Eagles ditch fast food brand for new major sponsor

05 April 2011 | Posted in Sponsorship, Australian rules football | By Tom Love

Australian rules football team West Coast Eagles has announced Bankwest as a new major sponsor in a lucrative multi-year deal

The four-year agreement, widely reported to be worth US$1.3 million annually, sees the bank take over from long-term sponsor Hungry Jack's, who have been with the Perth-based AFL club since the team's inception in 1987.

Under terms of the deal, Bankwest will initially join the club as a premier partner for the duration of the 2011 AFL season before expanding its involvement in 2012, replacing Hungry Jack's on the on the upper chest of the Eagles' playing jerseys following the expiry of the fast food brand's 25-year partnership.

"Bankwest has been part of the Western Australian community for over a century and the West Coast Eagles is arguably the biggest sporting brand in the state, so there's a definite synergy between the two organisations," said Eagles chief executive, Trevor Nisbett.

Regarding Hungry Jack's 25-year support of the club, Nisbett added, "Hungry Jack's will be stepping down and it's not something we took lightly. We're hopeful that we can negotiate with Hungry Jack's in the near future and for them to continue as a sponsor."

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Jon Sutton, Bankwest managing director, said, "It's fantastic that we have been able to bring together two of the West's best known brands and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with the West Coast Eagles."

The West Coast Eagles finished bottom of the 2010 AFL ladder, winning just four games in the entire season.