Four-year sponsorship deal for BT and Scottish Rugby

Scottish Rugby has secured a long-term, multi-million pounds deal with BT. The four-year partnership sees BT: secure the naming rights for Murrayfield Stadium, which becomes BT Murrayfield Stadium; become sponsor of the Scotland 7s side from the outset of the 2014-15 HSBC Sevens World Series; become principal and exclusive sponsor of Scotland’s domestic league and cup competitions from next season; and become sponsor of Scottish Rugby’s four new academies.

“This is a momentous day for Scottish Rugby,” declared the union’s chief executive Mark Dodson. “We are very proud to bring BT back into our family of sponsors on a size and scale that is unprecedented both for Scottish Rugby and, we believe, Scottish sport.

“While the headlines may be dominated by the naming rights of the stadium, today’s announcement underlines BT’s alignment to our own values and goals, particularly that rugby clubs are the heart and soul of their communities that offer a welcome to all, young and old, boys and girls, men and women.

“This new funding underlines our desire to deliver more opportunities for young people to take up our game and broaden the reach of rugby across Scotland.

“We will invest the monies that we receive from BT alongside the revenues that come from our other partners to continue our plan to grow the game of rugby throughout Scotland and deliver against our strategic plan and our recent policy paper initiatives, in particular the establishment of a robust academy structure and to enhance the standard of club rugby.”

John Petter, chief executive, BT Consumer, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing this partnership today, furthering the relationship between BT Sport and Scottish Rugby’s pro-clubs, to support and grow the game in Scotland.”

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: “BT is at the heart of Scotland providing communications for the nation and rolling out fibre broadband and we are delighted to be further extending our partnership with Scottish Rugby which sits at the heart of communities across Scotland.  The growth and scale of this partnership demonstrates our commitment to Scottish Rugby.

“BT will build on this partnership to expand its support for communities across Scotland, with the roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband making a real difference – particularly in rural areas; we’ll see sport and technology working hand-in-hand.”

BT joins Scottish Rugby’s official partners RBS, Macron, Caledonia Best, Ginger Grouse, Guinness, Dove Men +Care, Spire healthcare, Sportscotland, Cashback for Communities, Peter Vardy and viagogo.