Crystal Palace Sign New Shirt Sponsor
Crystal Palace have secured a new shirt sponsor for the next two seasons, signing an agreement with Optimal Payments, a global online payments provider.
Optimal Payments will use the platform to raise the global awareness of its Neteller service and Net+ Card stored-value offering. Neteller will be the first Premier League sponsor within the online payments space and will provide the brand the right synergy to achieve Neteller’s marketing and commercial objectives quickly and cost effectively.
Specifically, it will support customer and merchant objectives delivering rapid multi-market brand awareness, big brand credibility and driving sign up and conversion rates in Neteller’s key growth markets – including Asia; Africa and the Americas. Today, Optimal Payments processes approximately $15 billion USD annually in more than 200 countries and territories with over 100 types of payment and multi-currency options.
The partnership was negotiated by sports marketing agency SportQuake who will also assist in managing and delivering the global sponsorship campaign. In 2014 SportQuake has already completed over 100 football partnership deals including major transactions with all 20 EPL clubs.
Joel Leonoff, President and CEO of Optimal Payments, said: ‘We are delighted to be the official sponsor of Crystal Palace and recognise similarities between our two organisations in terms of recent great performance and growth ambitions for the future. The Premier League attracts the highest global viewership in international sports, with an estimated global audience of 4.4 billion. This sponsorship signifies an opportunity to support one of the league’s most exciting teams while promoting our innovative payment solutions worldwide.’
Crystal Palace Chairman Steve Parish added: ‘We are thrilled to have Neteller on board and really excited at the prospect of working with them on the growth of its online payments business. As soon as we met the team they felt like the right partner for us and it was important for the vision of our club to work with an exciting, multi-market consumer brand. Both Crystal Palace and Optimal Payments have experienced tremendous growth over the last few years and I feel confident we can help each other to continue that path.’
The deal’s commercial potential is driven by the global passion for the Premier League; including live coverage by 80 international broadcasters televised action across 212 territories worldwide, inspiring billions of pages of editorial and dominating social media debate worldwide on a weekly basis between July and May every year.
Neteller executive vice president Lorenzo Pellegrino said: ‘The chance to partner Neteller with the global reach of the Premier League is massively exciting in its own right, but what’s also important is the ability to work with merchant partners already operating in the Premier League space. This partnership gives Neteller the platform to promote our services on a whole new level; putting it alongside major global brands like Barclays, Nike, Emirates, Samsung and General Motors.’
