Agreed, for me the best part of LD leaving would be a nicer looking shirt! As someone has already mentioned, I would assume Virgin might step in for a season at a reduced cost while we look for a new sponsor. I always thought the Virgin Media logo looked nice on the shirts anyway.
I really hope that we eventually find out the whole story behind the LD deal. Goodbye, LD Sports squirrel. We didn't deserve you.
I'll bet you $10m* that our stuff doesn't come off the site. *With a severability clause allowing me to cancel this bet at any time without payment.
When their site first went live, it had a bunch of nonsensical clip art, including a squirrel. Sadly the squirrel was lost with the site redesign that effectively turned it into a Chinese mirror of the OS.
They sponsor the sleeves, are the main sponsor of our other teams and have other incentives like the 'player of the month award in partnership with Virgin Media', or whatever it is they do over social media, so they're already heavily involved. It would make sense to try and do a deal with them first as we probably need to set something up pretty quickly. We may even have to settle for a deal that is less than what LD were paying, considering the current climate and timescales. From Virgin's point of view they could even push to pay less than the £6m per season they paid before given how close we are to the start of the season and the missed exposure from the kit launch etc. They are a media and broadband company. More people than ever are now working from home and using wifi/TV a lot more than normal, plus it's likely that more games will be televised than in a normal season (so more exposure to their brand), it might even be quite an attractive proposal for them.
I'm not saying I think Virgin Media should - or even will - do us a favour, but I actually think from their point of view it would be a good time to be back on the front and centre on the shirts and stadium/club advertising.
And I bet that they wanted to renew (hence why we still have them on the sleeve), but we said no way we are going with LD they are paying more. Funny thing being cocky, it ALWAYS comes back to bite you. (Are you listening all those Bournemouth fans that used to talk to me.... )
The chat about us needed a new shirt sponsor disappeared. Anything happening or was it just speculation?
The Athletic are reporting that Saints will have a new sponsor and it will be a Betting company. Suddenly that awful LD logo doesn't feel so bad... From The Athletic Southampton are expected to announce a betting company as their new main sponsor after LD Sports walked out of their record-breaking deal worth £7.5 million per year. The Chinese company signed a three-year contract with the St Mary’s side last summer but are believed to have pulled the plug on the sponsorship just 12 months in. It has left Southampton trying to fill a significant financial void with less than three weeks to go before their Premier League season starts away to Crystal Palace on September 12. Due to the short window of time and the coronavirus pandemic severely reducing the number of alternative options, The Athletic understands that Southampton are close to announcing a betting company as their replacement. The deal is thought to be less than the deal agreed with LD Sports. It is understood that LD Sports did not have a break clause written into its three-year contract, meaning Southampton would normally be entitled to compensation, however, the situation remains unclear at this point in time as to whether they will opt to sue LD Sports for breach of contract. The Athletic has been told that last year’s £7.5 million payment will be accounted for in the next set of accounts but it’s not yet known whether LD Sports paid a second instalment.
https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/...n-football-club-sportsbetio-main-club-partner Offical confirmation. Think that improves the shirts tbh
