Vodafone dumps Cricket, V8s

VODAFONE has stunned Cricket Australia and V8 Supercars, ending its sponsorships in a bid to save tens of millions of dollars.

Michael Clarke

VODAFONE has stunned Cricket Australia and V8 Supercars, ending its sponsorships in a bid to save tens of millions of dollars.

The mobile phone company will end its 11 year, $10 million sponsorship of the Australian Cricket Team and the summer Test series in March and will also part ways with V8 Supercar team Triple Eight engineering at the end of the year.

Vodafone has spent an estimated $4 million annually sponsored the team for the past six years with drivers Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup winning three Bathurst 1000 races and three championships between them.

The decision not to renew the sponsorships comes as the embattled company turns its attention to upgrading its network after a series of embarrassing failures.

Noel Hamill, Consumer Business Unit Director at Vodafone, said it had been a tough decision but the company now had a different focus.

It's been an absolute privilege and honour to be the major sponsor of Australia's summer of cricket over so many years,'' Mr Hamill said.

"We've been fortunate to be the major sponsor of the Australian Test Cricket Team during an era that has featured some of the true greats of the game, including the Waugh brothers, Warne, McGrath, Gilly, Ponting, and Michael Clarke. We wish the team every success in the future.''

He said that the relationship with Lowndes, Whincup and team owner Roland Dane had set new standards in sponsorship.

"By working together as TeamVodafone, we feel as though we have set a new benchmark in Australia for how a brand lives and breathes its sponsorship and how it brings that sponsorship to life,'' he said.