RBS reduces sporting sponsorship
The impact of ' decision to cut its by half by next year should not be underestimated.
In the last decade it had never reached before, and project itself as much more a world bank than the parochial British bank it was perceived to be.
The bank's investment in sport has been perhaps the most significant example of how the . And it is easy to see how .
Bernie Ecclestone has been pushing the sport into new markets and seeking to . So sponsorship of the Williams team chimed nicely with RBS' ambition.
But with , RBS and Williams have been in talks since October.
Both sides are keen to make out what they have agreed is now an orderly withdrawal and responded to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ in characteristically bullish mood, insisting the team will survive.
But as Nigel Currie, director of Brand Rapport, put it to me, this is a major blow for Williams, and indeed and sport in general.
Just like the financial industry, the years of expansion are now catching up with F1, and .
RBS's other global ambassadors are already feeling the heat. It is believed the bank has lavished £200m on sponsorship, , through to Sir Jackie Stewart, Zara Phillips, and Sachin Tendulkar.
Tendulkar, for example, was given a lucrative contract only a few months ago, with the recent India-England Test series played for . RBS employs some 10,000 people in India. There will be cutbacks there and, like all sponsorship activity, the sporting investment in India will also now be reviewed.
The reaction from those global ambassadors has been mixed. Murray, who has had RBS support since he was 13, recognises the bank is in trouble and that he has to take a pay cut. But . Expect hard talks in the week and months ahead.
The one sponsorship RBS is keen to continue is Six Nations rugby, which it . For the bank, this fits in with its desire to now revert to concentrating on its core banking business in the UK and Ireland.
Nevertheless, cost cutting at the bank is now the prime focus of its Strategic Review. This will see a 25% reduction in sponsorship and related costs in 2009 and around 50% by 2010. Non-contractual costs in F1 have already been reduced by over 50%. And it has cancelled trackside advertising for 2010. In all RBS sponsorships, hospitality costs in 2009 have been reduced by around 90%.
The message could not be clearer.
Sports like football may still be able to do , but in the current climate, the days of businesses throwing money at sport are at an end.
Mihir Bose's blog is no longer being updated. You can read recent entries about ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport's coverage and insights into the latest issues on the 
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