Of eircom’s FAI sponsorship my assumption of the breakdown of importance would be (in order of importance) access to players for tv ads and promotions, use of the FAI logo, sponsorship on training gear(which appears on tv as many news broadcasts feature the players in training), sponsorship on fans shirt. I use this to illustrate my belief that the eircom logo disappearing off the fans shirt would not jeopardise the entire eircom sponsorship of the Ireland national team.
Surely there is limited goodwill gained for eircom from this exposure as it rarely appears on television. Occasional glimpses of the logo are seen on fans jerseys during televised games. Other then that, it is only seen by the fans who wear the shirts who are often disgruntled over the fact that they must wear this corporate logo on their national shirt or the general public who see people wearing these jerseys. If there were serious benefits for corporate logos being seen on members of the general public then wouldn’t we all get offered money to wear t-shirts with corporate logos on them?
Nationwide manage to have a very visible presence as the main sponsors of England despite not appearing on the fans shirt.
Some of the revenue lost from the removal of the eircom logo could be recovered from the increase in shirt sales if players were given semi-permanent numbers and player names were put on the backs of shirts. The fact that Damien Duff featured in the adidas advertising campaign during the World Cup despite Ireland not qualifying shows the commercial impact of some of the players in the current squad.
Throughout Europe, national jerseys are bought by football fans without much allegiance to the team who play in the shirt. Any prospective buyer of an Ireland shirt without an allegiance to the team would be put off from buying the shirt by the large corporate sponsor that apperas on it as opposed to other national shirts. Ireland, having no negative history with most European nations have the potential to sell a significant amount of shirts on the continent.
Sales in Ireland would improve not only by the jersey being closer to what the players wear but names & numbers on jerseys could boost sales in specific target areas (McShane in Wicklow, O’Shea in Waterford or any eL player who would make the team)
Increased shirt sales should lead to a more lucrative kit supplier contract being achieved by the FAI. This would also help to offset any funds lost by the removal of the logo.
I believe that this would be seen by most fans as a gesture of good faith and would provide the FAI with some much needed good publicity.
I have heard that soccer AM were either involved in or started a campaign to have a gold star put above the 3 lions crest on the England shirt to commemorate their 1966 World Cup win. Does anyone know if this is true? What did it involve and how did they approach it? Any other thoughts?
one question. after they remoce the logo, do you think it would be possible for the national association (fai) to put a store on their website? (like every other fookin mom and pop website has done over the last 15 years. )
they dont respond to e-mails,so not sure how you make the recommendation to them. i agree with you about the logo. Thank goodness for ebay, otherwise you would have to fly to ireland to buy merchandise.
I hope you don't work in marketing! Not the best examples to be quotingOriginally Posted by Young Hov
Honest! I am not a secret Tim nor a closet Sham - I really am a Seagull.
I agree with every word the op says.
I have not bought an Ireland jersey since 1989 - it had no sponsor on it. I have not even considered buying one since then, that's how off putting a sponsor on it is to me. I know plenty of others who don't buy the jersey for this reason also. If the Ireland jersey became available tomorrow with no sponsor on it I would be straight out the door to buy it.
On a side note I often wondered could you challenge them legally for selling a jersey labelled replica when it clearly is not what the players wear?
Young Hov you've got the crux of an excellent argument on why the jersey should be sponsorless. Why not be the one to get the ball rolling and contact the FAI, write letters to the National papers or other such avenues. It may seem like a waste of time but you never know...
For what it's worth I will send my thoughts on the issue to the FAI.
P.S. the SoccerAM story is true and it worked.
ya i think that they should ditch the logo. maybe we could get some email petition going or something
I e-mailed the FAI during the week. I'll give them time to get back to me before I try and step this up so I won't be writing to national papers yet anyway.Why not be the one to get the ball rolling and contact the FAI
From the point of an American, who supports the ROI due to my heritage I was confused as all hell what Eirecom and Opel were for the longest time as those aren't brands or companies that operate over here. Hell, people here probably thought that was the team b/c they couldn't see the badge. It was especially confusing for me b/c the other national shirts didn't have them and I was like "why does ours?".
I think they could offer an Authentic Game Kit for a premium price and then the sponsor kit at less than full price and let the market decide. At least give us the choice.
I'd rather wear the Eircom Logo than that monstrosity of an FAI crest.
No problem, give it 3-4 months and they'll change the crest again.
Agree with you totally though, much preferred the shooting-star style football.
I preferred the shamrock inside the orange circle, Euro 88/Italia 90 style
Larry Be Wyse
www.acsportsimages.com
Well said, I completely agree.
Gimme dat
didnt they put the star on the sleeve (straight after the 2002 WC) so as not to disrupt the three lions crest.I agree with every word the op says.
I have not bought an Ireland jersey since 1989 - it had no sponsor on it. I have not even considered buying one since then, that's how off putting a sponsor on it is to me. I know plenty of others who don't buy the jersey for this reason also. If the Ireland jersey became available tomorrow with no sponsor on it I would be straight out the door to buy it.
On a side note I often wondered could you challenge them legally for selling a jersey labelled replica when it clearly is not what the players wear?
Young Hov you've got the crux of an excellent argument on why the jersey should be sponsorless. Why not be the one to get the ball rolling and contact the FAI
For what it's worth I will send my thoughts on the issue to the FAI.
P.S. the SoccerAM story is true and it worked.
I remember reading at the time that an official from the fa had said that the crest was too perfect to mess with.
its now moved above the crest..
italy had the same thing for awhile on their kappa jerseys (on sleeve)
Here's some reading on stars on crests and what they mean...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_(football_crest)
If the income was invested in youth football, I'd not give a toss.
My little brother was in Portugal there on holiday. He brought me back a Portuguese NT replica jersey. There's no logo, and it looks so much better for it. You have to love the situation where I'll happily wear a foreign NT jersey rather than my own country's simply because it doesn't have a giant orange blob on the front. Has anyone contacted the FAI about this? Anyone know when the eircom deal ends?
Me neither. The whole issue is a disgrace.
There was a lad on here selling shirts with no Eircom logo on eBay. I missed out on one and was devastated.
well said
Put em under Pressure!
what was the response from the FAI ? surely they could release a non-eircom one ? i would pay extra not to have that muck on the front of me geansai.
Was he crazy!! Yeah , in a very special way , an Irishman.
I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty;
I woke, and found that life was Duty.
Under the terms of the sponsorhip contract they MUST use the eircom logo on all replica shirts. It all goes back to 1986 when Opel became sponsors
http://pix.ie/widgets/generate/accou...000-F5F5FF.jpg
"It's time for the FAI to grow up." John O'Donoghue, Minister for Sport, RTE , Sunday 7 Nov 2004
Damn right, if I was sponsoring the Irish team there would ne no way I would allow replicas without the name of my business/company etc. - none of you would.
I think all you lads should get over it and buy the eircom jersey, what's the big ****ing fuss your acting like stubborn spoilt kids
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
If I was sponsoring the NT, I'd demand that Ian Harte and John O'Shea be publicly flogged with whips branded with my company's name before every home game. I reckon it'd do wonders for people's positive connotations with the brand.
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