Virgin Money Lands London Marathon Title Sponsorship

Virgin Money Signs Five-Year, US$33M Deal To Title Sponsor London Marathon

Virgin has signed a five-year, US$33M deal for its Virgin Money financial services arm to become title sponsor of the London Marathon beginning in 2010. Virgin Money will replace Unilever’s Flora brand as the title sponsor (Virgin). In Manchester, Mark Sweney reports Flora will have served as the title sponsor for 14 years by 2010 after taking over the role from Mars in '96. One of the first developments under Virgin's deal "will be the launch of a new London marathon website" on April 26, the date of the '09 event. Features on the Web site will "allow users to enter online, find training partners, watch celebrities training and download music play lists" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 5/16). Virgin said that the company will include an official partnership in the first year with Virgin Unite’s partner CLIC Sargent, a children’s cancer charity (London TELEGRAPH, 5/16).