Bulls find their development Oasis

The Vodacom Bulls moved to consolidate their massive fan basis among black supporters by signing a multi-million rand sponsorship with asset management group Oasis in Cape Town on Thursday.

After the most recent BMI Sports Management poll showed the Blue Bulls have by far the largest black supporter base of any rugby team in the country, polling more than 2.7-million black supporters, which represents 64 per cent of their support base.

The sponsorship, which will include both the Absa Currie Cup Blue Bulls and Vodacom Super 14 Bulls sides, will give Oasis branding rights on both the jerseys and shorts of the Bulls and on advertising in and around Loftus Versfeld stadium during the rugby season.

The sponsorship was signed for five years, and has a strong transformation slant to it, with Oasis wanting to help the Blue Bulls nurture future talent to keep it as the strongest brand in South African rugby.

“Oasis is a great supporter of South African rugby at both the developmental and professional levels. We want to nurture the future Springboks and Blue Bulls of tomorrow, while supporting the growth of professional rugby in South Africa,” Nazeem Ebrahim, marketing director, said at the announcement.

Ebrahim said the partnership with the Bulls came for this Cape Town-based company as they wanted to be part of the top local rugby brand outside the Springboks.

“We are based in Cape Town, but as an international brand, we are keen and pleased to be associated with the Bulls, who are internationally recognised for their excellence and achievement,” Ebrahim said.

“We have selected the right brand in South Africa. The team have won everything and we want to associate ourselves with another winning brand in South Africa. We are in for the long haul,” Ebrahim said.

Blue Bulls Company’s CEO Barend van Graan welcomed the sponsorship and agreed that shared values made the decision an easy one.

“We also have definite goals. We want the Bulls to be a global sporting brand and Loftus Versfeld to be a world class venue for sport and entertainment. This sponsorship will help us towards that,” Van Graan said.

Talking on behalf of the players, Bulls hooker Chiliboy Rapepelle thanked Oasis for their continued support.

“It is sponsors like you that help with the transformation in the sport and rugby in general,” he said.

Akona Ndungane, Bakkies Botha and Pierre Spies were other notable attendees at the launch.