Howden to sponsor British & Irish Lions shirt on 2025 Aussie tour
Howden, the London-headquartered insurance group, has signed a deal to become a principal partner of the British & Irish Lions for the next four years, including the Australia tour in the summer of 2025.
The insurance group, which offers broking and underwriting services across a number of brands, will become the main shirt sponsor – with the firm’s logo emblazoned on the famous red shirts of the Lions.
The broker will support the Lions via a series of grassroots initiatives at clubs that have produced former Lions, and will also expand its investment into the Lion’s Women’s programme as the lions consider the possibility of a historic women’s tour.
The Lions will head to Australia in the summer of 2025, with the best players from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland uniting to take on the Wallabies in their own backyard.
Being selected as a Lion is considered the pinnacle of a rugby career.
David Howden, Founder and CEO, Howden, said: “I’m thrilled that we are partnering with such an iconic
British and Irish brand as we look towards 2025 for the men in Australia and as we play a part in investing
in the women’s game and the hugely exciting prospect of an inaugural Women’s Lions Tour.”
It is the second major investment in British sport by the insurer, which in 2021 signed a deal to sponsor Ascot Racecourse for five years.
Ben Calveley, CEO of the Lions, said: It is testament to Howden that their support for The British & Irish Lions spans across multiple strands including front of jersey for the Men’s Tour to Australia, our ongoing work in relation to a potential Lions Women’s Tour as well as at community level.”
“The landscape for rugby and wider sport has been challenging over the past couple of years when you
consider in particular the impact of the global pandemic and we ourselves experienced this first hand on
our last tour to South Africa in 2021,” he said of the behind-closed-doors tour two summers ago.
“Thankfully, we are in a much stronger position now and excited at what is to come. As a business, the wide range of services and solutions Howden provides are designed to protect organisations for the future. As we embark upon a hugely exciting period and look to establish The British & Irish Lions as the most successful and admired sporting brand both on and off the pitch, having the support of a strong and stable organisation like Howden makes a lot of sense for us,” he added.
Tens of thousands of rugby fans are expected to make the trip down under, with the ‘sea of red’ likely to see plenty of Howden-emblazoned shirts.