Pretoria – A new sponsor will bring fresh ideas to the Titans, said CEO Jacques Faul, after the Pretoria franchise suffered a dearth of trophies last season.
“The best part of my job is announcing new sponsors although winning trophies would also be quite nice,” Faul said in Pretoria on Thursday.
Unveiling the Durban-based financial services company, The Unlimited, as their new sponsor, Faul also paid tribute to their previous sponsor of 14 years.
“We constantly need to come up with ideas to attract fans to the stadium so hopefully, we will work together on fresh concepts. We had a great relationship with our previous sponsor, Nashua, and we thank them for that. We welcome our new partner and hope we can win many trophies together over the next three years.”
Runners-up in the T20 domestic challenge, the Titans' first assignment for the new season would be their participation in the Champions League T20 in India next month.
“We start training next week for India and that will be our main focus for the next few weeks,” said captain of the four-day side, Henry Davids.
“We didn't do too well last season in four-day cricket so hopefully we can improve. In my opinion, it is still the most important format of the game. It tests you as a cricketer, testing your skills and your mental abilities.”
Davids said it was exciting to get a new sponsor and looked forward to the new season.
“I don't know what innovations the new sponsor will bring, but hopefully we can attract more families to the ground.
“We're a fairly young group of players in the squad and there are unlimited possibilities for us.”
The multi-million rand agreement secured naming rights to the squad, which would be renamed The Unlimited Titans.
“In partnership with the Titans and their management, the new sponsors would focus on driving the fan experience, as well as supporting the squad in taking its rightful position as the number one domestic cricket team in South Africa,” The Unlimited CEO Steph Bester (SUBS: CORRECT) said.
In addition to mountain biking and kite surfing, the company also had a three-year deal as title sponsors of the Dusi Canoe Marathon.
“Our approach to business is different and this comes across in our sponsorships too. We don't just throw a cheque book at a sponsorship. We get actively involved and that's why in this year's Dusi, a team of our employees took on this huge challenge, including three of our directors.
“Fortunately for the Titans, I don't think that anyone in our team would qualify for professional cricket.” – Sapa