English soccer club Darlington FC is offering companies the chance to enter a draw to become its main shirt sponsor for just UK£5000.

The £5000 (US$8000) investment will give each company a perimeter advertising board at the Northern Echo Arena, one full Match Sponsorship package including a full-page programme advert, a company logo in every matchday programme and a table of 10 at a Sportsman's Dinner next February. At that dinner, the companies will be entered into a free draw, with the winner being named as the League Two club's shirt sponsor next season.

The model has been used a number of times in the English lower divisions, generally returning more revenue than a standard shirt sponsorship at that level. Bristol Rovers secured some US$150,000 from a similar scheme earlier this year, an amount Darlington would no doubt be delighted to match.

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"I've said many times that we not only need the support of our fans, but also of our local businesses," said club chairman Raj Singh. "This is something we've never offered before and we believe it opens the availability of the shirt sponsorship to all ranges of businesses.

"Our deal with Darlington Building Society expires at the end of the season and we're grateful to the society for their support over the years. But this offers us a new direction and we believe this is a unique chance most companies can't afford to miss.

"A shirt sponsorship deal is a brilliant way to increase brand awareness, but it's probably something a lot of firms look at and think it's out of their reach. This will be within a lot of company's budgets and, at the end of the day, one lucky company will end up on the front of our shirt, so from a business point of view it's a no-brainer."