Winfield (cigarette) - Sport Sponsorship

Sport Sponsorship

Winfield was once a major sponsor of rugby league within Australia, including being the title sponsor for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership from 1982. The trophy given to the winner of the grand final was called the Winfield Cup. However due to the Australian Federal Government passing the Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 the brand was forced to end its sponsorship following the end of the 1995 NSWRL season. Winfield branding was carried by the Williams F1 Team during the 1998 and '99 seasons. The Tobacco Advertising Prohibition Act 1992 expressly prohibited almost all forms of tobacco advertising in Australia, including the sponsorship of sporting or other cultural events by cigarette brands. Some limited exemptions were granted for Formula One racing and golf tournaments, however. Winfield's sponsorship of Rugby League is often credited for the brand's great success throughout the 80's and early 90's, particularly amongst young people. Also during 1992-1995, Winfield sponsored the Australian Touring Car Championship team of Gibson Motorsport, only to have to opt out of this arrangement when the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), made the decision to outlaw tobacco sponsorship in all forms of Australian Motorsport. It was this sponsorship that saw the Winfield name shown at the famous Mount Panorama circuit, with a win at the Bathurst 1000 for Gibson Motorsport's R32 Skyline (Mark Skaife/Jim Richards), which due to the high cost of racing the Skylines, the large amounts of sponsorship money from BAT helped. This deal continued until Bathurst 1994, where tobacco sponsorship had been outlawed after the first two years of the then new V8 formula.