Santos today announced it will continue its support for the Tour Down Under (TDU), re-signing as the naming rights partner for the next two years.
Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher, said the company had a long history with the TDU as naming rights sponsor since the 2010 event and was pleased it would continue its partnership for the upcoming 20th Anniversary celebrations.
“Santos is excited to extend its long term partnership with the Santos Tour Down Under for another two years. Much like our company does, the Santos Tour Down Under provides substantial economic and community benefits to South Australia and showcases this great state to the world,” Mr Gallagher said.
“While Santos has been delivering energy to Australian homes and businesses for more than 50 years, we are also committed to supporting our community by sponsoring important events like the Santos Tour Down Under.
“Since becoming the naming rights sponsor in 2010, we have been delighted to watch this event transform into the world renowned festival of cycling that it is today. In that time, the event has grown to a record 839,784 spectators in 2017 and the Santos Women’s Tour has developed into a UCI ranked event.”
Mr Gallagher said the agreement was reached following discussions with the South Australian Government which commenced at the time of the 2017 Santos Tour Down Under.
South Australian Minister for Tourism Leon Bignell said: “Santos has been a long-standing and valuable partner for the Santos Tour Down Under and the State Government is delighted to see their sponsorship continue until 2019.”
“Our continued partnership is testament to the success of the Santos Tour Down Under and the results it consistently delivers as the biggest cycling event outside of Europe,” he said.
“I would like to thank Santos and Kevin Gallagher for their ongoing support of the Santos Tour Down Under and their contributions to the development of cycling.
“We really value the wonderful partnership we have with Santos because their whole team get involved. They have an amazing ride to work ratio among their workforce and their staff volunteer in many roles during the Santos Tour Down Under.
“The Santos Tour Down Under and its associated events are critical to our tourism industry – last year’s race injected a massive $56.5 million into our State’s economy and created hundreds of jobs.
“The 2018 Santos Tour Down Under aims to deliver even bigger results as we aim for record crowds hitting the one million mark to celebrate the 20th edition of the race.”
