Virgin Media seem to be prepared to do more than just pay to put their name on the front of the shirt judging by their actions this week.
Now Saints have signed up a major Sponsorship deal with a national company and from the first week or so of the partnership, it seems Virgin Media are keen to interact with Saints supporters and the club are equally keen on emphasising that fact judging by the latest article on the official club website, the paragraph
"Virgin Media is committed to being more than a shirt sponsor. The company has immense pride at having their brand on the Southampton shirt but also wants to make sure that it doesn’t stop there for Saints fans. As the UK’s only TV provider to offer all the sporting action on Sky Sports and BT Sport and in one package, Virgin Media believes that football should be about the fans. "
Now of course these are words we have all read before from sponsors and i'm old enough and cynical enough to say I'll believe it when I see it.
But I have to say I am impressed by what they have delivered in the past week and whilst it is only underwriting a few costs that the club should perhaps be doing themselves, the realityis that this sort of thing has not been done before at St Mary's
The first initiative was to discount ticket prices for season ticket holders and members for the Athletico Bilbao friendly and now the club has announced two more gestures from Virgin Media to save money for Saints fans, both in conjunction with the trip to Manchester United in a few weeks.
The first is to discount the tickets prices for all supporters by £10, this is the first game for Saints where the maximum away ticket price of £30 is in place and now Saints supporters will be able to attend the game for the discounted price of £20 with concessions as little as £10.
But Virgin have not stopped there,they are also offering to lay on free coaches for season ticket holders who want to go to the game.
As I have said whatever you thoughts about football clubs and their sponsors, this is an initiative between ours that is saving money where it counts and that has to be applauded.
It seems like this might not be the last money saving offer that Saints and Virgin will be co operating in.
Kerris Bright, Chief Marketing Officer at Virgin Media said:
"Our partnership with Southampton Football Club will always be about more than the shirt. We believe fans should be at the heart of football and we think that Saints fans deserve a helping hand both on travel and ticket costs to support the team on the first away game of the season.”
Saints also chipped in with Gareth Rogers the Chief Executive Officer saying.
"Our supporters are the foundation of this great club, and Virgin Media’s desire to put our fans at the heart of what they do was a key factor in the decision to partner with them.
"We are delighted that Virgin Media has made such a generous offer to help as many fans as possible attend what is sure to be a fantastic match.”
Of course these are fine words and ones we read all the time, but this time they are uttered after the actions rather than promising something that is never really delivered, the Manchester United initiative could cost Virgin £30,000 in ticket subsidies and the same again and more in providing coaches, that is a significant amount.