Bulldogs' sponsorship deal under threat

The Bulldogs' new $2 million sponsorship deal with retailer Strathfield could be under threat after complaints from Telstra.

Telstra, who are the NRL's main sponsors, have voiced concerns about the Bulldogs
linking up with a company who sell rival Optus products.
Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg admitted he did not speak to the NRL about
the deal before agreeing to the lucrative arrangement, which was announced on
Thursday, but said he was hopeful it will not be scrapped.
"I have apologised for not giving the NRL the heads up but my thought process was
that we were dealing with a group I term as an audio car retailer and I didn't in
any way, shape of form think it would fall into the telecommunications category,"
Greenberg said.
"We are currently in talks with the NRL to determine what can be done and hopeful
that a workable solution can be found to make sure we keep such a significant
sponsorship in rugby league.
"I am due to have talks with Telstra and the NRL over the next 24 hours ... these
are tough economic times but we need to be conscious of the fact the NRL have a deal
in place with Telstra.
"The NRL have been supportive so far and I have had good dialogue with them so I am
hopeful we can resolve any differences we may have."
Chairman of the Strathfield Group, Vaz Hovanessian, said only 10 per cent of his
company's turnover was from sales of Optus phones and hoped the deal would remain in
place.