By Jaroslaw Adamowski
November 14 – Poland’s Widzew Lodz has signed a sponsorship deal with local pharmaceutical company Aflofarm Farmacja. The logo of one of the drugs manufactured by the company, Braveran, will appear on its squad shirts.
“We are happy that such a major company decided to launch cooperation with our club,” said Pawel Mlynarczyk, chief executive of Widzew Lodz. Młynarczyk said that the initial contract is valid until the end of 2013, but the club is aiming to extend it.
“We are hoping that our cooperation will result in boosting Widzew’s performance and also bolster the Braveran brand,” said Andrzej Tomasik, marketing unit manager at Aflofarm Farmacja.
For the past four months, Widzew’s shirt has not carried any sponsor logos – the only club in the top tier of Poland’s professional football league without a shirt sponsor. The Lodz-based club has been searching for a new sponsor since mid-July 2013, when Carlsberg decided not to extend its sponsorship contract after six years.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed by the club. However, hopes are high that the latest contract could help Widzew put its finances back in order. Local media report that the club has debts amounting to 20 million zloty (€4.8 million).
In 2012, Widzew posted revenues of 10.84 million zloty (€2.6 million), a decrease of 41.1% from a year earlier. With these results Widzew ranked 13th among 16 clubs which are currently part of Poland’s Ekstraklasa, according to figures released by consultancy firm Ernst & Young.
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