Skoda Ireland today announced that it is the new GAA sponsor of Tipperary. The three year sponsorship agreement which begins following the 2011 National Leagues will see Skoda Ireland invest approx €200,000 into the Premier County per annum. As part of this sponsorship agreement, Skoda and Tipperary GAA officially unveiled the new 2011 Jersey at Croke Park on Tuesday 19th April.
All Ireland Hurling Champions Eoin Kelly, Brendan Cummins, Padraic Maher and Conor O’Mahony were on hand to showcase the new strip and discuss Tipperary hurlers prospects of defending their All Ireland crowns as the 2011 championship season approaches.
New Tipperary hurling manager Declan Ryan, Tipperary GAA County Board Chairman Barry O’Brien, County Secretary Tim Floyd and Raymond Leddy, Marketing Manager, Skoda Ireland as well as Paul Fitzgerald, George Hannigan, Brian Mulvihill and Hugh Coghlan from the Tipperary Senior Football team alongside manager John Evans were also in attendance.
Three Year Deal
The full sponsorship of Tipperary GAA covers both the hurling and football codes and includes all grades from minor to senior inter-county teams over the next three years. As part of the sponsorship agreement, the new look Tipperary jersey was unveiled displaying the Skoda brand name.
Commenting on the sponsorship agreement, Barry O’Brien, Tipperary County Board Chairman said, “Tipperary County Board is delighted to be able to announce this sponsorship deal with Skoda Ireland. An innovative and challenging car marque Skoda will bring a new dynamic to the promotion of Tipperary GAA both within and outside of the county. The Skoda brand name will adorn all our county jerseys from minor to senior in both Hurling and Football. We are looking forward to working with our new partners and we have no doubt that our clubs and supporters will fully support Skoda and their fantastic model range.”
Marketing Manager, Ray Leddy of Skoda Ireland detailed Skoda’s excitement at getting behind the reigning All Ireland Senior and U21 Hurling champions, “The opportunity to become the sponsorship partner with Tipperary GAA was simply too good to turn down. A powerhouse in hurling, Tipperary teams have always played with a style and passion that can be appreciated by all sports fans. We see tremendous potential in the current Tipperary teams, including the footballers who have been building solid foundations at U21 level over the last number of years.”
Leddy continued, “Skoda has also been building over the last number of years and since our launch in 1993 we have become a feature amongst motorists throughout Ireland. Like Tipperary we too have ambitious plans and we aim to become a Top 5 best-selling car brand in Ireland by 2016. We already achieved a record 5.6% market share in 2010 and with our network of 19 retailers employing 200 people across Ireland we are ready to push on into 2011 reinforced by our new Skoda logo and corporate design which we launched in March.”