London Irish Has Run Of Sponsorship Successes

London Irish Rugby Club has secured a number of sponsorships over the past couple of weeks, the latest being a new three-year sponsorship with Hampshire-based Upham Brewery. The brewery, which will be the Club’s Official Cask Ale Sponsor from the 2014/15 season, will lead the sponsorship with its flagship brand of ale, Punter.   

 In addition to stadium and shirt branding rights, hospitality, player access and ticketing, Upham Brewery will have exclusive pouring rights of ale at the Madejski Stadium for all London Irish home matches. To help establish the brand among supporters, Punter will be served in the Club’s first ever dedicated real ale ‘Punter Bar’ which will be housed in the East Stand and also within hospitality suites and lounges.

 Since officially launching in 2009, Upham Brewery has achieved significant growth, with production of its three staple ales - Tipster, Punter and Stakes - increasing by over 200% in the last year. The brewery has also built a portfolio of ten pubs across Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire and Sussex, and has plans to increase that portfolio to 30 pubs over the next two years. The brewery, which currently supplies over 450 stockists in both cask and bottles, including pubs, hotels and local Majestic and Co-op stores,  aims to build a new fan base among London Irish supporters, and also leverage the sponsorship to open new accounts across the south of England and into London.

Other additions to the London Irish sponsorship roster are outfitters Howick which becomes the official post match apparel for the players, Sports nutrition brand Etixx which is now the official sports nutrition provider for the Club for the next three seasons and iPro Sport becomes the new presenting sponsor of the Club’s  Community rugby programme and official isotonic drinks partner to the Club.