Six Nations sponsor announcement looms
November 27, 2002

A new sponsor for the Six Nations championship is set to be unveiled.

Lloyds TSB paid around £30million to sponsor the championship over the last five years, before deciding not to continue at the end of last season, and it is believed the new deal will not match that.

Negotiations for a new television contract were only concluded with the BBC two months ago and that meant the search for new sponsors had to be delayed.

But, with time running out ahead of the 2003 tournament which begins on February 15, John Feehan, the Six Nations commercial director, has now reached a deal with a new sponsor although it still needs to be ratified.

He told the Guardian, "It is a deal that I am happy with and I hope to put it before the committee by the end of the week."

The Committee chairman Jacques Laurans has previously insisted that a deal had to be done by November 5 stating, "We need an answer by then. We are very unfortunate because of the recession, but we are not going to stay with empty pockets."

The committee is understood to be seeking £9-10 million a year to fill the void but Laurans' statement suggested their may be some room for manoeuvre.

The Six Nations have held talks with Peugeot, the French carmaker who already back the Parker Pen Cup, and Orange, the telecommunications giant, who are understood to have now set their sights on succeeding Heineken by sponsoring the European Cup for £28 million over the next four years.

The favourite now appears to be the Royal Bank of Scotland/National Westminster.

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