Rovers’ €650k sponsorship deal to fund pro contracts for academy

Shamrock Rovers say they have signed the largest ever commercial sponsorship for a League of Ireland club after an agreement with Sharp Group that has covered the cost – believed to be in the region of €650,000 – of installing LED perimeter advertising hoardings at Tallaght Stadium.

The Hoops feel they can generate a figure between €500k to €1m across the course of a four-year arrangement and have committed to ring-fencing the income to fund professional contracts for youth players in their academy.

It’s understood that as part of the deal, the Sharp Group, a fire and security solutions provider, will feature on the perimeter signage system for 20 minutes of every game.

Rovers can sell the rotating ad space for the rest of the minutes.

As part of the sponsorship arrangement with Sharp, the company have paid for the cost of putting in what Rovers have described as a “state-of-theart” system.

“This revolutionary collaboration has facilitated the acquisition of a cutting-edge LED perimeter signage system that will transform the match-day experience at Tallaght Stadium,” read a statement from the Hoops.

“We believe this is the largest-ever commercial sponsorship deal delivered by a League of Ireland club.”

The LED hoardings have previously been brought in and out for select European games and were used for women’s internationals at the Dublin 24 venue but they will now be a permanent presence with Rovers able to generate rental income from UEFA and the FAI for their use.

Rovers added that the partnership mandates a commitment from the club to allocate a significant portion of the revenue generated by the LED perimeter signage system to its academy to fund professional contracts: “This strategic move aims to bolster the club’s ongoing efforts to support youth development and education within the football community”.

Rovers are looking to increase the number of full-time youth players on their books, an area that has come under scrutiny from a nationwide perspective with League of Ireland academy head Will Clarke highlighting that there was a single-figure number of pros in the 1617 age bracket in 2023.

While Hoops operate a transition year programme at the moment, there are plans in place to offer around 10 pro contracts every year to participants in that scheme that will cover them for their final two years in school.

Last year was difficult financially for the Hoops, with a loss in the region of €2.4m recorded.

A difficult year in Europe was one aspect of that – although there were a variety of contributing factors – and there is recognition that this year’s campaign in that sphere will be very important for Stephen Bradley’s side.

In addition to the prize money from progress, the perimeter advertising for games televised around Europe would have the potential to be seriously lucrative if Rovers were to make progress this year.

Sharp managing director Ivan Nolan said: “This deal has a direct influence on every aspect of the football club, from the men’s and women’s first teams, to the men’s and women’s League of Ireland academy sides, to the underage academy teams, and into the education programme.

“We are really looking forward to seeing the results.”