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Jamaica Gleaner: Reggae Boyz Reap Millon$


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First Jamaica signs Bora for a $million$ plus, now this.

Not bad considering Jamaica was just knocked out of Gold Cup Qualifying by St. Vincent:

Red Stripe million$ to flow for Reggae Boyz

CORPORATE GIANTS Red Stripe are back on board with the Jamaica national football programme.

This time around they have pumped $100 million into it, but the amount is dependent on the Reggae Boyz's success in World Cup qualifiers.

The new contract is expected to span a three-year period which should, in theory, take the team through to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, commonly referred to as the 'Back to Africa Campaign'.

However, the national team must perform well if it expects to reap the benefits of the full sponsorship amount, as the funding will not go beyond whichever point the national team fails to advance.

Back in 2005, under a similar arrangement, the team managed to claim only $50 million of the total figure of the then 'Red Stripe Journey to Germany' deal as it was knocked out of CONCACAF qualification in the semi-final round after placing third in Group I behind the United States and Panama.

'Like most things in the business world, this is a performance-based arrangement. It was like that the last time and it is not a new thing, so here we are trying to qualify for another World Cup,' said Jamaica Football Federation president Crenston Boxhill at the Chinese Benevolent Association yesterday.

Equipped to cope

'It does put us under a little bit of pressure in terms of the organisation and trying to get us there, but we are certainly equipped to cope with that,' Boxhill said.

A major part of the amount will go towards supporting the team's preparation for the qualification round by hosting a number of international friendlies. While not having yet secured an opponent, the federation has set a target for the first of these games to possibly kick off in a little over a month's time.

'The process for World Cup qualification is an expensive one and we are pleased that Red Stripe has come on board at the very beginning. Their contribution comes at a perfect time,' Boxhill said.

'It is also pleasing that they have chosen to continue their association with us, which proves that they must have been happy with the results that they have been getting over the last couple of years and I would like to publicly make a plea for the rest of corporate Jamaica to follow suit,' he said.

In addition to the sponsorship, the company, which recently repackaged its title brand under the new slogan 'Live Red', will also be turning its attention to patrons at the National Stadium, and pre-game and half-time shows are once again expected to be a big part of the local football landscape.

'By involving ourselves in the qualification process from the very beginning of the journey, we want to remind those looking on that we are in this thing for the long haul,' said Red Stripe Marketing Director, Wayne Lawrence.

'We will bring passion and pride back to the World Cup qualifying campaign. A part of 'Living Red' is reminding Jamaicans that creating and inspiring passion in everything we do is important,' he said.

On the local scene, the company has also been responsible for the running of the Red Stripe Champions Cup and Red Stripe Light Beach Futbol competitions.

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

© Copyright 1997-2006 Gleaner Company Ltd.

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quote:Originally posted by Richard

Yeah, but $100 million sounds much better and by implication suggests Canada is lacking in equivalent substantial sponsors :-)

If the JFF can afford Bora for a million US (that is over and above the rest of the coaching staff), and we apparently can't, then perhaps we are lacking in equivalent sponsors.

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Does anybody know how many national teams the JFF operates, how often they play and where?

I also suggest that professional soccer and cricket are probably the primary national sports in Jamaica. Where does domestic soccer rank in the pro sports business hierarchy in Canada? This is very relevant to the issue of sponsorships. I am not suggesting the CSA couldn't use more sponsorship monies or that the CSA should not be actively pursuing more sponsors or that the CSA budget allocations are necessarily what they should be, just that direct comparisons between Canada and Jamaica should be made with caution.

Can anybody tell us how much of the $13 million CSA budget is covered by sponsorships?

I also wonder whether Jamaica has anything like the Canadian provincial soccer association structure that plays a significant overall part in the soccer program nationally. Perhaps we ought to sum the budgets or sponsorship revenues of all the provincial associations and the CSA together in order to make a judicious comparison.

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First, I don´t think the pro-sport business hierarchy is as important as suggested because these are national teams. National teams are about national pride and the interest in the sport by sponsors is about attracting attention to your products from those who pay attention to the sport.

Getting sponsorships has been a CSA weakness for a long time.

Consumer products firms targetting the soccer mom should be an easy target. That also includes the big-5 banks of which the CSA have one and the Toronto stadium another.

High Tech firms targetting both multicultural buyers and multicultural employees should also be easy to convert into sponsors.

Yes, we do have provincial associations too; but we also have 32.5 million people, a much higher GDP per capita, and 800,000(?) registered soccer players.

Finally, we should begin to see how weak the CSA has been as a more professional organization gets into the game. I mean just watch how successful MLSE and Toronto FC is in attracting sponsorships and corporate box subscribers.

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

Let me reiterate what was written recently about the CSA's budget. It is $13m, of which $5m is devoted to ALL NATIONAL TEAMS. Canada simply doesn't have a level of sponsorship of the senior men's national team that approaches this.

The problem is that the CSA is seemingly unwilling to go after big name sponsors that can bring in the big bucks. Red Stripe sponsoring the Jamacian National team is the same as Labatt's or Molson's sponsoring the Canadian nats. US Soccer has Budwiser as a major sponsor.

Seems that there is a feeling in the CSA doesn't want these kinds of sponsors as they seem too politically incorrect.

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Still nobody has given any indication how much of the $13 million CSA budget is covered by sponsorship revenues.

Till we know that, all we can discuss is generalities.

I think Greg Kerfoot's $2 million over two years is not inconsequential and it is equivalent to $116 million Jamaican dollars. I also doubt that's included in the $13 million budget figure quoted.

I am not suggesting the CSA should not be constantly pursuing ever larger sponsorships or that they have been sufficiently proactive in that regard to date but we really don't yet have a clue how much money they have got from sponsors, at least none of us participating in this thread.

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Interesting contrast to the CSA is what Ken Read has accomplished with Alpine Canada in his four years at the helm.

"The national team has improved its world ranking to sixth from 12th four years ago, the accumulated debt has been eliminated, the annual budget is almost three times bigger at $16-million, revenue from sponsorships and donations has risen sharply, money is being set aside in a reserve fund and the intelligent use of resources has been plainly visible in the team's strong performances."

Just a note Alpine Canada has 25% of the numbers of members as the CSA...

Full story -

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061205.SPORTSBIZ05/TPStory/TPSports/

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