Visa ends Rugby World Cup sponsorship

Card giant Visa is axing its multimillion pound global sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup after 12 years. The move follows its wresting of the higher profile FIFA Football World Cup sponsorship from Mastercard last year after a long-running legal battle.

The deal with the International Rugby Board began with the 1995 tournament in South Africa. Visa Europe vice-president of partnership marketing Colin Grannell says the card company wanted to concentrate instead on its football and Olympic Games sponsorship properties.

He says: “Both of these initiatives present an unrivalled opportunity to connect our brand with the passion of sports fans across the globe. In particular we are keen to focus our energies over the next few years on achieving our vision of a cashless Olympic Games in 2012.”

Grannell says the 2011 Rugby World Cup falls too close to the London 2012 Olympic Games. He adds that Visa’s sponsorship strategy is changing with plans for more music and entertainment properties. Rival Mastercard is title sponsor of events including The Brit Awards.

The Rugby World Cup was first held in 1987 and now contested every four years.