Soul Sports, organisers of the British Snowboarding hampionships, has signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with telecoms giant Orange.

The events organiser, based in Lewes Road, Brighton, is hosting the championships for the second year running.

The competition, held in the French Alps, is the most highly-regarded in the snowboarding calendar and hosts 150 athletes.

Soul Sports has secured Orange as title sponsors on a three-year contract.

The mobile phone giant, which owns the Carphone Warehouse, will advertise the event in its shops and at airports.

Enthusiasts unable to make it to France will be able to keep track of events through regular text-message updates.

Soul Sports director and former British snowboarding champion Stuart Brass was approached by Orange after last year's championships.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, is a major boost for the four-man company which started in 1999 as a promotion agency for snowboarders.

Mr Brass, 35, said: "Orange is a perfect partner for us because snowboarding is aspirational, glamorous and involves a lot of travel.

"It ties in perfectly with the image and lifestyle Orange wants to be associated with.

"It is able to give the event a degree of exposure which would be way beyond our budget and raise awareness of snowboarding."

Niamh Byrne, head of PR and sponsorship at Orange UK, described the deal as exciting.

She said: "We have been working hard with snowsports experts to come up with content, information, games, travel tips, weather reports, ring tones and logos that offer value to our customers and that, most importantly, are relevant to their lifestyles."

The competition is based on open entry for British passport holders and has a combined cash prize value of £10,000.

Besides the action on the slopes, Soul Sports has signed up top DJs to entertain the thousands of visitors expected.

Thursday March 04, 2004