The New Zealand Rugby Union has "ended a two-decade long commercial relationship with Coca-Cola by signing a deal with Pepsi," according to the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. The new five-year partnership "will see the All Blacks linked to Gatorade, rather than Coca-Cola owned Powerade, the rugby union said in a statement." NZRU "first signed a sponsorship deal" with Coca-Cola in '95, and it was last renewed in '12. No financial details of the deal "have been released." The most recent set of accounts published by the NZRU for calendar '14 "show it had commercial income" of just over NZ$87M, just under 75% of its total income of NZ$121M. NZRU CEO Steve Tew said, "We were looking for an instantly recognizable, global brand with the scale to help us increase the profile of the New Zealand game and our teams overseas so a partnership with Gatorade made sense on many levels." In New Zealand, Gatorade "is made and marketed by Suntory-owned Frucor Beverages in South Auckland" (NZ HERALD, 1/21). STUFF's Peter Thornton reported the five-year partnership makes Gatorade the "official hydration partner" of the All Blacks and New Zealand Rugby's other national teams -- the New Zealand Maori, Sevens, Women's Sevens, Black Ferns and New Zealand U20. Gatorade Senior Marketing Manager Drew Palin said that the company "runs multi sports advertising campaigns and the All Blacks were a perfect fit to be aligned alongside some of the biggest names in world sport." The All Blacks "will also have access to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute in Illinois and Florida" (STUFF, 1/20).
