State Of Origin Side New South Wales Blues To Sign Tooheys In Deal Worth A$4M A Year

The State of Origin side New South Wales Blues' kit "is poised to become the richest strip in Australian sport," according to the Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH. It "comes on the back" of beer brand Tooheys replacing rival Victoria Bitter as a sponsor of the Blues. The entire Blues strip will be worth A$4M ($3.2M) from next season -- "extraordinary money for a three-game series." Tooheys will become a shorts sponsor worth about A$1M ($790,000) a year, with the total contract worth A$4M over four years. The naming partner and front-of-the-jersey sponsor for NSW will be announced in November. Tooheys was one of the first sponsors of the NSW Blues in '91 (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 8/7).