The royal mint - unless it's done in China these days...

I see we have already got the usual jealous idiots from our rival clubs spouting nonsense....

As for the Panorama program someone mentioned, there is a point by point rebuttal on the Provident web site. Just because something is on a TV program doesn't make it so.

Anyway, moving onwards, this is fantastic news for the club and for the city as a whole. And it sounds like there will be more sponsorship deals announced soon as well. From where we 6 months ago, everything is now on the up

Happy days

What a stupid post! That's like me saying 'The RFU should be ashamed of themselves because they are sponsored by an alcoholic drink which destroys families'

Typical RL fans! We get some much needed cash pumped into the sport and people start taking the moral high ground.

Yes, I do believe it is. I don't think bookies and breweries deliberately target the most vulnerable members of society to make a fast buck.
rlHere's some further readingrl.

Well done to the new board for confirming this deal. That sort of money coming into the club after the last year is an incredible boost.

Who cares how big the sponsor is, at least we have a club!

Why is it stupid? Where do you draw the line? If Leeds rock up in a Jimmy Saville shirt next year, would you have an opinion?

As I said in my first post, I give massive praise to the club for pulling off the deal. I believe (based on my brief conversations with Simon at the volunteers meeting) that the Bulls be will engaging in the kind of community projects which will allow this money to right some of Provident's wrongs. I'd rather the money was in the club's pockets than Provident's (or Wonga, or CashConverters or the loan shark at the local pub.) None of this stops me having a social conscious or wishing that we'd been able to pull off the same deal with a company that doesn't profit at the expense of the vulnerable.

Seems a very good deal for the Bulls, the new board seem to be making the right noises since coming in. Was surprised the Bulls still own the rights to name the stadium though.

Nice shirt, shame about the type of sponsor. The money coming into the club is good but I'm not exactly comfortable with where it comes from. I won't be buying one this time around.

Why wouldn't we?. We were allowed to under the terms of the lease when we had it directly with the council. Afaik the only terms that changed when the RFL took on the head lease and we sub leased from them was the amount of rent payable.

Presumably aspire city gate?. The new development on Manchester road. So another sponsor new to the club.

Any news on a release date for the shirt?

rlhttps://www.providentfinancial.com/index.asp?pageid

Have you read the rebuttal? It makes very clear what their official company policy is, without ever going into any detail about how they ensure that the policy is carried out. As such, it fails in any way to actually rebut the content of the Panorama programme.

I work for a morally questionable organisation, so I'm not going to get on my high horse about it, but I can't say I'm massively comfortable with our new sponsor either.

By the way, I don't know if it's coincidental, but the banner adverts on this site keep being for shopacheck and the like...

I really don't get all the anomosity towards the sponsors. They provide a service and people have a free choice to make the decison.

Having personally used these type of services I feel very annoyed that some on here would stereotype me as being vunerable. I knew what I was doing so why the hell should you and all the other do gooders tell me i'm wrong to make that choice.

Even more so to suggest that the simple transaction of a loan should be wrong. Have you never needed to borrow money at short notice? If you haven't you're very lucky my friend but do for god sake take some time out to actually compare the practice of pay day loans with more historical loans companies and perhaps reconsider your moral standings from that point onwards.

I also would be very interested to know if Simon would agree with you in your comments about his supposed feelings towards the institution that has just agreed to pump in over a million pounds of investment???

As for the Jimmy Savile comment... just shows how utterly shot your moral compass is to compare the practices of such a sicko with a perfectly legitimate business.

Morals are for those people who can afford them.

If I gave you £50 you would take it.

If I gave you £50 and told you I had fleeced it from an old lady you would feel bad

If that £50 allows you're family to eat tonight then the ends justify the means.

If you found a suitcase with £1million in it and a phone would you take it, or call the owner??
If you found a suitcase with £10 in it and a phone would you take it or call the owner??

In the end if they are paying the money, and they wanted the players to tatoo the sponsor onto their calves, then if the money is worth the pain you do it.

If you want morals then don't get involved in finance!

Stop depositing money in banks, stop having a pension, stop buying food in shops like tesco's, asda, sainsbury's, waitrose ( who all invest in the stock market, invest in multiple companies and will if you follow the money probably invest somewhere in a company that invests in a company that sells fresh air to people)

ps it's a good deal

Pity the RFL turned down Betfair