The England & Wales Cricket board announced a four-year title sponsorship deal for the County Championship with Specsavers, according to the BBC. The 125-year-old competition "had been sponsored for the past 13 seasons by insurance firm LV=." The financial terms of the new sponsorship agreement "have not been disclosed" (BBC, 2/29). MARKETING MAGAZINE's Daniel Farey-Jones reported the deal will give Specsavers "full naming and branding rights for the County Championship." The eyecare retailer "has sponsored cricket umpires and been the ECB’s official optometry and hearing partner" since '14 (MARKETING MAGAZINE, 2/29). Specsavers' appointment as County Championship title sponsor is the third commercial agreement concluded by the ECB this year. The ECB recently agreed to a new five-year partnership with Greene King to be the official beer of England cricket and Yorkshire Tea has also renewed an agreement to be the official brew of England cricket for a further three years. ECB Commercial Dir Sanjay Patel said, "Our commercial family continues to expand and today’s announcement highlights once again that cricket is an attractive property to a wide range of different brands and businesses" (ECB).
