The Gold Coast SUNS and Virgin Australia have signed a new sponsorship, extending their foundation agreement for the next five years.

The extended deal builds on the success of the first three year partnership; the SUNS have locked in a talented playing list, captain Gary Ablett Jr secured the club its first Brownlow medal and now the team has next year’s finals firmly in their sights.

Gold Coast SUNS CEO Travis Auld said he was delighted to have extended the club’s partnership with Virgin Australia.

“As a Club we are absolutely thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Virgin Australia for the next five years.

“Pleasingly both the Gold Coast SUNS and Virgin Australia share a number of similarities including a thirst for constant development of a modern, exciting product, coupled with a strong focus on culture and performance.

“We are committed to achieving our on and off field goals as a club, including building on a very successful 2013 , and we believe our continued partnership with Virgin Australia will help us yield many positive outcomes.”

Virgin Australia Chief Customer Officer Mark Hassell said hopes were high a premiership trophy would be making its way to the Gold Coast during the life of the new deal.

“This is not just a sponsorship, it is a partnership,” Mr Hassell said.

“We are privileged to have played a significant role in the growth of the Gold Coast SUNS over the past three years and we are extremely proud of what the team has done for the game and for the Gold Coast.

“This season alone we have flown the team more than 33,000 kilometres to and from matches and we have brought football fans from around the country to watch their team play the SUNS.

“We want to take this partnership to the next level and we look forward to working with the SUNS to increase engagement with fans and customers and to promote the Gold Coast around Australia”, Mr Hassell said.

The new agreement between Virgin Australia and the Gold Coast SUNS is planned to include signage, game day hospitality and innovative new approaches to engaging fans and customers.

The SUNS entry in the Virgin Australia film festival has had 20,000 views to date, giving fans an exhilarating behind the scenes look at the club’s high altitude training camp in Arizona.