Fast Track, the sports marketing agency, has won the rights to sell national commercial partnerships for the 9th World Indoor Championships in Athletics in Birmingham and the 10th SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh.
Both events will take place next year and extend Fast Track’s leading role in athletics in Britain. The agency already has a long association with the sport’s governing body, UK Athletics, to manage and market its annual series of live televised meetings.
The agency will seek sponsors for the two high profile 2003 championships, with brands being offered three possible levels of involvement – National Partner, National Supplier or the Business Supporters Club. Fast Track will work closely with Octagon and Dentsu who hold the global rights for the Edinburgh and Birmingham events respectively.
Marc Hope, Fast Track Head of Business Development, will lead the sales campaign. Hope said: ‘There are some first class opportunities for international, national, and Birmingham and Edinburgh-based companies to become involved in these major televised championship events. Multi-faceted packages, including prime-site perimeter boards, can be tailored for interested parties to maximise return on a modest investment.’
The 9th World Indoor Championships in Athletics next March is the sport’s most prestigious indoor event, drawing athletes from 135 countries. It will command three days of prime live BBC coverage in the UK and will be broadcast around the world.
Recent gold medallists at the biennial championships include current superstars Maurice Greene, Hicham El Guerrouj and Haile Gebrselassie, and next year’s event is likely to be the last championship outing for one of the Britain’s most successful ever athletes, Colin Jackson.
Terry Colton, Championship Director, said: ‘The 9th World Indoor Championships in Athletics presents a massive opportunity – not just for athletics, but for UK sport as a whole – to showcase to a global audience Britain’s merits as a host of major sporting events.
‘When we looked around for a commercial partner in the UK, Fast Track’s dominant position in athletics made it the obvious choice to ensure we maximise commercial revenues from the championships.’
The 10th SPAR European Cross Country Championships will take place in the grounds of Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh in December 2003. Paula Radcliffe is among the names expected to participate in an event that will be screened live by the BBC and beamed all over the continent.
David Joy, Chief Executive of Scottish Athletics, said: ‘We are thrilled to be bringing such a high profile event to Edinburgh and to Scotland. The championship will be a major attraction for sponsors, and Fast Track presented a compelling case to sell the national partnerships for it.’
Note to editors: Fast Track is a specialist sports marketing consultancy and events agency, headed by Alan Pascoe. The agency forms part of the Sports Resource Group along with ISM, Wind Group and IEC.
For furhter information please contact:
Fast Track Media Department
Office – 020 7932 1700
Andy Kay – 07710 170 494
Tim Stemp – 07931 764 668
Andrew Wallace – 07776 306 305