Premier Rugby, the marketing and commercial arm of English First Division Rugby today signed a three-year deal with Sportscard, the UK’s fastest growing rewards-based credit card designed specifically for sports enthusiasts.
The deal, worth more than £1 million over three years, will see Sportscard become the Official Credit Card of Premier Rugby. Each Premier Rugby club* will have it’s own branded version of the card and all will receive an advance cash sum as well as a fixed amount per member recruited with potential for further bonuses.
The agreement with Sportscard is the second major signing for Premier Rugby since its launch in August following the partnership with James Gilbert Ltd. and brings it closer to its first year targets for centralised funding.
The Sportscard credit card is backed by Mastercard and is targeted at sports enthusiasts by providing a range of sporting rewards and benefits. Using the Sports Points system cardholders are offered ‘hard to find’ tickets to major events, rebates from club membership fees, tuition and merchandise and the use of a Sportscard branded travel service.
Simon Hoskins, Marketing Manager for Premier Rugby said of the deal ‘The deal with Sportscard is an excellent opportunity for all participating Premier Rugby clubs to generate considerable income. The deal is a major step forward for Premier Rugby and shows what can be achieved through centralisation of the commercial and marketing activity. The benefits of strength in numbers are clear to see.’
The funds that the clubs receive from this deal will go towards player development and a key element of the agreement sees a percentage go to the Professional Rugby Players Association (PRA), the organisation that represents the interests of the players.
Sportscard has approximately 7,500 sports enthusiast card members which it intends to increase to 500,000 over the next five years. Sportscard will be conducting recruitment drives at Premier Rugby grounds and via direct mail in the weeks to come.
Jonathon Dickens, Business Development Director, Sportscard Group plc said, ‘Today’s announcement represents a vital part of Sportscard’s strategy to target sporting enthusiasts via our direct marketing campaign. We are delighted to be working with Premier Rugby to introduce rugby enthusiasts to our exciting range of rewards-based and valuable sports benefits our card offers.’
*London Irish and Northampton Saints have existing affinity card deals. These two clubs will become part of the Sportscard agreement when the current deals expire
For more information:
Simon Hoskins
Premier Rugby
Tel: 020 8831 6707
simonhoskins@premierrugby.co.uk
Anthony Kayne
Cohn & Wolfe (Premier Rugby)
Tel: 020 7331 5300 mob. 07818 036 739
anthony_kayne@uk.cohnwolfe.com
Jonathon Dickins
Sportscard Group plc
Tel: 020 7925 2500