FIND out what’s being said about the club in the major daily newspapers on Friday, August 26, 2011

Herald Sun

Dees banks on power sponsor
By Mark Stevens

MELBOURNE has landed the most lucrative sponsorship deal in the club's history. EnergyWatch will back the Demons for $6 million over the next three years. It is a huge coup given it is only a co-sponsorship, with logo to feature on the back of the guernsey only. Energy Watch will also feature on all club apparel and have a strong signage presence at the MCG, but another company will be on the front of the club's guernsey next season.

The Age

Demons win $6 million sponsorship
By Jesse Hogan

THE last time Melbourne announced major sponsors, both snared with only days to spare before the 2009 season began, the only figures the club revealed were how long the deals were for. Now, the Demons' battered administration has got something to crow about: a looming $6 million injection. Electricity and gas price-comparison website EnergyWatch will be advertised on the back of the players' jumpers for at least the next three years, at a rate believed to be more than double what current sponsors Hankook and Kaspersky negotiated with the club. The company will also use rapidly improving forward Jack Watts as one of its primary public ambassadors. When the Hankook and Kaspersky deals were confirmed, after the Demons played in the 2009 NAB Cup without major sponsorship, the club praised them for helping it withstand ''uncertain economic times''. Melbourne's directors will be hoping prospective blue-chip coaches are as bullish about the club's on-field prospects as EnergyWatch's founder Ben Polis. ''I had been assessing the performances on and off the field of potential clubs,'' he said in a statement. ''I believed the Melbourne Football Club presented the best opportunity for success in both areas. I was very impressed with the management and growth potential that the club offered.''