Paddy Power Expand Save our Shirt Campaign

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By Simon Wright, Last updated Mar 2, 2021

Paddy Power are renowned for their marketing stunts,  garnering as much publicity as possible,  while sometimes sailing close to the wind in doing so.

With their latest marketing stunt being the ‘Save our Shirt’ campaign,  which kicked off when they took over the sponsorship of Huddersfield Town. Only to reveal that the club will ply their trade without a logo on their shirts when the Championship season commences in a couple of weeks time.

Initially Paddy Power and in turn Huddersfield came in for much criticism when the shirt was revealed, as the Paddy Power logo turned out to take over 50% of the ‘real estate’ on the shirt. This it would seem was the key to generating the exposure that the Irish bookmaker had hoped.

With Paddy Power waiting until enough publicity surrounding their sponsorship of the ‘Terriers’ had ensued, before announcing that the Championship side would not be displaying a logo after all, during the forthcoming season.

Paddy Power in fact were taking a leaf out of GVC Holding’s book as it were ( They have decided to cease sponsoring football clubs ), subsequently picking up the ball in the process and running with it, via every media outlet possible, as only Paddy Power can do.

It was in true Paddy Power style all a big marketing ploy to launch their Save our Shirt campaign. The purpose of which is to campaign to stop gambling companies taking over the space afford on the front of the shirts worn by professional footballers up and down the country.

A smart move by the bookmaker indeed, in terms of getting as much bang for their marketing bucks as possible. As even arch proponents of gambling ( Rob Davies from The Guardian anyone? )  in criticising it via the medium of their twitter account to their army of followers, furthered the viral reach of the campaign. If anything the marketing team employed by PP have raised their bar yet again.

Anyhow, it now appears that the Irish bookmaker have not finished there. As more professional clubs have been added to Huddersfield to become part of ‘Save of Shirt’, with the additions of Newport County and Motherwell.

Newport County who reached the League 2 Play Off final in May and Scottish Premiership side Motherwell, will now play in shirts without bearing a logo for the 2019-20 season.

Speaking about Newport County  forming  part of the ‘Save our Shirt’ campaign, a spokesman for the bookmaker said: “Newport County are the latest team to join our Save Our Shirt movement, which sees their shirt go sponsor-free for the upcoming season. We’re sure the fans are excited to shed their sponsor as they head into League Two following their play-off heroics.”

With Newport County’s Operational Chairman Gavin Foxall stating: “This is a significant deal for the club, not just from a financial perspective but also being part of the high-profile Save Our Shirt campaign. As a supporter-owned club we felt the fit was right, as it’s all about giving the shirt back to our loyal supporters.”

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