Northern Cricket Union

Northern Knights incorporating Junior Knights

Brand & Image Sponsorship proposal

Contents

• Executive Summary

• Introducing Cricket in the Northern Cricket Union

• Vision & Objectives for Representative Cricket

• Target Audience

• Marketing plan

• Sponsorship and marketing opportunity

• PR and Media exposure

• Brand maturity and image association

• Summary

Executive SummaryBackground

Cricket in Ireland is booming. The success of the Ireland team in competing in World Cups, ICC Trophy’s etc. has made cricket in Ireland one of the fastest growing sports in the country.

The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) is one of two bodies that manages cricket in Northern Ireland. Its remit spans the counties of Down, Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone & Fermanagh. It is the governing body and official administrator of the game locally. Currently there are 104 teams affiliated with the NCU which facilitates in excess of 2,500 people playing the game on a weekly basis.

Proposal

The Northern Knights are the semi-professional team that plays in the inter provincial championship against North West Warriors and Leinster Lightening in 3 formats of the game.

The proposal is for sponsorship of this team and the Junior Knights age group representative teams to develop the talent in the province. It is an opportunity for brand attachment, media exposure, targeted audience specifics and an association with a premier sport in Northern Ireland.

The proposal is for a 3 year term.

The Commercials

Gold Sponsorship - Brand association with media value £50,000, front of shirt brand placement, player accessibility, corporate advertising, digital and social media, exposure, national press sponsorship with News Letter or Belfast Telegraph,

corporate hospitality options at all home games and brand association with a

quick adopting audience - £7,000 per annum

Sliver Sponsorship

Back of shirt brand placement, corporate hospitality options at all home games,

social and digital media exposure and brand association with a

quick adopting audience - £4,000 per annum

Bronze Sponsorship

Sleeve and collar brand placement, corporate hospitality options at all home games

social and digital media exposure and brand association with a

quick adopting audience £2,000 per annum

Introduction Cricket in the Northern Cricket UnionThe Facts

• 104 Senior teams through 12 leagues and a mid week XI T20 competition

• The Premier League has 8 teams participating with promotion and relegation through additional 3 sub-leagues.

• 13 cups in NCU Senior cricket with inclusion in Irish Senior Cup and Irish National cup. This includes T20 competitions and 50 Over competitions.

• In total there are 1,500 people playing cricket on a given weekend in the NCU during the months of April through to September

• Junior cricket leagues at U17, U15, U13 & U11 age groups with many teams fielding more than one team.

• In total nearly 1,000 underage players attend clubs on a weekly basis to learn, coach and play cricket.

• 49 schools affiliated with the Northern Cricket Union of which there are competitions and cups at every age group from U11 through to 1st XI.

• In addition, there is a growing number of girls teams playing cricket and the NCU players contribute increasingly to the Irish Women's Cricket team.

• The NCU Twitter account has over 1000 followers with nearly 400 following NCU Northern Knights account

Vision & Objectives for Representative Cricket

• Professional senior cricket team to compete in the inter-provincial T20, 50 over and 3-day matches

• Development of key talents at junior levels to include the building of brand called “Junior Northern Knights” at U13, U15 and U17 levels

• Achieve success at National level with Irish internationals being selected from the Northern Knights and the Junior Knights

• Increase the exposure of junior cricketers to the best coaching and management available from the NCU or outside

• Develop and monitor the talent in these age groups to provide the best opportunity to provide full Irish Internationals

• Support Cricket Ireland in their quest to attain Test status from the International Cricket Board in the next 5 – 8 years.

Brand Marketing Opportunity

• Premier League fantasy league cricket in association with the Belfast Telegraph and/or the Newsletter

• Weekly double spread updates on the weekends play in local regional newspapers and the Belfast Telegraph and/or Newsletter to include sponsors logo

• Image representation on all social, print and digital media to drive awareness to readership, including click through and search advertising on northern knights online.

• Headline banner on website for information relating to matches, news, player profiles etc.

• Key sponsor boards at representative level for all Junior and Senior inter provincial matches

• Corporate Hospitality discounted rates and guaranteed accommodation at Ireland games with TV and ATL (Above the Line) drip nationally

• Logo placement on front of all shirts and representative equipment

(Front, Left sleeve, Right sleeve, back of shirt, collar front and collar back are available)

• Photo calls and press opportunities with players subject to availability

• Sponsorship of top 5 players in league with key PR opportunities locally.

Target Audience

Cricket in NCU receives very good coverage in the printed media with extensive dedicated articles weekly in Belfast Telegraph, Newsletter and Sunday Life as well as nearly all the provincial weeklies.

Coverage on other media such as BBC and UTV is patchy but, generally with the benefit of personal contacts, publicity has been generated both on radio and TV. This is an area that we intend to work on in the incoming season.

Cricket is one of the few sports that brings together communities, villages, counties, schools and families

With players in the NCU now playing in their 50’s the range of target audience spans the whole spectrum of age groups

There is an opportunity to use the target audience to develop a brand association in the business to consumer market as well as the traditional business to business market.

PR & Media Exposure

Reporting on cricket in the Belfast Telegraph is provided by Ian Callender and a Cricket review section is provided in the paper every Tuesday during the season.

Reporting on the Premier League, Northern Knights and Ireland international performances takes centre stage.

There is also an extensive and up to date online cricket reporting page with the Belfast Telegraph all year round.

Facts about the Belfast Telegraph readership:

Reporting on cricket in the Newsletter is provided by David Holmes and Alistair Bushe and is contributed to across all their regional newspapers. Every Monday there is cricket double spread in the sports section with reporting on Northern Knights, Cup draws, Premier league fixtures/results and Irish international matches

Other coverage from

Sponsorship PackagesGold

1. Front of shirt logo placement on whites and one day kit, including training gear

2. Sponsorship of national Fantasy Cricket League in local press

3. Digital and social media support for promoting dual brand awareness including banner headings etc.

4. Advertising boarding at all NCU Northern Knights home games as appropriate

5. Reference media value with possibility of name change to incorporate the brand

£7,00 per annum

Silver

1. Back of shirt logo placement on whites and one day kit, including training gear

2. Digital and social media support for promoting dual brand awareness including banner headings etc.

3. Advertising boarding at all NCU Northern Knights home games as appropriate

£4,000 per annum

Bronze

1. Sleeve of shirt logo placement on whites and one day kit, including training gear

2. Digital and social media support for promoting dual brand awareness including banner headings etc

£2,000 per annum

Example of

Shirt sponsor

opportunities

SummaryThe Northern Knights are the pinnacle of Northern Cricket Union participation. A semi professional team that play 11 matches a season against other provincial teams in Ireland in all forms of the game.

The opportunity exists to support the game of cricket from senior level down to junior representative level and at the same time promote and associate a brand with the fastest growing sport in Ireland.

The proposal is for a cricketing brand to be developed in partnership with a number of commercial brands, with merchandising opportunities and media exposure to ensure the continual development of cricket in the region.

The measurement of success connects junior cricket

and senior cricket with players, where a path way for progression can be achieved.

The sponsorship of the cricketing brand will facilitate the development

and vision of a professional cricket environment with continuous

increase in popularity, and offering a commercial opportunity

for a growing business.

THANK YOU