leader in the logistics industry.
Though it is the first time that DHL has partnered with RWCL, it is expected to perform an impressive range of roles in in-tournament ticket distribution and express freight logistics for the 20 participating teams. During the course of the entire tournament
DHL, in addition to providing storage facilities, is expected to move team equipment around 200 times with an average of two tones per move. All in all it is expected that the company will travel about 30,000 kilometres during the period of the tournament
which in itself demonstrates the sheer importance of the commitment made with RWCL.
A number of other big names have also decided to share the spotlight with RWCL.
Earlier during the year, RWCL shook hands with the international electronics giant Toshiba thereby bringing the entire collection of its products ranging from televisions to digital notebooks into its service. This would be the third humungous international
sporting event that Toshiba has decided to support which indicates its continued commitment to becoming an important player amongst the financiers of global sporting events.
KPMG, a leading name in accountancy has been given the official responsibility for providing accountancy services to RWCL. KPMG has considerable experience in the profession due to their services to the New Zealand Rugby Union for more than a decade now.
These are only some of the big names that have agreed to become the backbone of Rugby World Cup 2011. Other prominent companies which are a household name in every country and which are supporting RWC 2011 include Emirates Airline, MasterCard, Heineken and
ANZ. Brancott Estate in addition to Toshiba has been selected as the Official Sponsors, Canterbury shall provide the official sportswear, Gilbert Rugby has become the official ball Supplier and Russell McVeagh as the official law firm.
All these companies and many others are expected to put their best foot forward in making Rugby World Cup 2011 a major success.
Tags: