Rivals.net – the network of more than 350 independent sports sites – has teamed up with cable, satellite and Skydigital men’s channel Bravo in a multi-layered marketing partnership that includes sponsorship of its Argentinean football output, a microsite and raft of interactive promotions.
The deal runs for four months from today until 24th June.
Part one is a 60-programme sponsorship of the station’s Futbol Argentina output. More than 40 different executions have been created to support the deal. Each focuses on wry, quirky scenes depicting a middle-aged football
fan failing to impress his nine year-old son while practicing his ball skills in the garden. The creative is designed to highlight the real-life passion of Bravo and Rivals.net viewers.
The second element works online with Rivals.net hosting and producing a Bravo-branded micro site entitled ‘Futbol-Agentina.com’ (www.futbol-argentina.com
packed with Rivals.net-supplied editorial, including league tables, player biographies, news and features.
Part three of the deal sees Rivals.net sponsor the programme’s ‘Goal of the Week’ competition. Rivals.net has committed to provide weekly prizes of football memorabilia, other Argentina-related items plus a monthly star prize of a trip to see an Argentinean match. This could include the derby of all derbies between Boca Juniors and River Plate at the Bombonera in Buenos Aires.
Bravo has scheduled 60×60 minute programmes to transmit every Thursday, repeated every Saturday and Sunday. The programming is to be extensively promoted across the network’s 140 independent football sites.
Rivals.net has just posted an ABC Electronic certificate for January 2001 of 26.2 million page impressions from 610,219 unique users. Bravo is expected to deliver approximately 5.5 million TV viewers per month with bravo.co.uk expected to deliver an average of nine million pages impressions per month.
The Argentinean Clausura league is recognised as one of the most tightly contested on the planet with explosive Latin American action. Bravo has exclusive rights to games played by some of the world’s most renowned clubs
including Argentinos Juniors – the club where Diego Maradona first hit the headlines.
Chris Reed, Marketing Director for Rivals.net, said: ‘Argentinean football is arguably the most passionate on the planet. Viewers should instantly
relate to the creative treatments and the Goal of the Week competition. The deal is designed to raise awareness of the Rivals.net brand name and its ‘Powered by Passion’ proposition.’
Angus Mitchell, the Flextech Sponsorship Manager who signed the deal, said: ‘Rivals.net is an ideal partner for Argentinean Futbol and Bravo. Working with Rivals.net we have exploited the many marketing opportunities that
Bravo can offer both on- and off air.’
For further information contact:
Mark Terry on 020 8962 1300 and 0773 007 4358 or email mterry@rivals.net