Totally Wicked agrees stadium deal with St Helens

Totally Wicked, the Blackburn-based manufacturer and retailer of e-cigarettes and e-liquids, has significantly enhanced its sponsorship of St Helens RFC to include stadium naming rights for the next five years.

The new sponsorship deal is the most valuable in St Helens' history and sees Totally Wicked build on its four year association with the club. Totally Wicked has sponsored the North Stand since 2013 and been a sponsor of the shirt since 2014.

Saints’ existing agreement with developers Langtree expires at the end of this year, at which point the stadium will be renamed the Totally Wicked Stadium. As part of the deal, Totally Wicked’s logo will continue to be seen on both the home and away shirts in its present form.

Fraser Cooper, managing director of Totally Wicked, said: "We are delighted to further our partnership with Saints and are looking forward to many successful seasons with one of the great clubs of world rugby league.

"The idea of a vaping business being one of the main sponsors of a major sporting team several years ago, would have seemed unthinkable. However, our rapidly maturing sector with its revolutionary and society benefiting products is a very appropriate match for progressive thinking sporting clubs such as St Helens.

"Many professional and credible vaping businesses exist across the UK and particularly in the North West. These businesses are now established and growing employers in their local communities. Going forward I would expect to see other companies following Totally Wicked’s lead and becoming major sponsors of leading UK sports clubs.

"As a company, we do not see this sponsorship deal as a new venture, but a logical next step in our relationship with Saints. Over the past four years, as sponsor of the North Stand and team shirts, we have worked closely with the club and were delighted to have the opportunity to expand our support.

"The last four years have been an exciting time for both Saints and Totally Wicked and I and my team very much look forward to the next five years of this relationship and beyond as we continue to develop our relationship with Saints and the wider community.”

Eamonn McManus, chairman of St Helens RFC, said: “Totally Wicked has been a loyal and valuable supporter and sponsor of Saints for the last four years. For the Club, this new increased sponsorship deal was a natural development of an already established relationship that has been of tremendous benefit to the club, not just financially, but also in supporting our wider health objectives. It also represents the most financially valuable long term sponsorship in the club’s history. "The club plays an active role not only in sport, but also in health and education, and over the last four years of working with Totally Wicked, we have been able to create a supportive and vape friendly atmosphere at the Club. We believe this new deal will further this pioneering work by not only helping to raise awareness yet further of the damage smoking tobacco can do also in deterring people from taking on the habit in the first place.”