Barclaycard agrees deal to sponsor Hyde Park events

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jan/22/barclaycard-deal-hyde-park

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Barclaycard has signed a deal worth as much as £7.5m to sponsor gigs and events at London's Hyde Park.

The finance brand has signed a five-year deal with the Royal Parks Agency, an executive agency within the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which administers that park, and US sports and events giant AEG.

The European operation of AEG, which owns assets including London's O2 arena and US football team LA Galaxy, was awarded a five-year contract to run events and gigs at Hyde Park late last year.

According to sponsorship industry sources the deal was touted in the market at £1.5m a year, which means it is likely to have been snapped up for between £5m and £7.5m. The financial details of the deal have not been confirmed.

Dan Mathieson, head of sponsorship at Barclaycard, promised it will introduce innovations in payment technology so fans will have "shorter queues, less waiting and no worries about losing cash".

Barclaycard has affiliations with the music industry including the sponsorship of the Mercury Prize.

AEG, which is up for sale with an $8bn-plus price tag, participated in a controversial bidding process that included rival Live Nation.

Live Nation, which ran events in the park for more than a decade, claims it pulled out of the bidding for a new contract after becoming frustrated with a "flawed" tender process.

The Royal Parks Agency claims that Live Nation, the world's biggest live music company, was already out of running for the contract when it decided to say it was leaving the bidding process.

Since 2001, events in Hyde Park have included Live 8 and concerts by high-profile acts such as Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Shania Twain.

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