Recession hinders Munster chief’s search for sponsor

Heineken Cup qualification is not the only battle Munster have on their plate this weekend after chief executive Garrett Fitzgerald confirmed the two-time European champions are still searching for a new shirt sponsor for next season.

Speaking exclusively to the Irish Examiner as the Munster team prepare for a make-or-break European pool tie in Edinburgh on Sunday, Fitzgerald said current shirt sponsors Toyota Ireland, whose brand name has adorned the province’s jersey since 2004 and was front and centre for both Heineken Cup victories in 2006 and 2008, were “unlikely to remain as our primary sponsor”.

Toyota’s current deal, a three-year extension signed in the summer of 2010, expires at the end of this season and was worth €5.75m, with the car company’s total backing of Munster amounting to more than €13m over nine years.

With Ireland in the teeth of an economic downturn, Munster must cast their net overseas in the search for a new shirt sponsor.

The Munster chief executive said he was confident a new sponsor would be found and Munster’s brand value ensured it could expect at least a similar return to the current deal with Toyota, struck after the end of the Celtic Tiger boom, with naming rights deal for both Thomond Park and Musgrave Park on the table if the financial incentives for the province were suitable.

“The situation at the moment is that Toyota are unlikely to remain as our primary sponsor,” Fitzgerald told the Irish Examiner.

“I cannot speak highly enough of Toyota and their approach to sport in Ireland, when you look at horse racing, golf and many other sports that they have supported. They’ve been fantastic sponsors for us.

“We’ll see [if they remain] but it will be something that will be done professionally and amicably, whatever it is.”

As for the search for a new sponsor, Fitzgerald needed no reminder of the current economic straits the Irish economy is in, and which saw Munster announce a projected deficit of more than €1m for the year ending June 30, 2012 at its Branch Annual General Meeting last summer.

“It’s an area we’re looking at and like everything else it’s a challenge but I think we’ll get there, maybe not when we want,” Fitzgerald said this week.

“I don’t think there’s been any new sponsorship [in Ireland] announced in the last year or two, of any significance... The reason being is that people have the money and they want to spend it but the consumer spend isn’t going to give them the spin-off that they need to justify their sponsorship, so that’s a challenge.

“Any time you look at a sponsorship you look internationally. At this stage Ireland is too small a market to look just on its own. I think we showed that by going with Toyota and with adidas.”

Fitzgerald said Munster Rugby had discussions with more than 20 prospective sponsors at home and abroad but it is apparent the stumbling block has been the current lack of consumer spending power in this country.

“Our sponsorship isn’t up until the end of June. If you ask me when would I like to see a deal done by I’d love to see it done today. But that doesn’t happen in business, you don’t always get what you want. What you fight for and what you wait for, you probably appreciate a lot more afterwards. So there’s no deadline on it but it’s something we need to be looking at in the next two months.

“We’ve had discussions with over 20 different companies at home and abroad, many of them who’ve shown great interest, but while people would have the money to spend it’s very hard to justify it with the current consumer spend in Ireland.

“We’ve had many people who have great respect for the Munster brand and who would like to be involved but it’s very hard when you go to get sign-off on something to justify it. That’s the challenge really.

“We’ve had very few negative conversations and a lot of positive conversations. Even when you have a sponsor you’re canvassing on a constant basis, talking to companies and talking to different businesses. There is always another opportunity.”

As for the naming rights issue, the subject of keen debate at recent Munster Branch AGMs, Fitzgerald said: “I don’t think we’re going to look at a naming rights thing just for the sake of it. It needs to be financially worthwhile, given the history involved with the game here.

“But whether it’s Musgrave Park or Thomond Park, if the opportunity arises, it’s in our financial and economic interest to look at all of those. They are on the table if the proposal is right.”