rlhttp://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/24345/heinz-big-soup-signs-uprl

Just for all the knockers of the RFL the second piece of the Sponsorship jigsaw

Another big sponsor in the can!

'The Heinz Big Soup and the Super League partnership is perfect, as both brands share the same values and appeal to the same type of consumers. '

What? Big and simple?

So another thing that the doubters failed to understand ... not only can the RFL sell things separately which were previously incorporated in the Engage package but also they can bundle in advertising space on the Stobart trucks.

This is slowly looking like becoming a deal of absolute genius. Nah, the RFL are morons... aren't they?

No you're wrong. The RFL are thick/incompetent/useless/bent* and can't organise a up in a brewery. Where's that Wigan fan who stated he could have negotiated a better deal despite knowing sod all about the deal or the particulars and criteria involved. Get him running the sport instead.

* delete as applicable to the level of paranoia/cynicism

Why is their sponsorship on hold until Easter? Last weekend I would have loved a free soup hand-out at half time!

That's just because they are waiting for the branded balls from Steeden.

And the soup hand outs will be happening. Been told that they will be doing it at the WCC

I rather like Big Soup. I hope they're going to sneak some in at Langtree Park on Friday night!

So the realisation may be slowly dawning that the dreadful/terrible/shameful/negligent piece of business by the inept/incompetent/useless/corrupt RFL may actually transpire to have been quite good after all? Which, strangely enough, seemed to be the conclusion of most of those people with any actual expertise in marketing whose comments I saw or heard.

It may take a while longer, but the realisation may eventually dawn that another recent and widely-derided piece of business by the RFL may, too, transpire to have been rather good?

So they're sponsoring the balls and the sleeves (I only noticed one sleeve on each shirt was sponsored, does that mean the Stobart SL logo will be on the other or is that space for another sponsor?) as well as advertising boards and they're on the trucks. That's some good exposure for a secondary sponsor.

Are the post pads sponsored yet? There's also the front of the referee's shirts. With the Elonex deal there's also opportunity for more sponsors on the boards to flash up as well.

What was the engage deal worth? I seem to remember £1.4m. Was that per year and included all of this?

One sleeve is for club sponsors; Magners sponsor the Wigan one.

Apparently Stobart don't want the post pads but that may be just a rumour

I'll do some digging on the ref's shirt - been told they were made to make only one shirt which was to be left unbranded whilst sponsorship talks rumbled on

Pity Ganson's slimmed down a bit these days, they could have sprayed a design onto the front of his shirt when they were doing the trucks.