Just announced that a company that no-one has ever heard of (and those that have wished they hadn't!) have secured sponsorship of Super League for 3 years. I can't find any details of how much (if any) money is involved. There is an announcement on their own website but no details and an announcement on the Super League site but again no figures.

First Utility has a market share of less than 1%.

Yet more evidence of the incompetence of those running the game. Will First Utility even be in existence in 3 years time?

Can anyone else find out the details of the deal?

On the TotalRL forum they link to the Sun which says the deal is for £750k a year.

www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

www.wiganwarriors.com/WContent.a ... &type=news

Alternate view:

the largest energy outside the big 6, and the largest energy company to not run it's own power stations ...

Will they be around in 3 years? Yes, they are in part owned by investment bank Morgan Stanley - they're not known for getting things wrong.

No figures have been announced (shocking for a business deal) the rumour is the value is around 750k - how much of that is cash and how much is sign on payments is a current matter of debate. I doubt the details will ever be fully known (again why would they?)

Are you serious???

In 2008 they lost $300 million in one day
They lost 80% of their market value
They had to borrow $107 Billion (more than any otheer bank)

Surprised you've never heard of them, I certainly had. At least money is changing hands this time!

£750,000 is the sponsorship equivalent of loose change down the back of the couch. Even if you whack that out 14 ways (which it won't be) you get just over £50,000 a share. Genius bit of negotiation.

And have total assets of $347Billion ... Are a shell for j.p.morgan to move various things around and are one of the top financial services teams in the world. Honestly, they aren't going anywhere.

They seem ambitious, instead of speculating wether they will still be here in 3 years time why not speculate that they may grow over those 3 years and hope that the sponsorship deal grows with it?

Honestly i have had heard of them and i don't even live in the uk. In a time where people are shopping and spending more time looking for energy providers rather than just going for the most convenient. They was on every major news provider less than 3 months ago.

Maybe that could of helped the RFL to get a proper administrator to control the Franchising applications. I don't agree with any sponsorship money given to clubs it should go into projects to help the game grow and fund events.

Of course they are ambitious. So were Celtic Crusaders.

And you think £750,00 is a good deal? Really?

Given that there was no sponsor last year and the sponsor didn't pay us anything the year before, do you really think we were in much of a position to negotiate? Engage presumably didn't find their £1.2m deal to be very profitable or they would surely have carried on.

We are talking about a company that has got the backing of JP Morgan some how i don't think there business plan is wrote on the back of a fag packet.

750k no but then again we aren't in a position to moan and complain about every sponsorship deal. the other way to look at is the RFL has just found a company to commit 2.2million to super league.

FU Superleague.

So that will make us the reigning FU Champions. I like it.

Pity the £10m a year negotiations with Apple broke down.

To put "the largest energy outside the big 6" into context they have about 120,000 seemingly unhappy customers.

A quick Google will show you what their customers think of them.

They also came out with this classic earlier in the month:

[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/energy-firm-first-utility-suggests-clients-give-up-tea-and-shower-with-other-people-to-cut-costs-9037956.htmlAn energy company that raised its bills by 18 per cent last year has told its customers to cut their gas and electricity costs by giving up tea, showering with other people, going to bed early and playing Monopoly.[/url



Not announcing how much you are being sponsored for[i is[/i shocking for a sponsorship deal. It's not a business deal but a sponsorship and if we has secured ££££millions they would be shouting it from the rooftops. You have to ask why the secrecy?

However poor customer service and idiotic statements like that don't concern me as I am not one of their customers.

What does is, is things like will they still be around in three years and how much cash can they inject?

Probably will be around in three years assuming all those unhappy customers do not desert them and despite having the incompetent Morgan Stanley as their investment bankers.



So how much cash they can inject and how does that compare to the sponsorship of other major sports are the key questions.

They are rumoured to be giving SL £750K a season which is a pretty small amount of money IMO. It may be a lot for a company of their size but it isn't that much.

So all in all better than the Stobart deal and better than no sponsor at all but not brilliant.

much better than the Stobart deal anyhow

It's an improvement on nowt!

If ever evidence was needed to support the claim that "there is just no pleasing some people," then the general response to today's news is most definitely the answer.

Can't complain. As usual the RFL are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

If they are putting money into the pot then it's all good. The RFL's stupidity in giving it to stobart for free means they don't really have much room to negotiate so to get anything at all is progress. All we can do now is hope that the deal works out for both sides and increases the value of the sponsorship in the future.

I disagree.

If you read the posts on this thread carefully then the majority support your view.

I'm not happy because I think the game has been sold short - yet again. But I think that I'm in a minority on this.

No i do agree with you but at the same time i think some including me are just happy we finally have a main sponsor and a building block to work on. Still much rather the chairmen of super league be in control of the commercial side as they have all had successful business.

I think we [ihave [/ibeen sold short, but the issue is (yet again) with the RFL completely screwing it up for the last couple of years & thus having no starting point for negotiation. We never will, but I'd like to see who else was in the running & what the tender conditions were.

As the RFL have said themselves, they're useless at looking at more than one thing at a time, let's just put a tick in that box & move on (I for one am looking forward to the 7th - although the drive up to the Lake District is looking a bit soggy for Sunday).

It's a positive step in the right direction. It gives us a foundation on which to progress and much needed financial input.

The 3 year term should take us to the cusp of the next World Cup, which MUST be in the UK again, this will give us a platform on which to progress again.

Obviously we wanted more money and more exposure, but you have to be realistic, after years of neglect we seem to be getting our act together.

I sometimes wonder if a major aspect of the sport being held back is through the negativity of its audience.

As a businessman I strongly believe in pomposity, the negativity that constantly surrounds our game no matter what happens I feel contributes massively to the lethargy that often surrounds the sport.

I wasn't just referring to this thread, hence the term "general response."

I've read comments on various forums on this site, redvee and also Facebook and I've found the majority of those comments have been negative.

I'm of the opinion that whilst it's not ground-breaking or earth-shattering news, it is a start and it is an improvement on the last 2 years.

Anyone remember how much Norweb paid to sponsor Wigan back in the day?

Be interesting to know how much an electricity company paid to sponsor a team compared to how much FU are paying for the entire SL today.