THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Carabao to sponsor EFL Cup

Carabao to sponsor EFL Cup

LONDON - The EFL Cup will be known as the Carabao Cup from next season it was announced Friday in another sign of the growing links between English football and Thai business.

Carabao, a Thai energy drinks firm, will become the competition's new sponsor from June 2017 in a deal that will initially run until 2020, the Football League said in a statement.

The company is already the shirt sponsor of second-tier side Reading while reigning Premier League champions Leicester City are owned by Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a Thai businessman.

Originally launched as the League Cup in the 1960/61 season the tournament, which is open to teams in the top four professional divisions of English football, has been without a sponsor since a deal with credit card company Capital One ended last season.

The value of the agreement with Carabao has not been disclosed, but Shaun Harvey, chief executive of the EFL (English Football League, the governing body for the three divisions immediately below the Premier League) said Friday it "meets with the valuation" placed on the tournament by its organisers.

"This is a significant agreement for both parties and I'm delighted to welcome Carabao on board as an official title sponsor of the EFL Cup," Harvey said.

"We are equally as pleased that in a tough and competitive sponsorship marketplace we have managed to agree on a deal that meets with our valuation of the property.

"We opted to take our time in bringing this matter to a successful conclusion and feel we have now secured the best outcome possible for the EFL and the clubs we represent."

Pairoj Piempongsant, chairman of Intercarabao, added: "The EFL Cup embodies the very essence of British football consciousness. All 92 clubs in the country competing in the first major cup competition of the season, culminating in the final at Wembley.

"The EFL Carabao partnership represents a unique platform to expand the Carabao brand nationally and globally; and thus leveraging the universal 'fighting spirit' of football with a truly powerful global platform that will bring new awareness to the EFL internationally, while also establishing Carabao as a major player in the global energy drinks market."

The League Cup has has several sponsors in its history, first when an agreement with the Milk Marketing Board saw the competition known as the Milk Cup from 1981/82 to 1985/86.

Since then it has been sponsored by pools betting firm Littlewoods, electrical retailer Rumbelows, soft drinks giant Coca-Cola, brewers Worthington and Carling, and most recently, Capital One.

RELATED
nationthailand