Australian NRL rugby league club the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have signed Ultimate Security Australia as their new back-of-jersey sponsor, after two other partners ended their agreements amid the controversy surrounding the team.
The domestic, commercial and personal security services company has signed a three-year deal to support the Bulldogs following the furore caused by the club’s post-season celebrations last month. ‘Mad Monday’ saw the Bulldogs hit with a A$125,000 (€77,000/$89,000) fine from the league, while two players were charged with wilful and obscene exposure by New South Wales Police after they were photographed dancing naked on the balcony of a city pub.
The incident led to major sponsor Jaycar ending its 10-year association with the club, with shorts sponsor Wicked Sister Desserts also following suit. Ultimate Security will take up Jaycar’s positioning on the kit and chief executive Nassim Said stated he had no qualms in signing the deal.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper: “We discussed it with the management and we were very happy with the way they (the Bulldogs) handled it. We have a lot of faith and belief in the management moving forward, hence we associated our name with the Bulldogs. Now we want to take the business to a new level. We decided to join the Bulldogs and be part of a growing club. We believe it’s very good timing for us.”
Canterbury chief executive Andrew Hill added: “You’d prefer for what happened not to have happened and there’s a greater level of conversation that’s required (in securing sponsorships) – there’s no doubt about that – but I think, as the boys have said, the fact the NRL has reduced the fine by half is a sign we’ve managed it well and handled it well.
“We’ve had a number of partners talk to us. The difference with Ultimate is they were very decisive and they were really clear with what they wanted to do and how they wanted to partner with the club. It was about introducing a new business to the family and it was quite an easy decision.”