By David Gold
September 10 – Brazilian outfit São Paulo have signed a new shirt sponsorship agreement with Semp Toshiba, in a R$23 million (£7.1 million/$11 million/€8.6 million) a year deal running through until the end of 2014.
The Brazilian club wore their new sponsors logo on their shirts for the first time during their league clash with Internacional last week, which they drew 1-1.
São Paulo are one of the country’s biggest clubs with three Copa Libertadores titles to their name, but have been left in the shadows in recent years by the likes of Internacional, Santos and city rivals Corinthians – the last three winners of South America’s biggest continental cup competition.
The six times Brasileiro champions enjoyed their best success during the early 1990s, and are Brazil’s third most valuable club.
They had been searching for a new shirt sponsor for eight months after a deal with banking group BMG expired last season.
“This is a partnership that has everything to be a success,” São Paulo’s vice-president of communications and marketing Julio Casares said.
“Hopefully it will extend for decades and perhaps repeat the period of titles we had with our last long-term partner.”
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