The Magical Vegas logo will no longer appear on the front of Ipswich Town shirts from next season.
The online gambling company has gifted their sponsorship to the Carers Trust charity, which they have worked with for several years.
That means the charity’s logo will appear on the front of Town’s home and away shirts, as well as all replicas, for the 2020/21 campaign.
Next season represents the final year of the original deal with Magical Vegas, which saw the online gambling site’s logo appear on shirts from January 2018. The deal was said to be worth in the region of £2million to the club, although there is understood to have been a reduction in that due to the Blues’ relegation to League One.
The club has been keen to launch next season’s kits at the end of this month as usual, despite the uncertainty surrounding if and when football will resume during the coronavirus crisis, but it’s understood that campaign has been put back by a few weeks.
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Those shirts will also include a ‘Thank You NHS’ logo on the reverse, as the Blues again use the area beneath players’ numbers to support local charities.
“Having their name on the front of the Ipswich Town first-team shirts will help spotlight the fantastic work The Carers Trust does in supporting unpaid carers locally and across the whole country,” said James Boord, chief marketing officer for Rank Group Plc, who own Magical Vegas.
“Thousands of carers across Suffolk alone are caring around the clock for family members with long-term disabilities and illnesses.
“It’s vital they get a respite from time to time and Rank is delighted to be able to give some of those carers the opportunity to go and watch the team play at Portman Road.”
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The Carers Trust has more than 4,500 carers in and around Suffolk and Rank has supported many of their initiatives in the local community, helping to raise a significant sum to support carers across the county and the UK.
Rank has also backed the club’s decision to pay tribute to the NHS on the back of the first-team shirts for next season, with Boord adding: “It’s great to see both the NHS and carers receiving recognition on the Ipswich Town shirts, especially in these challenging times.”
Rosie Richardson, director of sales at Town, said: “We are delighted to help Rank’s chosen charity by offering support to the Carers Trust, which reaches out to a number of fantastic community initiatives.”
As well as having their name on the front of Town’s shirts, The Carers Trust will be allocated a number of complimentary tickets at home games courtesy of Rank’s sponsorship agreement with the club and these will be offered to local carers.
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