INSPIRATIONS Paint are the Newcastle Jets' longest-running front-of-shirt sponsor and the national company have vowed to stick with the A-League club during to VOVID-19 crisis.
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Inspirations Paint has appeared on the front of the Jets' away strip, in a deal believed to be worth six-figures a year, for the past five seasons. They have another year to run on the current three-year arrangement and will be honouring that contract.
"Inspirations Paint is completely understanding that the season had to be cut short in the interests of health," head of marketting Joel Goodsir said. "We were happy to have most of the season behind us.
"We are really happy with out relationship with the Jets. I had a phone call from [Jets CEO] Lawrie McKinna over a week ago when all this was happening to keep us up to date."
The A-League is postponed until at least April 22. But the chances of the competition resuming in the next two months appear remote.
The Jets this week stood down players and staff, amid growing uncertainty over the broadcast rights deal. Foxtel were due to pay the latest quarterly installment to Football Federation Australia this week. That money, about $12 million, is distributed to the clubs and is used to pay player and staff wages,
The Jets this week also McDonalds as a major partner.
However, in welcomed news to the club, Inspirations Paint, which has a network of 135 stores, are looking to extend their relationship.
"We sponsor the Jets out of the national marketing fund, which all stores contribute towards," Goodsir said. "At this stage, I certainly see it continuing. It could change it's shape and form, but there is no reason not to continue the relationship.
"All the marketing theories show that longer sport sponsorships work better. It takes a lot of repetition for people to join the dots because they are focused on the game. Perth Glory had QBE as their major sponsor for 10 years. You think back to the NRL teams you followed as a kid and you can normally remember which company was on the front of the jerseys - Pirtek on Paramatta jumpers.
"We get a lot of good support from Hunter residents and up the coast at our stores as high as Grafton. The fans are so appreciative. They literally get on twitter and thank us for our support."
