Aviva seals £20m Premiership Rugby deal

Aviva has agreed a £20m four-year deal to become the new sponsor of English rugby union’s top flight league, Premiership Rugby.

Aviva will replace current sponsor Guinness from September, when the competition will be renamed Aviva Premiership Rugby.

Aviva’s UK chief executive Mark Hodges said: “Rugby is the fastest-growing participation sport in England with more than 100,000 active adult players – and another 150,000 under the age of 19.

“We’ve invested a lot of time and effort looking for and researching the right sponsorship opportunity, and we know that rugby fits absolutely with Aviva."

He continued: "It appeals to many of our customers, intermediary partners and to the other businesses we work with in the UK, so this sponsorship will give us exciting opportunities to connect with them and deliver significant business benefit.

“This is a fantastic chance for us to work with Premiership Rugby on a partnership with a sport that has values which closely mirror our own.”

The sponsorship deal runs from September 2010 until May 2014 and will include more than 135 games each season, watched by 1.7 million people at the grounds and many more on Sky, ITV and ESPN.

Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Premiership Rugby said: “A title sponsorship deal with Aviva, which is such a strong international consumer brand, is another significant milestone in the growth of Premiership Rugby and provides us with a long term partnership commitment to our sport and to our work in the community.”