The Sharks, the Durban-based Super Rugby franchise, has unveiled South African sports betting operator Hollywoodbets as a new associate sponsor.
The deal will run for three years, from 2020 to 2022.
Under the agreement, the Hollywoodbets logo will feature on the playing shorts of the team in Super Rugby, which features clubs from across the southern hemisphere, as well as on the back of the jersey for the Currie Cup domestic competition in South Africa.
Fans with season tickets will also be offered online betting credits, as well as special discounts at the betting operator’s Hollywood Bunny Bar in Durban.
Hollywoodbets has made a significant push into sports sponsorship over recent years, particularly in the Sharks’ home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Hollywoodbets has served as the title sponsor of the Dolphins, the Durban-based cricket franchise, since 2016. The operator’s existing three-year deal with the Dolphins will run until the end of the 2019-20 season.
In rugby, since 2018 Hollywoodbets has been the title sponsor of the Murray Cup knockout competition under a deal with the KwaZulu-Natal Rugby Union, and the operator has also sponsored the Phaka Rugby Show on pay-television broadcaster Supersport since February.
Additionally, the company was a sponsor of the 2019 Cosafa Cup football tournament in Durban, and this year the operator has committed to multi-year naming-rights agreements for the Greyville and Scottsville racecourses, as well as the Kingsmead Cricket Ground. All three venues are in KwaZulu-Natal.
“As with any of our sport sponsorships, our roots began at community level, sponsoring the oldest club competition in the world, the Hollywoodbets Murray Cup, and progressing further with our team sponsorships via the Phaka Rugby Show on SuperSport,” Hollywoodbets’ brand and communications manager, Devin Heffer, said. “To take that next step to franchise level is another hugely exciting step in our rugby sponsorship journey.”
