BT is ready to renew its sponsorship of Scottish club rugby in what would be the biggest sign yet that the game has come through Januarys political upheaval.

When four members of the SRUs executive board resigned in protest at the removal of David Mackay, the board chairman, in January, there was concern that sponsors would react to the unease by withdrawing funding from the sport. However, BT now appears happier with their relationship than they were a year ago when Phil Anderton, the unions former chief executive, irked the sponsors by changing the date of the BT Cup final late in the season.

Alan Bonas, BTs head of communications, confirmed that the second three year deal with the SRU, which covers the BT Premiership, National Leagues and cup competitions, is due to expire in May, but stated We go into negotiations with good hope, good faith and a lot of support from the SRU to make it happen. We have been together for six years and although things always come to an end we wouldnt want to walk away from something weve invested heavily in.

The fact Phil and David Mackay have gone hasnt made much difference really because we are dealing with the same people, other than Phil, that we dealt with three years ago. As a sponsor we tend to ignore the detail of which individuals are running the game, although we obviously care about whether its good for our company to be associated with the SRU, but what has happened hasnt made much difference to us.

We have coped without the television coverage this season largely because we have worked with the SRU and developed a platform where you can watch the club games on broadband over the internet. Clearly, as a sponsor, we have to get something out of it, but if we can drive up broadband through the clubs and with ex pats then the association with Scottish rugby can grow further.

This article was originally posted on 2-Mar-2005, 17:07 by Chris Maxwell.
Last updated by Chris Maxwell on 2-Mar-2005, 18:24.