By Graham K. Rogers

Epson corporation has announced that it is extending its sponsorship deal with the Manchester United football Team for a further three years until the end of the 2014/15 season, and as part of the deal will be the club's official office equipment supplier.

Epson General Manager of Global Communications, Ian Cameron, commented: "We are delighted to have concluded this new agreement. This is an exciting partnership and we see it as an opportunity to strengthen connections with our customers around the world, particularly in emerging markets."

As well as advertising at the Old Trafford ground of Manchester United, the office equipment part of the deal has allowed MUTV to benefited from the modern ultra-short throw Epson projectors. This means projected images of the stadium can be used as studio backdrop, instead of having to light the actual stadium for filming. The use of projected installations in the players' gym make training more engaging. Epson printing technology is also used to produce all match day information, like team sheets and all official photography.

Manchester United's Commercial Director, Richard Arnold comments: "We are delighted to continue the relationship with Epson and to further develop the shared benefits it brings." He added, "Like Manchester United, Epson is a global brand and its innovation in new technologies keeps it at the forefront of its industry."

Richard Arnold also said that "Recently Epson celebrated our record 19th league title with our fans by taking the Epson Champ19ns Experience to Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Over 20,000 fans visited the museum exhibition covering the history of the 19 titles, culminating in a state of the art 3D Epson projection of the current squad."

More information is available from the Epson press release.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.