Steel upbeat on reaching league sponsorship goal
February 16th, 2008, 4:02 am Hobbies News
Steels bottom line was boosted yesterday with confirmation the Invercargill Licensing Trusts flagship the Ascot Park Hotel had acquired naming rights for the first season of the ANZ Championships.
The ILT grant totals $485,000 for Steels campaign and Netball Southland, and includes $250,000 from the trust, $200,000 from the ILT Foundation and a $35,000 sponsorship component.
Steel chief executive Julie Paterson will meet the Community Trust of Southland on Monday seeking a further $200,000 for the Invercargill-based Steel and Netball Southland.
Paterson said sponsorship interest in Otago had been lower than she would have liked.
%26quot;(It was) probably a little less than we would have hoped for, but I guess if I was to be honest I would have had an expectation that it would have been less because there are two home games up there and five down here,%26quot; Paterson said.
%26quot;We are almost at our target for corporate sponsorship. Were very happy with how its all worked out this year. We have had lots of sponsors who have been past sponsors of Sting and the Rebels who have wanted to continue their relationship and weve managed to bring some new ones as well.%26quot; Season pass interest from Otago had also been low, something Paterson put down to the fact netball fans there were not used to buying full season passes to follow the Rebels.
Paterson said most franchises in the new competition would have budgets of about $1.5 million, twice what it cost to run a team in the National Bank Cup.
Having the ongoing support of the ILT, which had supported Sting during the entire decade of the national league, was vital, she said.
%26quot;They have an extensive history of being a very loyal and committed supporter of netball. We have an excellent relationship with the trust and they support us in a variety of ways, not just financially,%26quot; she said.
ILT marketing manager Gary Muir said netball had played a major role in Southlands renaissance.
%26quot;Right from the formation of the Sting franchise, we decided to take a punt and came on board. It turned out to be a tremendous punt because over the last 10 years the history speaks for itself.%26quot;
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