Ray White, has kicked off the most significant sports sponsorship deal ever in its 123 year history. For the 2025 AFL season, there will be a Ray White presence in five states across the country, with each Ray White state office involved in the prolific Australian Football League (AFL) sponsorship strategy.
In 2025 and beyond, Ray White will sponsor five different AFL teams across four states: reigning premiers, the Brisbane Lions, reigning minor premiers, the Sydney Swans, 2023 premiers, the Collingwood Magpies, the Port Adelaide Power and the Adelaide Crows. Ray White Western Australia will also support Fremantle and the West Coast Eagles with LED signage across all games.
The sponsorship coordination comes as Ray White unveiled its new brand platform: “we bring the whole team”.
The new brand platform was inspired by Ray White’s significant investment into customer relationship technology platform, NurtureCloud. With NurtureCloud, Ray White customers benefit from the combined insights and interactions of its 12,000+ members throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Todd Alexander, head of marketing for the Ray White Group, said the AFL partnerships provided huge opportunities across the group to engage with a huge audience. “AFL is the most watched sport in Australia, and Ray White’s visibility across five states is symbolic of its reach with millions of vendors, buyers, tenants, landlords and open home attendees,” Alexander said.
“Sporting clubs in particular AFL clubs are renowned for cultivating some of the best high performing cultures in the country.
“Ray White is built on a foundation of leadership, ambition and high performance and there’s an alliance before us where we can engage, share and learn from the best.
“Preparing for a season of AFL is no different to preparing for a year in real estate, it takes everyone in the team understanding their role and playing it to the best of their ability. Understanding how some of the best football clubs in the country operate in this space, create a vision, achieve buy-in from all aspects of the business and executive, and this can translate into real estate.
“Ultimately, if through these partnerships our business leaders can evolve and be better, then we’ll have better businesses in our network.
“Commercially, the AFL can give us direct access to a new audience to engage with on a different level outside of the sales process,” Alexander concluded.
As AFL seeps into NRL territory, Ray White Queensland and Ray White New South Wales | ACT are capitalising on its growing popularity.
“We have a long and proud legacy of community engagement and this sponsorship allows for deeper connections with the local community, enhancing our reputation and loyalty among Queensland residents,” said Jason Andrew, CEO of Ray White Queensland.
“By associating with a successful team like the Brisbane Lions, this boosts our brand’s image, reflecting qualities of excellence and high performance.
“The partnership facilitates unique marketing campaigns and promotional activities that engage customers, keeping Ray White top-of-mind. We are enormously proud of this best in market partnership.”
Tim Snell, CEO of Ray White New South Wales | ACT, hopes that the Sydney Swans – runners up and minor premiers in 2024, will be the one to get the chocolates this year. “Our high-performance partnership with the Sydney Swans over the next three seasons expands on the best in market training we already provide as a group,” Mr Snell said.
“With access to coaches and players, fan days, games and exceptional marketing opportunities, Ray White’s partnership with the Swans has given us the chance to amplify our name with an exponentially growing fan base.”
“We know that a continuous association with such a beloved, significant organisation like the Swans boosts our community ties.”
Domenic Belfiore, CEO of Ray White Victoria | Tasmania, was proud to announce the partnership between his team and the 2023 AFL Premiers, the Collingwood Football Club.
“Side by side, Ray White and Collingwood share a deep history and a commitment to excellence. Both organisations embody high-performance cultures, family-first values, leadership development, and a relentless drive to win,” Mr Belfiore said.
“This partnership is more than just a sponsorship; it is a strategic alignment of two powerhouse organisations committed to winning—on the field and in the market.
“With Ray White’s ambition to lead every local real estate market and Collingwood’s vision to dominate the AFL landscape, the collaboration sets a new benchmark for industry partnerships.”
Ray White South Australia | Northern Territory started the AFL trend eight years ago, with an enduring commitment to the Port Adelaide Football Club.
This year, its AFL commitment has expanded to the Adelaide Crows, with further brand exposure in the form of LED signage, tickets for network members and hospitality packages.
“Our enduring partnership with the Port Adelaide Football Club has been the cornerstone of our community marketing commitment in South Australia for eight years,” said Matt Lindblom, CEO of Ray White South Australia | Northern Territory.
“As the rest of the company embraces the breadth and depth of opportunity within an AFL partnership, we’re proud to expand our support to the Adelaide Crows,” he said.
“Australian Rules football is part of the South Australian social fabric, and our presence with both teams in such a culturally significant touchstone only grows our engagement among fans and patrons.”
Completing the Ray White AFL story, and truly symbolising the ethos of “we bring the whole team”, Ray White Western Australia will support both the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Dockers football teams with LED signage.
Mark Whiteman, CEO of Ray White Western Australia, said this commitment rounded out a comprehensive and holistic approach to community engagement for the group across Australia.
“Each state will see the Ray White name, logo and brand platform, we bring the whole team, in at least one game per week. This is extraordinary exposure,” he said.
“We’re committed to showing our members and our customers that our reach extends beyond their signboards or online listings – we are deeply embedded in the community and want to support the culture of high performance that permeates the AFL competition.”
All the partnerships will be reviewed to assess their impact on brand awareness and the business overall.
