Gloucester Rugby has announced that Blackeye Gin has been named as its new official gin partner for the next three years.
Founded by Gloucester Rugby Hall of Famer Mike Tindall, rugby star James Haskell and broadcaster Alex Payne, Blackeye Gin was born out of the overwhelming enthusiasm from the loyal listeners of the founders’ podcast, The Good, The Bad, & The Rugby, who initially suggested the creation of a gin. Since then, the trio has developed a brand on a mission to support the future of rugby by creating a fund with the backing of a global advisory board and substantial support from iconic rugby figures. From each bottle sold, £1.50 will be contributed to the fund, which focuses on three key pillars: Research, Risk, and Recovery for both current and former rugby players. The fund aims to address significant challenges in the sport and become one of the largest donors to rugby-related causes within the next five years.
As part of the partnership, Blackeye Gin will secure naming rights to the Chairman’s Club, a new premium hospitality lounge at Kingsholm Stadium, which will be renamed the Blackeye Gin Chairman’s Club. Throughout Kingsholm, Blackeye Gin will be available exclusively in all hospitality and public bars (with the exception of flavoured gin options). In addition, ready-to-drink Blackeye Gin cans will be stocked in each of the stadium’s 37 hospitality boxes.
Fans can also look forward to the release of a limited-edition Gloucester Rugby x Blackeye Gin bottle during the upcoming holiday season, with further details to follow soon.
Alex Brown, CEO of Gloucester Rugby, shared his enthusiasm for the new partnership: “We are delighted to welcome Blackeye Gin to the Gloucester Rugby family. With Mike, James and Alex as founders, Blackeye Gin has a deep-rooted connection with the sport and The Blackeye Rugby Fund does fantastic things to support players, which we are really happy to support. I know our partnerships team are already working with Blackeye on some exciting activations to come over the three-year deal and hopefully beyond. We’re looking forward to seeing how this relationship develops in the future.”
Mike Tindall, Blackeye Gin co-founder, also expressed excitement about joining forces with Gloucester Rugby: “We’re thrilled to join Gloucester Rugby as official gin partner – a club incredibly close to my heart after spending such a big part of my career there. We’ve often described our brand as the unofficial spirit of the game, and it’s amazing that we’re now the official spirit of Gloucester Rugby.”
James Haskell, Blackeye Gin co-founder continued: “This is an exciting partnership for us – our first as a brand, and carefully chosen. Rugby is the very fabric of our Blackeye Gin and our mission is to become one of the sport’s biggest donors. We can’t wait to implement the plans we’ve got in the pipeline – watch this space!”
Final Blackeye Gin co-founder Alex Payne also outlined his thoughts: “Blackeye Gin reflects the physical and emotional resilience and kinship between rugby players and supporters, and its unique combination of botanicals are sourced from each of the leading rugby nations. We know fans are going to love it – we recently won a Double Gold Medal at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition – so why not swap a beer for a Blackeye, and help the game you love!”