As one of the more cerebral of team sports, rugby has always enjoyed strong and productive connections with Australia's universities, particularly the older sandstone institutions. But the sponsorship deal struck between the ACT Brumbies and the University of Canberra takes such affiliations to another level altogether.
In what is believed to be the first deal of its type done by an Australian university, the University of Canberra will have its name and logo emblazoned on the jersey of the Brumbies, a professional team competing in what is commonly regarded as the world's premier club competition, Super Rugby.
For the Brumbies the commercial union is equally significant. It may not quite make up for the sudden loss last December of a four-year sponsorship by Chinese technology group Huawei, but an extension to the one-year naming rights deal unveiled yesterday seems assured if the initial enthusiasm of Brumbies chief executive Andrew Fagan and UC vice-chancellor Stephen Parker is any gauge.
Precisely because the pact is so unusual for an academic institution, Professor Parker has been enthusiastic about its merits, arguing that it will not only boost his university's profile, but that it will help grow it as a ''sports university''. He envisages that longer-term, the partnership will come to resemble the ''North American model, where the university and the sports team are close together, where students are fans wanting to go to the games and [where] graduates want to be closer to the team''.
The Federal Government's decision to tie tertiary funding to enrolments means that name recognition domestically and internationally is more important than ever for any university that hopes to prosper and expand, and while buying the naming rights to a sporting team is certainly an unorthodox means of achieving that, it is not a foolhardy venture, or an exercise in vanity.
Just as the Brumbies must compete with such rivals as rugby league's Raiders for a share of crowd and corporate support in the ACT, so too must the University of Canberra find innovative ways to compete with the prestige and pulling power of the Australian National University.
Sports advertising works, as the steady flow of companies wishing to have their names attached to team uniforms and even cricket stumps attests. And, as Mr Fagan pointed out yesterday, the potential exposure for the University of Canberra's name and logo beyond the ACT extends to more than four million pay-TV viewers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa during the season.
What is more debatable, however, is whether $1 million invested elsewhere by a university, say in attracting top-tier academics or underwriting research likely to lead to publication in respected academic journals, might not result in a higher profile. For his part, Professor Parker was confident yesterday that the Brumbies deal would deliver a ''very significant return on our investment''. And he insisted ''absolutely nothing'' would be taken away from academic activities to fund the deal. ''We have a sponsorship budget and we're staying inside that,'' he said.
One potential downside for the university is that the Brumbies are not, at present, a winning proposition. The 2011 season was the club's most disappointing, with the result that it lost money as well as members. Loyal fans will be hoping otherwise, of course, but the year ahead may bring more of the same.
Even so, Professor Parker expects the deal will entice more UC students, staff and alumni to attend matches. His vision that the association might eventually lead to the sort of symbiotic relationship that US colleges enjoy with their football or basketball teams is rather more ambitious.
Part of the appeal of the US college sports system is that it is run along strictly amateur lines. Moreover, the rivalries go back decades, with many colleges offering scholarships to promising athletes in the hope of gaining a sporting edge over their opponents.
In the immediate term, as the UC tries to lift its profile as a ''sporting university'', the Brumbies link will present internship and other learning opportunities for students studying media, physiotherapy, sports medicine and coaching science degrees. Further benefits could flow with the possibility of the Brumbies relocating to the university in the coming years.
It is to be hoped this alliance will deepen Canberra's connection with, and affection for, its premier rugby team. Certainly, diehard Brumbies fans will be hoping that scoring a major sponsor before the season kick-off against the Western Force at Canberra Stadium on February 24 allows their team to focus on the important business of winning games.
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