Barclays Premier League sponsorship under review

Barclays%20Premier%20LeagueBarclays has launched a group-wide review of its global sponsorships, in a move that could see the financial giant scrap its £65m FA Premier League deal.

Speaking exclusively to Marketing Week, Libby Chambers, Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Banking chief marketing officer, says the Premier League sponsorship is “very much” part of the overall review. The current deal runs until May 2010.

Chambers says that it has done a “great job” of raising the global profile of Barclays, but every sponsorship property would be looked at during 2009.

She adds: “There will be a thorough review of our sponsorships to make sure that we are getting a strong return on investment across the board.”

Those sponsorship properties that are not deemed to meet return on investment criteria are expected to be axed at the end of the contract.

Barclays sponsors a number of events, including the Scottish Open and Singapore Open championships in golf, the Barclays Churchill Cup in rugby union and the Barclays Dubai Tennis Tournament.

Earlier this year, it signed a £17.5m five-year deal with the ATP, the governing body for men’s professional tennis, to become title sponsor of its end-of-season finals from 2009. The event will be renamed the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and will replace the Tennis Masters Cup.

Barclays first sponsored the Premier League, then known as the Premiership, in 2001 taking over from beer brand Carling in a three-year £48m deal. The partnership started using Barclaycard but switched to the flagship brand in 2004. In 2006, it signed a three-year £65.8m extension taking the deal up to 2010.