SPL and Mitre Agree New Four Year Deal

The Scottish Premier League and Mitre today announced a four year partnership that will see Mitre continue as official ball supplier until 2015.

Mitre has supplied the SPL with top quality match balls since the start of the league in 1998 and the Mitre TENSILE ball will continue to be used for the 2011/12 season, with each club having a personalised ball printed in club colours and displaying their club badge.

As well as continuing as official ball supplier, Mitre’s partnership with leading sports retailer ACA Sports will enable supporters to purchase each club’s TENSILE ball as Mitre’s Official Online Retail Partners for the SPL.

On the announcement, Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPL said: “Mitre has been a valued partner of the SPL since 1998 and I am delighted to announce their continued commitment to the SPL for the next four seasons.

“This year the SPL distributed over £17 million to Clydesdale Bank Premier League clubs. We remain focused on supporting SPL clubs financially as much as possible. The partnership with Mitre is an important piece in that jigsaw.

“Over the past 13 seasons of the SPL, 7,651 goals have been scored with Mitre balls and I hope to see many more over the coming seasons.

Gary Hibbert, Managing Director of Mitre, commented on the deal, “The SPL is as passionate and exciting a competition as any and we’re thrilled to extend the deal to be the official ball supplier, continuing our long standing involvement in the Scottish game. We’re looking forward to further successes with the SPL over the next four years and with the additional partnership with ACA Sports - meaning fans can buy replicas of their club’s footballs - this only enhances our offering to fans and clubs.

Mitre’s partnership with leading sports retailer ACA Sports will enable supporters to purchase each club’s tensile ball as well as other ranges of replica balls as Mitre’s Official Online retail partners for the SPL.

ACA Sports Managing Director, Alistair Cameron, said; “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the SPL and Mitre. This landmark deal will allow every fan in the SPL the opportunity to buy their clubs match and replica balls for the first time in the league’s history – something we are all very excited about. “