Opportunity proposal to develop the professional cricket game in Ireland. The proposal sets out the terms of the opportunity and the partnership approach to developing the brand of Northern Knights Cricket, Junior Knights and Fantasy Premier League cricket.

1. Northern Cricket Union
Northern Knights
incorporating Junior Knights
Brand & Image Sponsorship proposal

2. Contents
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Executive Summary
Introducing Cricket in the Northern Cricket Union
Vision & Objectives for Representative Cricket
Target Audience
Marketing plan
Sponsorship and marketing opportunity
PR and Media exposure
Brand maturity and image association
Summary

3. Executive Summary
Background
Cricket in Ireland is booming. The success of the Ireland team in competing in World Cups, ICC Trophy’s etc. has made cricket in Ireland one
of the fastest growing sports in the country.
The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) is one of two bodies that manages cricket in Northern Ireland. Its remit spans the counties of Down,
Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone & Fermanagh. It is the governing body and official administrator of the game locally. Currently there are 104 teams
affiliated with the NCU which facilitates in excess of 2,500 people playing the game on a weekly basis.
Proposal
The Northern Knights are the semi-professional team that plays in the inter provincial championship against North West Warriors and Leinster
Lightening in 3 formats of the game.
The proposal is for sponsorship of this team and the Junior Knights age group representative teams to develop the talent in the province. It is
an opportunity for brand attachment, media exposure, targeted audience specifics and an association with a premier sport in Northern
Ireland.
The proposal is for a 3 year term.
The Commercials
Gold Sponsorship - Brand association with media value £50,000, front of shirt brand placement, player accessibility, corporate advertising,
digital and social media, exposure, national press sponsorship with News Letter or Belfast Telegraph,
corporate hospitality options at all home games and brand association with a
quick adopting audience
£7,000 per annum
Sliver Sponsorship
Back of shirt brand placement, corporate hospitality options at all home games,
social and digital media exposure and brand association with a
quick adopting audience
£4,000 per annum
Bronze Sponsorship
Sleeve and collar brand placement, corporate hospitality options at all home games
social and digital media exposure and brand association with a
quick adopting audience
£2,000 per annum

4. Introduction Cricket in the Northern Cricket Union
The Facts
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104 Senior teams through 12 leagues and a mid week XI T20 competition
The Premier League has 8 teams participating with promotion and
relegation through additional 3 sub-leagues.
13 cups in NCU Senior cricket with inclusion in Irish Senior Cup and Irish
National cup. This includes T20 competitions and 50 Over competitions.
In total there are 1,500 people playing cricket on a given weekend in the
NCU during the months of April through to September
Junior cricket leagues at U17, U15, U13 & U11 age groups with many
teams fielding more than one team.
In total nearly 1,000 underage players attend clubs on a weekly basis to
learn, coach and play cricket.
49 schools affiliated with the Northern Cricket Union of which there are
competitions and cups at every age group from U11 through to 1st XI.
In addition, there is a growing number of girls teams playing cricket and
the NCU players contribute increasingly to the Irish Women's Cricket
team.
The NCU Twitter account has over 1000 followers with nearly 400
following NCU Northern Knights account

5. Vision & Objectives for Representative Cricket
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Professional senior cricket team to
compete in the inter-provincial T20, 50
over and 3-day matches
Development of key talents at junior
levels to include the building of brand
called “Junior Northern Knights” at U13,
U15 and U17 levels
Achieve success at National level with Irish
internationals being selected from the
Northern Knights and the Junior Knights
Increase the exposure of junior cricketers
to the best coaching and management
available from the NCU or outside
Develop and monitor the talent in these
age groups to provide the best
opportunity to provide full Irish
Internationals
Support Cricket Ireland in their quest to
attain Test status from the International
Cricket Board in the next 5 – 8 years.

6. Brand Marketing Opportunity
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Premier League fantasy league cricket in association with the Belfast
Telegraph and/or the Newsletter
Weekly double spread updates on the weekends play in local regional
newspapers and the Belfast Telegraph and/or Newsletter to include
sponsors logo
Image representation on all social, print and digital media to drive
awareness to readership, including click through and search
advertising on northern knights online.
Headline banner on website for information relating to matches,
news, player profiles etc.
Key sponsor boards at representative level for all Junior and Senior
inter provincial matches
Corporate Hospitality discounted rates and guaranteed
accommodation at Ireland games with TV and ATL (Above the Line)
drip nationally
Logo placement on front of all shirts and representative equipment
(Front, Left sleeve, Right sleeve, back of shirt, collar front and collar
back are available)
Photo calls and press opportunities with players subject to availability
Sponsorship of top 5 players in league with key PR opportunities
locally.

7. Target Audience
Cricket is one of the few sports that brings together
communities, villages, counties, schools and families
With players in the NCU now playing in their 50’s the range
of target audience spans the whole spectrum of age groups
There is an opportunity to use the target audience to
develop a brand association in the business to consumer
market as well as the traditional business to business
market.
Cricket in NCU receives very good coverage in the printed
media with extensive dedicated articles weekly in Belfast
Telegraph, Newsletter and Sunday Life as well as nearly all
the provincial weeklies.
Coverage on other media such as BBC and UTV is patchy but,
generally with the benefit of personal contacts, publicity has
been generated both on radio and TV. This is an area that
we intend to work on in the incoming season.

8. PR & Media Exposure
Reporting on cricket in the Belfast
Telegraph is provided by Ian Callender and
a Cricket review section is provided in the
paper every Tuesday during the season.
Reporting on the Premier League,
Northern Knights and Ireland international
performances takes centre stage.
There is also an extensive and up to date
online cricket reporting page with the
Belfast Telegraph all year round.
Facts about the Belfast Telegraph
readership:
Reporting on cricket in the Newsletter is provided
by David Holmes and Alistair Bushe and is
contributed to across all their regional
newspapers. Every Monday there is cricket double
spread in the sports section with reporting on
Northern Knights, Cup draws, Premier league
fixtures/results and Irish international matches
Other coverage from

9. Sponsorship Packages
Gold
Silver
Bronze
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5.
Front of shirt logo
placement on whites and
one day kit, including
training gear
Sponsorship of national
Fantasy Cricket League in
local press
Digital and social media
support for promoting
dual brand awareness
including banner
headings etc.
Advertising boarding at
all NCU Northern Knights
home games as
appropriate
Reference media value
with possibility of name
change to incorporate
the brand
£7,00 per annum
2.
3.
Back of shirt logo
placement on whites
and one day kit,
including training
gear
Digital and social
media support for
promoting dual
brand awareness
including banner
headings etc.
Advertising boarding
at all NCU Northern
Knights home games
as appropriate
£4,000 per annum
2.
Sleeve of shirt
logo placement
on whites and
one day kit,
including
training gear
Digital and
social media
support for
promoting dual
brand
awareness
including
banner
headings etc
£2,000 per
annum

10. Example of
Shirt sponsor
opportunities

11. Summary
The Northern Knights are the pinnacle of Northern Cricket Union participation. A semi
professional team that play 11 matches a season against other provincial teams in
Ireland in all forms of the game.
The opportunity exists to support the game of cricket from senior level down to junior
representative level and at the same time promote and associate a brand with the
fastest growing sport in Ireland.
The proposal is for a cricketing brand to be developed in partnership with a number of
commercial brands, with merchandising opportunities and media exposure to ensure
the continual development of cricket in the region.
The measurement of success connects junior cricket
and senior cricket with players, where a path way for progression can be achieved.
The sponsorship of the cricketing brand will facilitate the development
and vision of a professional cricket environment with continuous
increase in popularity, and offering a commercial opportunity
for a growing business.

12. THANK YOU