Northampton Saints and Hankook Tyre UK have today announced a new two-year extension to the Elite Sponsorship partnership between the Aviva Premiership club and one of the world’s leading tyre manufacturers.
Hankook has been an Elite Sponsor of the Saints since 2009, and by the end of this new agreement their logo will have been on the team’s playing shirts for nine years.
This period has coincided with the Saints winning the 2014 Aviva Premiership and European Rugby Challenge Cup titles and the 2010 LV= Anglo-Welsh Cup, as well as appear in the 2011 Heineken European Cup final.
However Hankook’s working relationship has extended well beyond the playing field, not least with the 2015 ‘Best of English’ clash with Saracens at stadiummk, which saw HRH The Princess Royal enjoy a competitive match in her role as Patron of Transaid, Hankook’s charity partner.
Jong Jin Park, managing director of Hankook Tyre UK, says that the company has seen many benefits from its Elite Sponsorship.
“The partnership between Hankook and the Saints has been a great success to date and we are understandably thrilled to continue our commitment to the club as an Elite Sponsor,” he commented. “It has allowed us to increase brand awareness by reaching a wider audience through the support of an accomplished and talented squad.”
Hankook is among the world’s top five companies in the mass production of tyres. Based in Korea, Hankook’s UK headquarters are in Daventry, and Saints chief executive Allan Robson says that there is plenty of synergy between the ambitions of club and company.
“We’ve built up an excellent relationship with Hankook over the past seven years and are looking forward to continuing this for at least the next two,” he said. “Both ourselves and Hankook have ambitions to grow over the coming years and partnerships like this give us solid foundations to achieve this.
“The Aviva Premiership is one of the world’s most competitive competitions and has new TV broadcast deals in North America, Europe and Africa which will see the league’s profile expand dramatically. Meanwhile at home we are filling an expanded Franklin’s Gardens with more supporters than ever coming from far and wide to enjoy our entertaining brand of rugby.
“These are exciting times and we are delighted to have extended this Elite Sponsorship deal.”
