West Ham left in the lurch after crash of sponsor XL Group?
 

The collapse of XL Leisure Group may have major implications for its main sponsorship partner, Premier League football club West Ham United, unless some kind of rescue package emerges following the appointment of administrators.

West Ham's three year, £7.5m deal with XL became effective from the 7th June last year. Newly-branded shirts emblazoned with the XL.com logo went on sale some nine days later. And it's easy to assume that such a deal consisted only of the company's logo on the players' shirts - but in fact the company's involvement in the club was multi-faceted, writes Richard Fox. Extended XL have had a significant presence at the Upton Park stadium, including a bespoke XL design covering the entire roof of the East Stand and branding on the state-of-the-art LED pitch perimeter advertising system during matches. XL's presence at the stadium was further extended with XL.com offering a range of promotions and competitions to West Ham United's supporters, both on match-days and through web incentives and direct mail channels. In a statement just released, West Ham say: "West Ham United were informed today that XL Leisure Group, which operates the club's principal partner XL Holidays, has been placed into administration. "XL Holidays remains the club's principal partner and we await further information from the administrator before ascertaining the impact of today's events.   "We are of course saddened for the customers of XL Holidays that have been affected and hope that a speedy and satisfactory solution is found". At the time the original sponsorship announcement was made, Phil Wyatt, CEO of XLLG, talked of a partnership between XL and West Ham United that represented "our desire to become one of the world's most well-known travel brands. Conspicuous "The elevated status we will receive from being associated with West Ham United, with their proud history and being one of the most talked about clubs in the Premier League, is beneficial with regards to achieving our long-term goals", he said. Sadly such lofty aims have now come crashing down and West Ham are left carrying conspicuous branding for a company that is suddenly synonymous with cancelled holidays and broken dreams.