Virgin Media and Southampton Football Club announce new three-year sponsorship deal

• New three-year agreement until the end of the 2021/22 season

• Virgin Media to be sleeve sponsor of the first team shirt from the start of next season
• It will become the first ever main shirt sponsor of Southampton’s Women’s team
• Southampton supporters will remain at the heart of the partnership with a range of rewards and initiatives as part of Virgin Media’s ‘Super Saints’ campaign

Virgin Media has today announced that it has renewed its sponsorship of Southampton Football Club until the end of the 2021/22 season.

From next season, Virgin Media will be the sleeve sponsor of the first team shirt. It will also appear on the sleeve of Southampton’s under 18 and 23 men’s sides.

Virgin Media ventures into women’s football

As an extension to its sponsorship, Virgin Media will proudly become the first ever shirt sponsor of Southampton’s Women’s team. Its logo will appear on the front of the shirt from the start of next season.

The side has just completed its second full season in the national women’s football pyramid - winning the Southern Region Women’s Football League Premier Division without dropping a point all season. Virgin Media will work to raise further awareness of the team at a local and national level through a range of initiatives.

The ultrafast broadband, TV and mobile provider first became the sponsor of Southampton Football Club at the beginning of the 2016/17 season. This new three-year deal will mark more than half a decade of partnership between Virgin Media and Southampton.

Rewarding ‘Super Saints’

A major pillar of Virgin Media’s sponsorship of the club over the past three years has been rewarding the dedicated and loyal support of Saints fans.

The recently launched ‘Super Saints’ campaign will continue this activity by recognising Saints supporters with a range of money-can’t-buy experiences as well as unique fan competitions and exclusive behind the scenes content

Chris Collinson, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, said:

“By extending our sponsorship of Southampton Football Club, we’re continuing our incredible partnership with the Saints and building on the great work over the past three years.

“We’re really excited about the new deal with the inclusion of the under 18 and 23 men’s sides as well as becoming the first ever sponsor of Southampton’s hugely impressive women’s team. The squad is going from strength to strength and we can’t wait to support this team of inspiring female footballers.

“We’ve been blown away by the passion of Southampton supporters. Our recently launched Super Saints campaign will continue to be a cornerstone of our sponsorship as we rightly reward fans for their continued dedication and support.”

David Thomas, Commercial Director at Southampton Football Club, said:

“Over the past three years Virgin Media have consistently demonstrated a desire to challenge the conventions of traditional sports sponsorship by supporting our first team and rewarding our fans in new, exciting and innovative ways. As such, they are true partners of the club and we’re delighted to be extending our relationship for a further three years and expanding their support with more of our teams.”

Marieanne Spacey-Cale, Southampton's Head of Girls’ and Women’s Football, commented:

"It’s fantastic that such a prestigious brand as Virgin Media has decided to make this commitment to the Women’s team. To have their support on this exciting journey of ours is wonderful and, after a successful season, we look forward to taking on the 2019/20 campaign with them proudly being displayed on the front of our match shirts.”

For more information on Super Saints, visit virginmedia.com/supersaints or Virgin Media’s Twitter or Facebook pages.

ENDS

For all Virgin Media press enquiries please contact;

jamie.clarke@virginmedia.co.uk  / 0333 000 2984 @VirginMediaCorp

About Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.

Our dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely-available broadband speeds to homes and businesses and we’re expanding this through our Project Lightning programme, which could extend our network to up to 17 million premises.

Our interactive TV service brings live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games to customers through a set-top box, as well as on-the-go through tablets and smartphones.

Virgin Mobile launched the world’s first virtual mobile network and offers fantastic value and innovative services with 4G connectivity. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.

Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company. Liberty Global connects 21 million customers through operations in 10 countries across Europe subscribing to 45 million TV, broadband internet and telephony services. It also serves 6 million mobile subscribers.