Daily Telegraph, Page: 135
By James Phelps and Josh Massoud
Australian motorsport will rev-up its interest in rugby league
on Monday night when the Bulldogs unveil a new
$600,000 jersey sponsorship with V8 driver Paul Dumbrell.
After the V8 Supercars inked a trailblazing sleeve sponsorship
with the Rabbitohs late last year, Dumbrell this week signed off on
a three-year deal for his company, Autobarn, to assume Canterbury's
back-of-jersey and shorts naming rights.
Dumbrell has been a regular on the V8 circuit since 2002, and this
year stepped into a Ford for the first time with Bottle-0
Falcon.
The switch has delivered immediate results for the 27-year-old,
who recorded top-ten finishes in all three races at last weekend's
Grand Prix.
Bulldogs CEO Todd Greenberg last night confirmed the deal had been
signed, and that the new jerseys would be ready for Monday night's
clash against South Sydney at ANZ Stadium.
It's understood Dumbrell identified NRL sponsorship as the best
way to expand Autobarn's brand in western Sydney.
He approached several NRL clubs and eventually settled on the
Bulldogs this week, giving Canterbury a full suite of sponsors just
12 months after the club's major naming rights were donated to
children's cancer charity Camp Quality.
Greenberg said the deal was also a first in the NRL, because
Autobarn would sponsor the Bulldogs membership program until the
end of 2012.
"It's something the AFL have been doing for a while now, but no
NRL club has done it before," Greenberg said.