British & Irish Lions Tour Adds Sponsor
Mud House Wines has been named as the official sponsor of the British and Irish Lions rugby tour, set to take place in New Zealand in 2017.
The brand, by the UK’s largest wine supplier, Accolade Wines, Mud House has grown to become the fifth largest New Zealand wine in the UK.
Accolade wines also announced it will be sponsoring Sky Sports coverage of all Southern Hemisphere rugby in 2016.
Accolade confirmed it would be investing £2m to support the campaign in the UK, with its team in New Zealand set to continue its efforts in New Zealand ahead of the Lions tour in June 2017.
Former All Blacks skipper Sean Fitzpatrick and England’s former winger Jason Robinson have also come on board to support the sponsorship as brand ambassadors, appearing in a series of adverts set to appear throughout the tournament on Sky Sports.
“A Lions tour is huge, especially one hosted by the world champions”, said Paul Schaafsma, CEO, Accolade Wines. “We are also very proud to be working with our new Mud House brand ambassadors, Sean and Jason, who are here today and I would personally like to thank them for their support so far.
“To support this Sky Sport sponsorship, we have filmed a set of new Mud House idents, starring five legends of rugby who have either played for, or against, the Lions”, said marketing director Amy White. “Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand), Jason Robinson (England), Gavin Hastings (Scotland), Shane Williams (Wales) and Paul Wallace (Ireland) all feature with the strapline; ‘Rugby and Wine – It’s as clear as Mud’ playing on the not so obvious relationship between wine and rugby in a premium yet jovial way.”
The Lions Tour of New Zealand will comprise 10 games played throughout the country between 3rd June and 8th July.
