FAI set to kick €2.5m off the value of Ireland sponsorship
Business Time: FAI still looking to replace Three as its main sponsor. Here Republic of Ireland Sean St. Ledger, Simon Cox and Shane Long launch a new jersey in 2012.
THE Football Association of Ireland is set to downgrade the value of its sponsorship fees for the Rep of Ireland men’s team by €833k per season, The Pitch has learned.
Sponsorship sources say agency account executives have indicated to market that expressions of interest are being sought for a €5m headline partnership investment, over three years.
The revised annual fee of €1.66m per annum is down from the €2.5m price that had been in place since 2020, a value that has failed to encourage any material outcomes over the last two years.
The per-year valuation is close to what the FAI had previously been advised as the true and appropriate costs for such a sponsorship package.
In late 2020, during negotiations with a potential partner, the FAI was warned that its €2.5m price was grossly inflated and a more realistic assessment of €1.57m was reasonable.
However, the FAI was unwilling to go lower than €1.71m and discussions ended, with the association forced to spend a considerable period in the commercial wilderness - at a cost so far (under the new valuation) of €3m in lost revenues.
Sources tell The Pitch that commercial lead at the association - consultant Jonathan Neill – “recommended a reduction of fees following an intensive period of re-examination of all partnership and sponsorship assets, and their valuations”.
Neill – who has been with the FAI for four months - has been pivotal in the commercial development of a number of prestigious UK sports brands – particularly in bringing Cazoo on board as sponsor of the Epsom Derby.
It’s now 848 days since ‘Three’ announced in December 2019 that it would not be extending its 10-year deal with the FAI – at the same time as now Vice-President at the FAI Paul Cooke was appointed executive lead.
Cooke immediately announced that the association was close to insolvency after he discovered debts of €65m left by the previous administration in Abbotstown.
While the FAI is now a more stable organisation, there are growing concerns about transparency within the organisation, particularly around the issue of costs.
It’s believed that a budget of €40k – on top of salary and other payments - has been approved by the Board of the FAI to facilitate the visiting costs (flights, hotels and personal driver) for its London-based CEO Jonathan Hill, after the Englishman decided not to move to Ireland.
When asked by The Pitch recently what the new budgeted cost for the Englishman’s previously publicly undeclared living expenses amount to, FAI Chairman Roy Barrett refused to share details.
At the same press conference, both Barrett and Hill also declined to indicate the valuation of Ireland’s bidding for Euro 2028 with the four UK associations – a highly unusual stance given the overall positivity around such a move to host a major football tournament.
Such matters are unlikely to influence big corporates, who may now be attracted to the FAI’s new lower price to sponsor the association and vastly improving Irish Men’s National Team.
The FAI declined to comment when contacted by The Pitch.
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AN ELITE group of commercial investors are competing to land the vacant ‘financial services’ partnership with Seamus Power, ahead of next week’s ‘Masters.
Power’s agent Allen Hobbs spent much of Tuesday dealing with a number of inbound inquiries from Ireland, at his North Carolina base – one of three US offices of the Players Group Management (PGM) agency.
Amongst those vying for branding and marketing space on Power’s ‘Travis Mathew’ clothing are expected declarations of interest from KPMG and Bank of Ireland.
Hobbs has looked after Power’s commercial, touring and media interests at PGM since 2014, just before the Irishman began the hard slog on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2015.
The agency also cares for rising superstar Will Zalatoras, as well as Bill Haas and Ryan Palmer, and a crop of young talent including the emerging Sahith Theegala and Davis Riley.
The highly valuable financial services activation with Power would complete a tier-one sponsorship suite which is made up of Ping Golf (equipment), Power HRG (construction), Travis Mathew (apparel), Titleist (ball) and FootJoy (glove and shoe).
In the weeks leading up to his demolition of Im Sung-jae, Patrick Cantlay and Tyrrell Hatton, at the Dell Technologies Matchplay, Power also signed a resort partnership with the K Club, as its Touring Professional - which gets the Ryder Cup venue branding on the belly of his bag.
Through his tied-fifth placement at last weekend’s PGA Tour match-play event in Texas – in which none of his victories even made it to the 16th tee - the West Waterford Golf Club star created a claxon of commercial interest as he rose to world number 41.
Power’s immediate value is his presence at next week’s Masters, while of even more commercial importance are his hopes of making it to the $75m FedEx Cup at the end of the season – which will require a top 30 world ranking.
With qualification for The Open almost locked-in, although yet unconfirmed by the R&A, Seamus Power is now a premium commercial asset, but one whose real value comes through long-term incentives.
Ross Garvey, Head of Airton Risk – which covers bonuses and prize monies for a host of PGA Tour players and sponsors - has assessed what a typical payment structure might look like for a headline sponsor or partner of a Top 50 golfer.
• $500k for first Major win, $1m for second Major win, $1.5m for third Major win (and so on).
• $250k for making the European Ryder Cup team
• $150k per win on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour
• $250k for winning a WGC event or The Players Championship
• $750k for finishing top 10 in the end of year Official World Golf Ranking
Garvey explained: “Initial investments in players represent a quick financial hit, but the real value is in the bonus details, which will dwarf early activation fees as players hit agreed targets and goals over a protracted period of usually one to three years.”
As Allen Hobbs weighs up the various offers and inbound expressions’, don’t expect a voluminous amount of activity and branding to become attached to Seamus Power.
His advisors are keen on “quality not quantity” and will only exchange contracts if the brand is a good fit for the player and “if it’s run by good people”, rather than a plethora of financially impactful deals, with lots of moving parts.
While Power’s win on the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship in Kentucky last year was incredible in his overall PGA Tour journey, his moves in Austin last week were another level.
Expect Augusta to push the Power brand even higher, as Irish golf’s late developer becomes a commercial bloomer.
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The five-year deal announced this week between the Camogie Association, Carmel Naughton and Glen Dimplex, is one of the more unusual sponsorships and one which brings philanthropy and commercial interests together under one joint partnership. Carmel Naughton is the wife of Martin Naughton – Glen Dimplex founder and Supervisory Board Chairman. She is named as the key figure in supporting the deal, although it’s unclear if all investment for the sponsorship is coming exclusively from Ms Naughton or if it’s a percentage of the overall cost – with the rest being invested by the company. All branding and marketing rights will go to the electrical firm, in a tie-in that will run to the beginning of the 2027 Camogie Championship.
The Federation of Irish Sport has made a rare but welcome public appearance and announced a return of the Irish Sport Industry Awards, following a two-year absence. The competition will celebrate and reward excellence in the business of sport in Ireland with 10 categories up for grabs, and with a new title sponsor on board with Clubforce. Categories included are Best Sports Sponsorship and Best Sports Business.
One piece of FAI business that has gone through for Ireland’s senior and U21 teams is a partnership with STATSports, the GPS data technology which records and analyses players performance. The tech captures data from players after every session recording total distance covered, max speeds, high-speed running distance, intensity and fatigue. The deal does not represent a sponsorship agreement, however, and is a partnership in which the majority of the value is provided by STATSports in service agreements, with a small segment coming as a cash exchange.
