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Thursday, 21 May 2009

LG dumps Cronulla Sharks

LG Electronics issued the following press release today, announcing they will not be renewing their sponsorship of NRL team the Cronulla Sharks:

LG Electronics Australia (LG) today advised the Cronulla Sharks that it would not be renewing its sponsorship after this season.

LG has been a sponsor of the Sharks for the past nine years and the deal was always due to end in 2009.

“We have had a successful association with rugby league and the Sharks but we no longer see the benefits of an ongoing sponsorship given the evolution of our brand. This deal was due to finish this year and we will not be renewing it”, said Marketing Director for LG Electronics David Brand.

“While the recent controversies around the NRL, and the Sharks in particular, were certainly a significant element in our decision we also considered the direction of our company and where we want to take the LG brand”.

LG will not be making any further comment on this issue.

2 Comments

  1. backchatme
    Posted Thursday, 21 May 2009 at 6:51 pm | Permalink

    Cronulla is likely to become a case study in sports business administration courses. The principal point will be that this is what happens when you fail to reform and you fail to heed changing community mores.

    Why hasn’t the CEO (Zappia) resigned yet?

  2. Joal
    Posted Thursday, 21 May 2009 at 8:42 pm | Permalink

    I heard Guy Rundle comment on this on ABC radio tonight, and it was spot on. This would not have been a tough call under even normal circumstances, but under the current economic conditions it wouldn’t have taken them 5 minutes.