NEC extends Essendon sponsorship to AFL women’s team

The team at NEC Australia are sure to have sore throats by the end of the week, cheering on the AFLW Bombers as a new partner along with the Invictus Games Australian team competing in Germany.

The Australian branch of global technology consulting and services firm NEC has extended its partnership with the Essendon Football Club to now include support for the Bombers’ AFLW team. And while the men’s team may have bombed out in the race for the finals after a promising start to the season, NEC has at least been keeping itself busy cheering on the Australian squad at the Invictus Games, of which it is also a major supporter.

An official ICT Solutions partner and naming rights sponsor of the club's high performance training and administrative base known as ‘The Hangar’ since 2020, NEC’s new two-year partnership will include off-field training and employment opportunities for Essendon’s AFLW players who may be interested in a career in the tech sector.

NEC said in a statement the partnership is a testament to the shared vision of fostering growth and excellence both on and off the field.

“This genuine partnership is an investment in the future of women’s football and a commitment to furthering the development of high-performance players at the NEC Hangar,” stated NEC A/NZ president and CEO Jason Price. “The tech sector and elite sport are high performing industries. NEC is thrilled to be providing rewarding opportunities for Essendon’s AFLW players to explore and nurture their careers off the football field in the tech sector.”

As part of the original deal, NEC has been tasked with supporting the EFC’s ambitions to become a league-leader in tech innovation, both as to team performance and its data and analytics departments as well as in terms of customer experience. One such example is an overhaul of Essendon’s outdated contact-centre, which was struggling to field up to 600 membership calls per day in a timely manner prior to implementing the cloud-based NEC CX Plus solution.

Essendon isn’t unfamiliar with consultants among its mix of course. Prior to being pushed out last year, former president Paul Brasher spent the best part of three decades as a partner at PwC, including five years as the firm’s global chairman. Meanwhile, Essendon’s current deputy chair Dorothy Hisgrove is KPMG’s national managing partner of people & inclusion, who was joined on the board last year by former EY partner and PwC executive David Wills.

As the AFLW gets stuck into its eighth season, NEC will also have one eye on the other side of the globe as a premier partner of the Australian team at the Invictus Games, which is currently underway in Germany. Founded by Prince Harry in 2014 upon his return from deployment in Afghanistan, the Invictus Games are a multi-national sporting competition for current and former military personnel who have been wounded, injured or fallen ill during their service.

“Invictus speaks to the power of sport in generating awareness for the challenges our service personnel experience in their post injury journeys, and NEC Australia is so proud to be a partner,” Price wrote on LinkedIn. “We’ve been watching the games in Düsseldorf intently over the week and continue to wish team Australia all the best throughout this week. Your fighting spirit and tenacity is an inspiration to us all, especially to those in recovery or rehabilitation.”

It's been fantastic for us to see such extraordinary individuals showcase their talents on the world stage, overcoming adversity by connecting through the power of sport. NEC is proud to partner with such an inspiring organisation.