DIRECTV partners with W-Connection
ttproleague.comW Connection football club has landed what is described “the biggest sponsorship deal” by the club when it signed an agreement with dish network television company DIRECTV (Trinidad Limited) on Friday morning.
However both DIRECTV and W Connection preferred to keep the monetary value as well as the length of the agreement under the carpet.
Brent Boodoo, Marketing Coordinator - Trade and Sponsorship DIRECTV Trinidad Limited, was only willing to boast that the sponsorship agreement could run for a very long time.
The partnership agreement will see the Couva based club prominently display the name DIRECTV W Connection beginning with the CONCACAF Champions’ League group stage at the beginning of August.
DIRECTV, last season’s chief sponsor of Sangre Grande based club North East Stars, dismissed the question on whether or not the company switched allegiance based on Connection’s participation in the CONCACAF Champions’ League which automatically means more mileage.
Boodoo explained that Connection and DIRECTV have been in talks for a very long time and that the partnership had nothing to do with the fact that the David John Williams owned football club is participating in the CCL.
He further explained that although the company is no longer the chief sponsor of North East Stars, it will continue to support various community projects put on by the Sangre Grande club including the “Champions of Champions” north-eastern districts football tournament.
“It’s a great pleasure today that DIRECTV forms an alliance with W Connection,” said Tamara Ragoonath, Marketing Manager, Caribbean DIRECTV Trinidad Limited, during her remarks at the Venture Credit Union, Penthouse in Couva on Friday morning during the media launch.
“This partnership is not a mutually beneficial agreement, but seeks to enhance the benefits of sport in (T&T).
“One of the key components in the DIRECTV brand is to enrich communities throughout the country; corporate social responsibility and to take pride in giving back.
“The now DIRECTV W Connection team has displayed constant progress and it’s what we want it to do. The vision of the team is important to ours, and we feel confident in the partnership.”
Ragoonath added that DIRECTV General Manager William Pantin has always been impressed with David John Williams’ commitment to local football and to the development of sport.
“I believe it’s an investment,” was the opinion of Chairman of the Board of Directors at W Connection David Martin.
He added, “This morning we celebrate the partnership with the leading provider of the tv entertainment industry. Thank you for this alignment and we look forward to a great partnership and excitement.”
The partnership of W Connection and DIRECTV has come on the horizon of disbelief by some as to whether or not the TT Pro League can survive, following a disappointing pullout by San Juan Jabloteh earlier this month because of financial difficulties.
League CEO praised Connection on its new partnership, and believes that other clubs should take pattern in the Couva based club’s success on and off the pitch, reiterating the importance of the business side of football.
“David John Williams is one of the most, if not the most, passionate about W Connection, about professional football and about the TT Pro League,” he said.
“Let me thank DIRECTV for partnering with one of our top premier clubs. It’s not a chance that (DIRECTV) chose W Connection. I think David John Williams has strategically set up his business side of things. Football is about business and with the players ensuring that you become the best product on the field and off the field. And as a result (John Williams) is reaping the fruits of his hard labour of over 10 years.”
Skeene also knocked on corporate T&T to support the League and the talented footballers produced by the clubs. He reminded that it is the athletes who go out and put Trinidad and Tobago on the world map with their God given talents.
