Aviva New Title Sponsor Of Premiership Rugby

Insurance company Aviva has agreed a £20m partnership with Premiership Rugby, replacing Guinness as its title sponsor.

The initial four year deal will see the two organisations work together on the elite end of the professional game in England via Aviva Premiership Rugby, but also through a significant investment in community programmes.

Mark McCafferty, Chief Executive Premiership Rugby said of the sponsorship: ‘A title sponsorship deal with Aviva, which is such a strong international consumer brand, is another significant milestone in the growth of Premiership Rugby and provides us with a long term partnership commitment to our sport.’

Mark Hodges, Chief Executive of Aviva UK added: ‘We’ve invested a lot of time and effort looking for and researching the right sponsorship opportunity and we know that rugby, the fastest-growing participation sport in England, fits absolutely with Aviva.’

The deal, which was negotiated by Aviva with Hill & Knowlton’s Sports Marketing team, begins immediately and will be officially launched closer to the start of the 2010/11 Aviva Premiership Rugby season.

Hill & Knowlton will be responsible for developing and implementing a strategy to activate Aviva’s rugby sponsorship alongside their ongoing sponsorship of UK Athletics.