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CORK GAA has agreed terms with sports retail giant Sports Direct for around € 2 million to replace Chill Insurance as the Board’s main inter-county sponsor.
The deal is reputed to be worth € 400,000 a year through 2025, with more six-figure bonuses on offer for all of Ireland’s success in hurling or football.
Sports Direct is owned by Mike Ashley, the controversial Newcastle United front man, and this is the company’s first foray into the inter-county GAA market. The retailer has an existing store in Blackpool and has also approved plans to take over the Easons store on Patrick Street in the city.
The deal was agreed a few weeks ago, but has been put on hold as Cork’s under-20 pitchers continued their progress in the Munster championship in deference to current sponsors, Chill. Cork won the provincial decider, defeating Tipperary by two points, and a decision has yet to be made on the stage of the Irish competition. It would be interesting to see if Chill retains the right to sponsorship of the jersey for those games on the basis that they come under the existing terms and conditions. Chill has been the title sponsor of Cork GAA since 2013 and spanned two more seasons in 2018.
The Sports Direct deal, worth a minimum of € 2 million over five years, will not be announced for several weeks amid continuing uncertainty about the start of the 2021 inter-county season. However, the deal is a first. A positive step for Cork GAA’s renovated executive and business structures, which were subsumed under the ‘One Cork’ umbrella in November.
The rebranding revealed an ambitious business and investment program that is expected to generate more than € 20 million in revenue over the next five years. The stated ambition is to offer a strategy to make the most of all facets of Cork GAA in financial terms.
The Sports Direct brand is not without controversy regarding worker conditions, but has continued a successful expansion in this country. Ashley has reportedly been involved in negotiations to sell Newcastle Utd to a Saudi consortium for around € 400 million, although staying in the Premier League is seen as key in terms of keeping suitors’ interest. Ashley bought the club for around 150 million euros in 2007.
Ashley’s Frasers retail empire recently issued an earnings warning, saying a published guidance of a 20-30% increase in earnings is unlikely this year.
This despite an initial increase since the first lockdown ended, as it increased his earnings. Pre-tax earnings rose 17.6% to £ 106.1 million at Frasers Group, in the half to the end of October, even amid a 7.4% drop in revenue to £ 1.9 billion .
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