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Cape Town - South African telecommunications service providers, MTN, have confirmed that they are in discussions with SA Rugby over the prospect of a lucrative sponsorship.
A report surfaced over the weekend on SARugbymag that the sponsorship would kick in ahead of June's three-Test series against France and that it would be worth between "R40 million and R50 million" per year.
The deal would also see the MTN logo used on the front of the Bok jersey, replacing the Blue Label Telecoms branding that appeared throughout 2016.
While nothing has been confirmed yet, MTN confirmed to Sport24 on Monday that discussions were taking place.
"MTN is aware of the speculation surrounding the organisation being announced as the official sponsor of South Africa’s national rugby team," the company said via e-mail.
"The opportunity to sponsor the Springboks is an exciting and appealing proposal for any South African organisation. Rugby remains a passion point for most South Africans and it is often through supporting our national teams that the country becomes united.
"While MTN has been in discussions with SA Rugby, we are not at liberty to comment further on this. We are one of many organisations that have met with SA Rugby to discuss the various options available around the sport as a whole."
The obvious concern from an SA Rugby perspective would be how such a partnership would impact on Vodacom, the title sponsors of Super Rugby in the country.
Vodacom is expected to renegotiate its deal with SA Rugby at the end of the current Super Rugby season before the competition is restructured in 2018.
