Compaq rugby deal latest of many IT sporting hooks

Compaq UK is extending its sponsorship of the Rugby League team Bradford Bulls, supplementing its reputation as one of the biggest IT brands in British sports sponsorship. The firm said in a press release that the £500,000 two-year deal would help boost marketing initiatives in the north of England.

Compaq recently agreed to sponsor the PGA European Tour event at Slaley Hall this year, to be called the Compaq European Grand Prix, and was until recently the main sponsor of Queens Park Rangers Football Club. However, the firm's big bucks approach hasn't always won fans: German tennis star Boris Becker once referred to the prize money offered at the Compaq Grand Slam event as "obscene".

Other PC vendors familiar to sport viewers include rival UK PC makers Elonex which sponsors Wimbledon Football Club (and previously Southend Football Club), plus televised snooker, cricket and rallying, and Viglen, the main sponsor of Charlton Athletic Football Club. In software, Corel Systems has become a sponsor of tennis's ATP tour. Hewlett-Packard is the name on the front of Tottenham Hotspur shirts despite Amstrad's Alan Sugar being in charge of the club, while Microsoft, Digital and Canon were all big names behind the Euro 96 tournament in England in the summer.