Hammers agree two new tie ups

1:28pm Thursday 7th February 2008

WITH potentially the most exciting season in the club's history approaching, the Lakeside Hammers are delighted to announce two new tie ups with the national companies.

Firstly, the Club have tied up a sponsorship deal with the famous national fish and chip restaurant chain Harry Ramsden's. This will not only see the company taking advertising space with the Hammersbut will alsosee a Friday night out at the Arena Essex Raceway promoted through the Company's Lakeside Shopping Centre, Lakeside Retail Park and Bluewater branches with the club having their own inset trays to offer customers a night out at the races with special offers throughout the season.

Commercial Manager Mark Sexton commented on this exciting news by saying: "It's absolutely fantastic news for the Club to tie up with such a well known national name. The deal is a reflection of the positive reactions that the Hammers are now getting, on the backs of last year's changes."

Secondly, further progress has been made on the promotion front with an agreement reached with Cheshire based Vision Media Group, who operate plasma screen advertising at the Lakeside Shopping Centre. Thanks to a heavily sponsored two year deal with the company, the Hammers will now have their own 30 second advertisements played a dozen times an hour on strategically placed screens throughout Lakeside whenever the centre is open.

Hammers Co Promoter Jon Cook said: "We are very pleased with the reaction we are finding in the area as it's especially important to find ways of advertising speedway. It's clear that there is now more than one generation out there to whom speedway is still a mystery and we will be diverting all our energies in this direction rather than relying on preaching to the converted or unconvertible. We have absolutely brilliant televisioncoverage of this sport thanks to Sky but unlike almost all of the other sports they cover. Speedway, nationally, has failed miserably to turn that into more people through the turnstiles. We can't rely on a national BSPA imitative, as we may be waiting a long time, so tie ups like this are crucial to the long term success of this club".

The Hammers team owner Stuart Douglas' arrival at the Arena Essex Raceway has already seen the team promoted in a number of different manners. This includes a meeting offering free admission and Bus advertising as he seeks to realise his dream of the Hammers rivalling the likes of Coventry and Poole in the seasons ahead. As if to prove thatimitation is the finestform of flattery Co Promoter Cook is to spend time with the Poole Pirateschief Matt Ford, probably Britain's finest modern day promoter,looking at any ways in which his promotional success in Dorset can be replicated in the Essex area.