Press Release

Monday 19 November 2007

HAWKS SPONSORSHIP WORTH MILLIONS TO TASMANIA
An independent evaluation of the first full year of the five-year Hawthorn sponsorship agreement has clearly shown significant benefits for the state’s economy, particularly for the tourism and hospitality industry.

The Minister for Tourism, Arts and the Environment, Paula Wriedt, said the evaluation showed that the 13 403 interstate visitors who travelled to the State for this year’s five AFL matches at Aurora Stadium spent $15 million during their stay.

“Taking into account costs for providing services such as dining, accommodation and tickets to these visitors, the net economic benefit of the sponsorship agreement, which has been verified by economic impact experts Price Waterhouse Cooper, is $7.2 million in just this first year,” Mr Wriedt said.

“This figure does not take into account the value of the media exposure to Tasmania throughout the season, which totalled $1.95 million.

“In addition, Tasmania benefited from many other aspects of the agreement such as use of Hawthorn players for marketing and local events, significant additional direct marketing opportunities through the Club’s substantial databases and business opportunities through various corporate functions.

“This agreement has been a successful investment by the Tasmanian Government which we can now prove has resulted in the creation of an additional 110 FTE jobs, mainly in the areas of hospitality and retail, as well as bringing the social benefits of top quality football being played at Aurora Stadium and easily accessible by most Tasmanians.”

The independent evaluation was undertaken by S-COMM a Melbourne based sponsorship research specialist who looked at the level of brand exposure generated through media coverage, direct and flow on economic impact and consumer research.

“The research also shows that nearly one third of Melbourne-based Hawthorn fans were able to recall details of the Tasmanian sponsorship, which is almost the same as their long time sponsor, HSBC,” Ms Wriedt said.
“This shows that our clear and consistent branding of the Tasmanian logo on players’ jumpers, signage, direct mail and other associated merchandise has been noticed.

“Importantly the research has shown that after only one season, Hawthorn supporters who are aware of the sponsorship are twice as likely to consider travelling to Tasmania in the next 12 months and this is further great news for our tourism industry.

“Contrary to the myth that interstate AFL fans fly in and fly out on match day, the research has confirmed that over half the interstate footy fans who come to see a game at Aurora stadium stay for four nights or more, making a significant difference to the tourism and hospitality sector during an otherwise quieter winter period.

“We have had a lot of anecdotal evidence of the success of this agreement, but this is the concrete proof which must once and for all put to rest the argument that this agreement has been a waste of money.

“I challenge anyone now to suggest that we should not have invested this money given the tangible results we have seen, and no doubt will continue to see over the remaining life of the agreement.”

For information on the report, please contact:
Guy Port, Sales Manager
S-COMM Australia
Ph: 02 9667 0326
and
Anthony King
PriceWaterhouseCoopers (Economic Impact enquiries only)
Ph: 03 8603 2275

For further information contact Tourism Tasmania's Communications Unit

(03) 6230 8244
email mediainfo@tourism.tas.gov.au