Money for all as sponsors pay up

The golf correspondent of this newspaper, Dermot Gilleece, once asked International Management Group (IMG) boss Mark McCormack how he knows how much money to ask for in any given sponsorship deal. His answer was simple: "You keep asking for more until somebody shouts stop."

In Irish sport over the past few years few people seem to have shouted stop as the major sports have tied themselves into bigger and better deals than ever before.

At the end of March, Budweiser announced its intention to continue sponsoring the Irish Derby until at least 2004, in what was a five-year, £12 million investment in the event. The deal extends Budweiser's association with the Curragh event to 19 years.

In GAA, the Bank of Ireland have also shown long-term commitment and this year celebrates a 21-year connection with the sport. Coming in initially with sponsorship of the football and hurling All Stars, sources indicate that the bank now pump in around £1 million a year in direct sponsorship and another £1 million in advertising and marketing.

The last contract was agreed for one year, with negotiations now taking place for a longer arrangement, probably around four years. At the recent Munster final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Bank of Ireland football championship was below the GAA logo on the teams' jerseys for the first time in a championship match.

Guinness, the principal sponsors of hurling, come in with around £650,000 per year for their association with the All-Ireland hurling championship and are coming towards the end of a five-year deal which began in 1995. A new deal is currently being negotiated.

Considerably more money was invested by Guinness in their advertising campaigns promoting their involvement with hurling. Experts say that for every pound spent on sponsorship another is put into advertising, marketing and hospitality etc.

In rugby, the Irish Permanent are currently putting around £400,000 a year into the IRFU coffers. The deal involves the international team and pre-Christmas international matches.

Lloyds TSB sponsor the Six Nations Championship and the IRFU's cut is about £1 million a year. The current deal, which has been running for two years, has another three years to run.

The IRFU are also engaged in many other sponsorship arrangements, involving sports wear for the Irish team and sponsorship of domestic rugby competitions.

The other big sponsorship deals in Ireland revolve around golf. The Murphy's Irish Open, with a prize fund of £1.2 million, and the Smurfit European Open, with a prize fund of £1.5 million, are like most international events likely to follow the pound for pound principle in below-the-line promotion and hospitality.

The Druids Glen tournament drew significant publicity this year when it was revealed that American golfer John Daly was paid £100,000 by the host club in appearance money. Daly was easily the most followed player in the line-up and got most publicity, leaving the sponsors happy with their partner's investment.

The drinks company actually owns the Murphy's Irish Open tournament and are in it for the long haul. They are currently planning into the next millenium, having been involved with the tournament since 1994.

Smurfit are sponsoring the European Open at the K Club for the fifth year and are expected to extend their commitment further when the contract runs out after next year's event.