The first team of Força Lleida will compete in the ACB under the name Ilerna Lleida starting July 1, after the club and the educational company have closed a main sponsorship agreement for three seasons, with an option to extend. The presentation was held at the company's new headquarters, in the Neoparc industrial estate, under a banner with the slogan "Un nou nom, la mateixa força."
The change comes with the club's debut in the top category and maintains a line that the entity considers a priority: to continue linking its commercial name to a local company. Albert Aliaga, president of Força Lleida, stressed that the club had received interest from companies from outside the city, but argued that the jersey should continue to display a local brand after eight years of sponsorship with ICG Software, based in Torrefarrera.
Aliaga set a budget of 6 million for the next season
During the event in the Ilerna auditorium, Aliaga placed the club's accounts at the close of the current fiscal year and advanced the forecast for the next one. He explained that the entity will finish this season with a budget of about 5.8 million euros and that the idea is to start the next one with about 6 million.
The sporting roadmap, in any case, does not change with the entry of the new sponsor. The president maintained that the team's objective in its ACB debut will be to secure permanence.
In addition, Aliaga announced that the club will publish the season ticket campaign for the next season the week after the presentation.
Ilerna wants to extend its brand in the arena and in other ACB cities
Jordi Giné, CEO and founder of Ilerna, framed the agreement within a strategy to project the company from Lleida to the rest of the market. The company wants to develop the sponsorship within the arena, in the digital environment, and also in the cities where the team travels during the season.
"We want to take the name of Lleida everywhere, but always rooted in our territory and we have to go step by step" - Jordi Giné, CEO and founder of Ilerna
Giné added that this expansion fits with the profile of the center's students. He specified that 80% of its students are from outside Catalonia and that for this reason the company is interested in gaining presence throughout the territory.
The agreement between both parties also includes the participation of students from the center in the club's activity on match days. Among the planned tasks is collaboration in the marketing department.
The new team name will come into effect on July 1 with a main contract of three renewable seasons.