Lucerne, Switzerland – It is official: The Super League will start the 2012/13 season with a new Title Sponsor. Infront Ringier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland, the exclusive marketing partner of the Swiss Football League, has sealed a multi-year agreement with Raiffeisen (Switzerland) as Naming Partner and Main Sponsor. The new, dynamic Raiffeisen Super League logo was unveiled today at a press conference held at the swissporarena Lucerne.
Gabriele Burn, Board Member of the Raiffeisen Group, commented on the commitment: “Raiffeisen is actively engaged at various levels in Switzerland. This sponsorship helps us to fulfill our mission in a likeable, engaging way and to give the spectators of the games a unique experience. Our company is positioning itself for the long term in an emotional and inspiring environment.”
Claudius Schaefer, CEO of the Swiss Football League, added: “Football is the most popular sport in Switzerland and every season about two million fans support the ten clubs playing in the Super League. With the Raiffeisen Group, a strong Swiss brand has been secured, which fits this product perfectly due to its regional anchorage and the fact that it is already well known as a committed sponsor across the national sport landscape. On 14 July 2012 we will jointly start the first season of the Raiffeisen Super League - one target is to further strengthen our league and Swiss football both nationally and internationally.”
Armin Meier, Managing Director of InfrontRingier, said: “Both sides will benefit from the cooperation between Raiffeisen and the Swiss Football League. The league wins an established and reliable partner as well as a strong brand which will give additional strength to the profile of the competition. Raiffeisen as the new Title Sponsor is connected as closely as possible with the most popular league in Swiss sports and benefits from the high public attention. From now on the company will be mentioned in the same breath as top Swiss football and will therefore receive strong brand exposure across all types of media.”
The Raiffeisen Group has been involved as a sponsor in professional and amateur sports for several years, including partnerships with Swiss-Ski and with many athletes across winter and endurance sports. With its commitment to the Super League the company not only expands its sponsorship portfolio but – as Title Sponsor – also becomes the dominant brand partner of the premium platform in Swiss sport. In addition to the naming rights and integration into the official logo of the Super League, the Raiffeisen Group gets an extensive ticket contingent from which customers and employees of the Banking Group will also benefit. The over 1.7 million Raiffeisen members will have the opportunity to buy tickets for the Sunday games at half price. With this approach, Raiffeisen is likely to further support the ongoing spectator boom of the highest Swiss league.
Along with the Title Sponsorship InfrontRingier is also marketing five new sponsorship packages centrally over the entire Swiss Football League. The new top sponsors will – as advertising board partners of the SFL – benefit from a high advertising presence at every game - regardless of the club. The new partners will be announced shortly.
The Raiffeisen Group is the leading Swiss retail bank. As the third-largest bank in the Swiss banking sector it has 3.6 million clients, 1.7 million of whom are cooperative members and therefore co-owners of Raiffeisen bank. The Raiffeisen Group includes the 328 Raiffeisen banks with a cooperative structure and 1,098 branches. The legally autonomous Raiffeisen banks are amalgamated into the Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative, which is the strategic leader of the entire Raiffeisen Group. As of 31 December 2011, the Raiffeisen Group had CHF 146 billion in assets under management and CHF 136 billion in loans to clients. The Group’s market share amounts to in excess of 16% in the mortgage business and almost 20% in the savings market. The balance sheet total is CHF 156 billion.