Sponsorship Information 2022/ 23
Oxford University Rugby Football Club (OURFC) has a long and illustrious history of sporting distinction and remains one of the world’s leading and most renowned amateur rugby club.
Founded in 1869, some fifteen months before the foundation of the Rugby Football Union, the story of rugby in Oxford is nearly as old as that of Rugby itself. During this time, more than 300 Oxford players have gained representative international honours. Our legacy further includes historic fixturesfrom hosting the touring Wallabies in 2001 to the England U20s in 2022.
In May 2015, the Oxford University Women’s Rugby Football Club – OUWRFC – officially became part of OURFC to form one ‘University Rugby Club’ with both men’s and women’s teams.
OURFC strives to maintain sporting excellence, comprising of over 150 playing members split into six teams- the Men’s Blues, Greyhounds (2nd XV) and Whippets (3rd XV) and the Women’s Blues, Panthers (2nd XV) and Pumas (3rd XV).
This sponsorship deck is intended to guide readers on the direct impact their contributions make to the support and longevity of our club.
The women’s Blues and Panthers play regular weekly BUCS fixtures, whilst the men’s Blues, Greyhounds & Panthers have a thriving open fixture list playing international, select invitational and leading premiership ‘A’ league teams.
Since 1890, home fixtures have been played at our Iffley Road ground which has two large stands and a pavilion, boasting a capacity of over 2000 spectators.
Last season, the men’s Blues side hosted the England U20s at a sold-out Iffley Road as a warm-up match for their U20s Six Nations campaign.
We also work with local food and drink partners, such as Jericho Coffee Traders, to allow these partners to sell their produce at our games. With further opportunity to partner with local retailers.
OURFC athletes are just as successful off the field. In the last two years alone, members of both the men’s and women’s teams have been on the frontlines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic , ranging from laboratory work developing the COVID-19 Oxford/ Astra Zeneca vaccine to patient care in the ICU.
Members of OURFC have leveraged the same discipline instilled in our club culture in pursuing other passions, from journalism and photography to ultra-marathon running in the Sahara Desert.
OURFC is dedicated to outreach within the local Oxford community, and we are excited to host our inaugural Oxford Open 7s tournament for local state schools and rugby clubs in September. OURFC also supports charities such as Movember and many of the men’s side have donated their brains to CTE research in partnership with the Concussion Legacy Foundation
OURFC is independently managed and independently funded, and therefore actively seeks partnerships with corporate businesses to ensure the continued provision of rugby for all students.
OURFC is a club with a global reach. The annual Varsity Matches attract significant worldwide attention. For example, 33k viewers watched the Varsity Matches live in South & Pan Africa alone. Our social media channels reach thousands of accounts globally. Teams regularly tour abroad, with upcoming tours planned for Japan, South Africa and Ireland.
The club also has substantial national significance with deep ties to the local community. The Varsity Matches receive press coverage in major mainstream national newspapers. Historically we have a close working relationship with many local businesses, facilitated by large student and alumni turnout at fixtures.
OURFC is a club steeped in history, tradition and prestige. This affords a certain gravity to affiliation. Partnering with OURFC therefore affords the ideal opportunity for your firm to grow in local, national and international profile.
We can offer the opportunity for your company to have a physical presence at our fixtures via purchasing a perimeter board at the Iffley Road pitch, advertising in match programmes or sponsoring the matches themselves. Additionally, OURFC can utilise its online presence to promote your company, with packages arranged to suit the specific needs of your company.
“We were thrilled with the success of the sponsorship. The shots looked great, and drove engagement well.”
– Lee Bushell, owner of ALDO UK
Our sponsorship deal with ALDO was designed specifically to be the best fit for their business. As a fashionable shoe company, ALDO’s priority was promoting its brand awareness. They especially wanted to target the student community.
As such, following a meeting between ALDO and senior OURFC players, it was decided that the best approach to achieve ALDO’s unique goals was a photoshoot with OURFC player-students. The shoot took place within the beautiful grounds of Exeter college and outside the famous Radcliffe camera.
• Shared images of OURFC players modelling ALDO shoes on Instagram.
• Shared TikToks made in collaboration with ALDO on our TikTok handle.
• Players were given ALDO shoes to wear and act as ambassadors for the brand.
• Circulated a 15% ALDO discount code for University of Oxford students.
“I was most impressed with how flexible OURFC’s sponsorship approach was; they came up with a package that suited our needs as a business.”
Lee Bushell, Owner Aldo UK
Benefits:
- Direct links to Oxford’s graduates, businesses and alumni. Oxford students are renowned for being academically excellent and highly driven. We have enjoyed symbiotic recruitment uptake with sponsors, and we hope to emulate this for your firm.
- Online presence on the OURFC website, social media channels and mailing list.
- Access to OURFC historic pavilion as a conferencing facility.
- Free tickets to all OURFC home games.
- Priority access to England tickets for both Mens and Womens matches.
- Discounted parking in Central Oxford for company employees at Iffley Road
Package Benefits of Sponsorship Price
Principal Sponsor
Principle OURFC sponsor at Iffley Roads across all teams and front of shirt sponsor. POA
Club Partner
Priority club sponsor, visible sponsor on match day and training kit, including features detailed below as inclusive.
Major Stanley’s Sponsor Headline sponsor of the annual match.
Women in Sport Event Sponsor
Principal sponsor for the Women’s home fixture against Cambridge, preceded by a Women in Sport panel with guest speakers and all other female Blues teams invited.
Match Sponsor Advertisement at a sponsored fixture, recognized in match programme and hospitality in pavilion.
Blues player Sponsor Sponsorship of individual player, to be placed in the match programme and announced during point of scoring and pitch events.
Parameter
Advertising Board
Perimeter board with company logo. Price excludes initial production and installation charge.
£1500
£250
£600
Instagram: 4,578 followers, with an average of 8k impressions a week
Active Mailing list:
TikTok: 3,528 followers (with a total of 94k likes
Twitter: 3,081 followers
Facebook: 2,600 followers
If you have any further questions about partnering or sponsoring OURFC, please do not hesitate to contact our General Manager: Ian Kench