2nd November 2014

TThe South Sydney Rabbitohs have today announced that one of the world’s leading brands in air conditioning, Fujitsu General, has extended its corporate partnership with the Rabbitohs for the next four years, and have upgraded their commitment to become the Club’s co-major Away corporate partner from the start of the 2015 season. The Rabbitohs have broken new ground in jersey sponsorship for the 2015 season, with only two brands to be shown on the Club’s home and away jerseys, those being Fujitsu General and existing co-major Home corporate partner, Crown Resorts. ALCATEL onetouch will remain as the Club’s Shorts corporate partner for 2015. The Fujitsu Air Conditioning brand will appear on the front, lower back and sleeve of the away jersey, as well as the upper back and centre chest of the home jersey. The Crown Resorts logo will appear on the front, lower back and sleeve of the home jersey, as well as the upper back and centre chest of the away jersey. This is a major change to the way jersey sponsorships are presented in the NRL, with the Rabbitohs becoming the only Club to feature only two brands in all property spaces on their playing jersey in multi-million dollar deals. “We have done a lot of research into the best practice around playing kit sponsorships around the world and this model is regarded as the best for the Club and the corporate partners involved,” Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson said. “It’s a much cleaner look to our jerseys and enables us to work even closer with our valued partners to service their needs within their sponsorships. “This is a long term strategy for us and we’re delighted to present these two top-shelf organisations on our jerseys. “Both Crown Resorts and Fujitsu General joined the Rabbitohs family in 2014 and we could not be happier about extending our relationships with these leading companies in their fields. “We’ve worked closely with them not only on their branding presentation, but across many areas of the Club including our community arm, Souths Cares. “This is a fantastic step forward for us as a Club and we’re pleased to be working closely with the teams at both Fujitsu General and Crown Resorts for an extended period.” Philip Perham, Deputy Managing Director Fujitsu General said: “Whilst still only very new, the relationship that we have developed with South Sydney has proved extremely beneficial for our brand. “Apart from the obvious media exposure we have gained through their on-field success in 2014, we have leveraged the clubs enormous consumer appeal and vast business contacts to enhance our own business performance and objectives. “It’s all of these critical factors that ultimately led to our decision to elevate our sponsorship arrangements with the club and sign a long term partnership agreement.” Barry Felstead, CEO Crown Resorts, said: “Crown has been extremely proud to partner with Souths in 2014 and looks forward to working even closer with the club next season. “The new home and away jerseys provides Crown with an even greater brand match day exposure and we thank the club for their innovation and great commitment to corporate sponsors.”