BT Sport "has bought the naming rights for the Cardiff Arms Park and has increased its profile" within the PRO12 by "securing a sponsorship deal to have its logo on three of the regions' shirts," according to ESPN.
BT "already has its logo on the Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh's shirts and has now secured similar deals for the Dragons, Scarlets and Ospreys over a three-year period in what is described as a 'multi-million pound' contract." The Blues' sponsorship "is not available for the 2014-15 season but the Arms Park will now have BT Sport in its title."
The sponsorship of the Arms Park "follows hot on the heels" of reports saying BT Sport is considering paying £20M ($33.6M) to get the naming rights for Murrayfield. Monday's announcement means BT Sport "will now sponsor five of the PRO12's sides with the tournament being shown on Sky Sports next term" (ESPN, 5/19). The multi-million pound deal "is the largest joint sponsorship in the history of the four regions" (BELFAST TELEGRAPH, 5/19). In Cardiff, Simon Thomas noted Cardiff "will retain Airbus as their shirt sponsors." The overall deal "comes as a significant financial boost for the four regions, who have worked together on the package for a number of months." The renaming of the Arms Park "will be a ground-breaking move for Welsh rugby." It follows in the wake of a long list of stadium sponsorship packages in various sports, with the Aviva Stadium, the Allianz Park and the AJ Bell Stadium -- the homes of Ireland, Saracens and Sale Sharks, respectively -- "gracing the world of rugby." It is believed the Blues "were insistent on retaining the Arms Park in the title and that BT were more than happy to go along with that, recognising the iconic nature of the name worldwide." BT Sport has emerged as an "increasingly prominent" player in rugby over the past year. It has "taken over broadcasting rights for the Aviva Premiership this season and are set to share coverage of the new European Rugby Champions Cup with rivals Sky Sports" (WALES ONLINE, 5/19).
