Vodafone Ireland is delighted with the announcement today that it will be a sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland Championship for the next three years. This is Vodafone's largest ever sponsorship commitment in the Irish market and it is estimated that the company's investment in Gaelic Football and the GAA over the term of the agreement will reach €12 million.
Vodafone first became involved with the GAA in 1997 when it became sponsor of the annual All Stars awards and the Player of the Month awards. Vodafone, in conjunction with the GAA, re-introduced the annual All Stars tours which brought the elite footballers and hurlers all over the world to destinations such as Dubai, Buenos Aires, San Diego, Arizona, Las Vegas, Singapore, Hong Kong and New York.
During that period Vodafone invested more than €20 million in Gaelic Games through the monthly awards, the All Stars banquet, the annual tours and the associated promotional and marketing activities. A substantial part of the €12 million to be invested in the All-Ireland Championship will be directed towards enhancing the already very attractive product that is the championship and the players.
Over the coming months players and supporters will become aware of a series of dramatic innovations that are being introduced by Vodafone to support Gaelic football and the All-Ireland championships, which will include exciting new features on mobile content.
Vodafone Ireland's Consumer Director, Carolan Lennon said everyone in the company was excited about the three years ahead. “There is a very strong connection today between Gaelic games and Vodafone that has been developed since we first became involved in 1997. It has been our desire in recent years to increase our investment and strengthen that connection and we are delighted that the All Ireland Championship gives us this opportunity.
"The GAA Football All-Ireland Championship is the greatest sports event on the Irish calendar. It has great vibrancy and generates the sort of passion that we want to be associated with and that we want to support. We think today's announcement is an excellent deal for the GAA and a great asset for Vodafone," she added.
Vodafone celebrated today’s announcement with the three Ó’Sé brothers from Kerry, Darragh, Tomás and Marc, who will be part of the team that will be attempting to win the All-Ireland title for the third consecutive year, a feat not achieved since the famous Kerry team of the 1980s, which included their Uncle Páidí, won all three titles between 1984 and 1986.
Welcoming the announcement Darragh Ó’Sé commented; "Tomás, Marc and I have been very fortunate in our careers with Kerry to be honoured as Vodafone All Stars. It is great news that Vodafone will now be extending their commitment to Gaelic football because they have always been very supportive of the players and have shown great vision in the manner in which they have promoted Gaelic games."