MasterCard supports Rugby World Cup

MANILA, Philippines - MasterCard Worldwide and Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) announced that MasterCard will become the official worldwide partner and payment system of Rugby World Cup 2011.

The announcement was recently made in a joint press conference held in Wellington, New Zealand.

The Rugby World Cup is the crown jewel of the sport and a prominent global property – with television coverage of Rugby World Cup 2007 spanning more than 200 territories, reaching a cumulative audience of 4.3 billion viewers.

Rugby World Cup 2011 is being held in New Zealand for the first time since the inaugural event in 1987. Teams representing 20 nations will compete in 48 matches across several host cities in September and October.

“Sponsorships represent a critical component of MasterCard’s global marketing approach, and we are proud to add Rugby World Cup 2011 to our roster of world-class alliances,” said Andre Sekulic, president, Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, MasterCard Worldwide. “We will leverage this unique platform to further deliver shareholder value by creating exclusive business-building opportunities for our customer financial institutions, while building MasterCard brand affinity by offering priceless experiences to MasterCard cardholders.”