Charity hits the jackpot with Wigan sponsorship
Disabled children’s charity Whizz-Kidz has hit the jackpot and is sponsoring rugby league’s Wigan Warriors for its match against the Catalan Dragons.
However, the charity isn’t paying for the privilege, and instead is benefiting from MeccaBingo.com, the club’s current sponsor, which has donated the shirt sponsorship to Whizz-Kidz – Mecca Bingo’s official charity partner.
As part of the ongoing ‘Mecca Wheel Difference’ campaign, Mecca clubs across the UK raised over £286,000 in 2008.
In addition to the publicity gained from the sponsorship, the shirts will be auctioned after the match and will be snapped up by die hard fans as rare and limited edition items.
There will only be 40 shirts produced meaning that demand for the shirts will be high.
The shirts will be auctioned off via the club website, eBay and other fundraising channels, details of which will be announced over the coming days.
Under French advertising legislation, gaming brands such as MeccaBingo.com are prohibited from advertising. The decision was taken not to resell the shirt sponsorship for the match and instead donate the opportunity to a charity.
Matt Cook, sponsorship manager for MeccaBingo.com, said: “Whizz-Kidz is a great organisation and, when the opportunity arose, we jumped at the chance to help our charity partner. The charity is all about giving disabled children the chance to lead a more independent life through equipment such as powered wheelchairs, training, and work placements. Hopefully the sponsorship will aid the organisation’s fundraising.”
Mick Hogan, Chief Executive of Wigan Warriors, added: “We are delighted that we can promote the Whizz-Kidz charity on our shirts for Monday’s game at Catalans Dragons. The charity does some wonderful work and the Whizz-Kidz name will be seen by a big television audience as the game is being shown live on Sky Sports. It is a great idea and money will also be raised by the auctioning of these one off shirts.”
Pic: Sean O'Loughlin, club captain and Mick Hogan, chief executive of Wigan Warriors