Richmond Football Club is able to announce that its joint major partners, Dick Smith and Luxbet.com, will be shifting their marketing focus from co-major partners to take a prominent community role with the Club from 2011.

The Club is now in a position to offer a significant major partnership opportunity in 2011 and beyond. 

General Manager of Dick Smith, Debra Singh, said the company had benefited from the partnership with the Club for the last three years.

“Our partnership with the Richmond Football Club has helped showcase the Dick Smith brand on and off the field,” Ms Singh said.

“In particular, our sponsorship helped us increase the profile of our complete home entertainment product offer from high definition televisions to digital recorders which have become a basic commodity for avid AFL fans,” she said.

Dick Smith will continue to partner with Richmond Football Club on community programs.

“Dick Smith and Richmond Football Club continue to share the same team colours and have a shared commitment to diversity. We look forward to continuing our relationship with the Club and the ‘Technology in The Territory’ program. The program will continue to support Indigenous students with their education in the Northern Territory,” Ms Singh said.

Luxbet.com, part of Tabcorp, is in their second season with the Club. 

“When we first launched the Luxbet.com brand in 2008, the Richmond Football Club provided an ideal fit to take this to a national audience.  We have been delighted with the partnership and exposure we have received and look forward to working together in the coming years,” said Craig Nugent, Managing Director Sportsbetting, Tabcorp.

“Dick Smith and Luxbet.com are wonderful business partners of the Club and we are pleased they have committed to us beyond 2010 - albeit in a different capacity,” Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said.

“It’s been a successful partnership, achieving their initial objectives, and will now focus on developing the next phase of our relationship.”

“In the meantime, this now presents an opportunity for the Club to offer a significant business partnership.  With our new training and administration base soon to be completed, and our team starting to emerge on-field, it is a very exciting time to be a part of the Club.  

“We are not shy about where we want to take this Club and we did not want to be shy about the size of the opportunity we think exists for someone to partner with us.  Everyone understands the loyalty of our supporter base and that is further reinforced by the fact we secured more than 42,000 members - it is a passion that can be harnessed to great effect.”