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No stranger to entering unchartered territory, restaurant delivery giant Deliveroo has today announced it has signed a multi-year partnership with the England football association — to become an official partner both to the England football teams and the FA Cup, the domestic club knock-out competition, which is the longest-running in the world.
The London-born restaurant delivery company, which undertook some serious investment from Amazon in May, will become the first shirt-sleeve sponsor on all England’s football team’s training kits. (International football teams do not compete in sponsored football kits; England’s principal shirt sponsor is BT.)
The deal will also see Deliveroo become an official partner of the FA Cup in an unspecified category. (Emirates is the principal sponsor, with naming rights, of that competition)
Deliveroo says the “partnership [will be used] to further bolster The FA’s continued investment into English football as a not-for-profit organisation.”
The food delivery company’s logo will be worn on the training kit of all senior sides across men’s and women’s football, starting with Gareth Southgate’s squad for the forthcoming UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers this weekend against Bulgaria and Kosovo.
As part of the deal, Deliveroo will also partner with the world’s oldest cup competition, the Emirates FA Cup, with, what it says, are “exciting plans to be rolled out from the 2019/20 season onwards.”
Mark Bullingham, the FA’s CEO said: “I’m delighted to welcome Deliveroo as our latest partner across the England teams and the Emirates FA Cup.
“Deliveroo is an ambitious and growing company and it’s fitting that they join us at a time when The England teams are going from strength to strength and The Emirates FA Cup is reaching a larger audience than ever before.”
Deliveroo’s founder and CEO, Will Shu said: “We couldn’t be more excited to support the England teams. Both the men’s and women’s teams are doing incredible things and we’re proud to be playing a part in their success.
“The Emirates FA Cup is a global phenomenon and as a business that is expanding across the world we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together”.
Regarding the specific decision to move into football, Deliveroo is plainly aiming for a significant expansion in its brand awareness. A spokesperson for the brand told Eater that “As Deliveroo begins to grow outside of urban areas across the UK, The FA partnership presents an opportunity to increase our brand awareness with a key food moment in households across the country.”
“Alongside the FA partnership we also have sponsored over 2000 grassroots clubs in the UK,” they added. That references the company’s move earlier this year to sponsor the shirts of amateur football clubs with free kits and free and discounted food delivery provision on the sidelines.