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The Warrington Wolves is a rugby team based in Warrington, England. Some time ago, leadership (like that at many sports clubs) decided to ban electronic cigarette and vapor device use as part of their anti-smoking policy. But with the signing of a new sponsorship deal with e-cig company Truvape, the club rescinded its decision and is now both allowing vaping on the premises and is selling Wolves-branded electronic cigarettes in its shops.

Club representatives focused primarily on the health aspects of the decision rather than the financial upside for the club. In short, allowing smoking fans the option of e-cigs would cut down on the harm they do to themselves and any bystanding non-smoking fans.

According to the Wolves’ commercial manager, “We are firmly committed to helping our fans make informed choices, particularly when it comes to health and fitness. Obviously the best option is to never smoke at all, but as a percentage of our fans are already smokers, we are pleased to be able to encourage them to consider switching to alternatives…”

Though he admitted the original ban was set as a just in case precaution against the new industry, leadership at the club has since learned more and believe allowing the purchase and use of e-cigs is ultimately a good thing for their fans’ health. I’m sure Truvape made sure the club knew everything there was to know about the products before jumping into the deal. Meanwhile, it can’t hurt that reportedly more than 2 million people in the UK have switched to electronic cigarettes.

You can read more about the change in policy right here.

This is not the first club to allow vaping nor is it the first to place a ban and then rescind it. But now that marketing and advertising budgets for the industry are becoming more robust, it’s likely more changing like this will be made in the future.

Of course it’s easy to view this change skeptically and critically and assume it’s all about the money. Perhaps the Wolves leadership just have dollar signs for eyes. But even if this is the case, profit can be a great motivator to do the right thing — in this case, providing fans with a less harmful alternative to smoking. Meanwhile, the club is likely to breed less ill will among smoking fans as it shows there is a compromise alternative available.