Welsh Side Renames Ground After E-Cigrette Firm

A Welsh Premier League side has sealed a stadium naming rights deal with a local e-cigarette company.

Carmarthen Town will rechristen their Richmond Park ground the Vibrant Vapours Stadium as part of a sponsorship agreement with a local firm of the same name. The entrance to the ground now features the company's name and an image of a purple blob happily puffing away on his e-cig.

Leaving aside the fact that 'stadium' is something of a misnomer for this 3,000 capacity (1,000 seated) ground, concern has been raised about the presence of an e-cig firm at a local sports team, particularly given the number of young fans who attend.

Retired paediatrician and current town councillor Dr Dewi Evans told the Carmarthen Journal that the deal sent out the wrong message, "especially to youngsters who are always tempted to experiment, and while the tobacco and cancerogenic risks are removed with vaping and e-cigarettes there are still questions over the effects of nicotine on the body.

"Those are to do with how nicotine can effect the body's circulation. This sponsorship glamorises e-cigarettes and youngsters don't associate nicotine with the vapour and e-cigarettes, but they should.

"It's not all about being part of the cool crowd."

Perhaps Dr Evans has never been to see Carmarthen Town play. If he had, he would know that there is nothing glamorous about football at this level. The Premier League is a very long way east, Doc.

More seriously, the deal does raise interesting questions at a time when sponsor-named stadia are becoming increasingly common, even at the lower reaches of the game.

Vibrant Vapours' products are not available to the under-18s and are exempt from the smoking ban as they contain no tobacco. They are also a firm with a presence in the town (just five minutes walk from the ground) and in this sense seem a good choice for stadium naming.

However there is a question to be asked about whether their product is the most appropriate to advertise to a young audience.

Then again, at what point do we draw the line? York City's ground was named KitKat Crescent from 2005 to 2010 as part of a sponsorship deal with Nestle. Did that lead to an obesity epidemic in the football-following children of York?