NORTHERN Ireland’s leading ferry company Stena Line has flexed its sporting muscles by signing up to a further year as title sponsors with the Elite League ice hockey champions, the Belfast Giants.
The 2012/13 season, Stena Line’s first year of sponsorship, was the most successful yet for the Belfast Giants and the team will be hoping to retain the title this year, after winning their first game of the new season against the Tilburg Trappers last Saturday (1st September).
The Giants will return to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on 20th September to play their league season home opening game against the Dundee Stars.
Stena Line’s Area Director Michael McGrath believes the partnership is the perfect fit: “We have had a fantastic first year of sponsorship with the Belfast Giants and I’m delighted to announce a further year of the partnership,” said Michael.
“The Belfast Giants are much more than an ice hockey team. They are an outstanding example of how a professional sports organisation can mesh with the community. Winning trophies is always the measure of sports teams but it doesn’t show their contribution to their community.
“The Stena Line Belfast Giants provide excellent family entertainment, work with schools and youth organisations across Northern Ireland and through the Giants Foundation they are dedicated to making a positive impact in the community. Stena Line is proud to be associated with them through this title sponsorship,” he continued.
“As a giant of the ferry industry, this is the perfect match for Stena Line as the Giants travel throughout the UK to play and we provide more connections between the UK and the Ireland than any of our competitors on the Irish Sea,” Michael added.
Todd Kelman, General Manager of the Stena Line Belfast Giants said: “We are delighted to be going into our second season with Stena Line as our title sponsor. They were part of our most successful season ever on and off the ice and the partnership has been a perfect fit for the Giants and hopefully for Stena Line as well.
“We are looking forward to another great season of action and hopefully we can give Stena Line and the people of Northern Ireland another championship winning team they can be proud of,” he added.
Stena Line is the market leader on the Irish Sea, offering the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes from Ireland to Britain, including the Belfast to Cairnryan, Belfast to Liverpool (Birkenhead), Dun Laoghaire and Dublin Port to Holyhead, and Rosslare to Fishguard routes. The company carries more than two million passengers on its Irish Sea routes each year, more than its rival ferry operators combined.