The Sydney Kings today announced Crown as a major sponsor of the team for the 2012/13 NBL season. In an aptly connected name with the Kings brand, Crown will also come on board as the naming sponsor of the Kings homecourt, the Crown Kingdome.
“The Sydney Kings is very excited about having such a high-profile brand as Crown as a major sponsor of the team,” Sydney Kings Executive Director, Stephen Dunn said.
“Crown’s community engagement philosophy and their commitment to the value of a team effort in achieving their goals is a perfect fit with the Sydney Kings modus operandi,” he added.
“After a successful elite sports sponsorship arrangement with the Melbourne Storm, Crown has selected the Sydney Kings as a Sydney-based sports franchise to proudly wear and promote their brand on the national basketball stage.
“The Sydney Kings recently spent part of the off-season in the Northern Territory running coaching clinics for a remote indigenous population of around 600 people. It was a very satisfying and wonderful experience. The team is therefore very committed and looking forward to working with Crown, which has a great track record in developing programs and opportunities for indigenous people,” Mr Dunn said.
The coaching clinics to which Dunn is referring involved himself, star guard Ben Madgen, his sister, Australian Opal Tess Madgen, and Kings assistant coach Tim Hudson. The group gave up their own time in the off-season to make the trip to the Northern Territory, visiting a remote community which the Madgens’ mother had been teaching in.
Speaking on behalf of Crown, Chief Executive Officer, Rowen Craigie said that Crown is building a global resort company and Sydney is an important market to attract visitors to our hotels in Perth and Melbourne.
“Just like the Sydney Kings, Crown is committed to excellence and providing visitors with a fun and enjoyable experience,” Mr Craigie said.
“Crown has recently launched a national campaign to promote our success and achievements as one of Australia’s largest employers and leading tourist destinations.
“Crown’s Indigenous employment programs are considered a best practice model in the sector and have won numerous government and industry awards. We have an excellent retention rate of Indigenous Australians and Crown was the first employer to sign the Australian Employment Covenant. We are looking forward to working with the Sydney Kings to expand these initiatives to Sydney’s Indigenous community, particularly in conjunction with the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Redfern.
The Crown sponsorship news comes on the back of the announcement that Mighty Mite (Three 3s brand) would adorn the Kings’ jerseys this season as apparel sponsor.
