Slingers eager for season of bricks

Singapore - The Singapore Slingers unveiled a slew of sponsorship initiatives at its annual Slingers Captains Rally yesterday, where two new players - or brand ambassadors - were also unveiled.

Among the sponsorship initiatives announced at yesterday's event include the Slingers ‘Great Wall' brick sponsorship which is an attempt by the organisation to build sponsorship numbers and bring smaller corporations into the sport of basketball.

Sponsorships range from $1,000 and each sponsored brick adds to the ‘Great Wall' which is displayed at home games, corporate functions and promotions.

Danny Townsend, president of Singapore Slingers marketing agent Repucom Asia, said the ‘Great Wall' initiative was a good strategy, despite his agency not being involved in the initiative. The agency handles the bigger sponsorship packages at the club including corporate boxes, uniform and centre circle sponsorships among other things.

Accor Hotels, Morande Wines, and Jobstreet.com were among the sponsors present at the event and Townsend said that FMCGs also tended to be attracted to the sport of basketball. Towards the end of last season, title sponsor and investment bank, CLSA said it had renewed its sponsorship for a larger amount but no figures were released. The CEO of Jobstreet.com, Mark Chang, is a Slingers shareholder.

The two new players signed by the club are Darren Ng, who is also graduating from medicine, and Sam Harris, an Australian seven foot four inch tall centre, and were described by Singapore Slingers, MD, Bob Turner as "personalities needed to capture the interest and imagination of the general public".

"The fact that Darren's parents were born and raised in Malaysia provides an Asian heritage and a more significant relevance to the region we play in. The other key factor and one that works in conjunction with the Sports Councils goal of increasing sports activity, is the fact that Darren is proof that you can combine education and sport. And Sam is an emerging talent and to have the tallest player ever to play in the NBL we have a point of difference," he said.

Turner said he also wants to recruit Filipino player, Jason Castro which would help the club tap on the support of "basketball mad Filipino supporters". He said that this season the Slingers aim to increase home attendances from 3,000 per game to 4,000.

The Slingers Chairman is Dato Tony Fernandes, who is also AirAsia's Group Chief Executive.