Asian Weekly Sponsorship Round Up

The wrap-up this week includes an update on the Asia-Pacific sports conference in Singapore

and news that the Chinese Basketball Association had closed the door to NBA players under

contract.
There was the usual round of new sponsorships in soccer, motorsports and golf.



The newly-elected Singaporean politician Chan Chun Sing will be guest of honour at the

upcoming Asia-Pacific Sports Conference.

The conference, focusing on the role of sports events, will concentrate on researching and

encouraging further developments in the industry. Some 200 industry persons from

organizing committees, federations, governments, agencies and sports events suppliers are

expected to attend.


The conference programme will address topics including: sports event bidding, stadiums &

venue management, how to attract sponsors, how to make successful bids as well as case

studies on major sporting events in Asia-Pacific. Delegates will be able to take part in focused

workshops and listen to experienced speakers discussing how to overcome the critical

challenges in hosting sports events.


The event has attracted some of the most respected, high-profile leaders in the sector,

including Captain Husain Al-Musallam, Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Teo Ping

Low, VP of Singapore National Olympic Council and President of Singapore Rugby Union, Pang

Chung, Honorary Secretary General of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong

Kong and Toh Sen Nee, Assistant Secretary General, Asean Football Federation.

James Clarke, Senior Vice President of World Sport Group is expected to be on hand as well as

David Voth, Senior Director, Sport Business at Singapore Sports Council, Satoshi Saito,Director

of Marketing, AFC, Asian Football Confederation, Eric Lynge, Director for TV and Broadcast,

ASIAN Tour.


The Asia-Pacific Sports Conference will be held on 27-28 September at the Grand Copthorne

Waterfront Hotel in Singapore.



In basketball news, there’s been little reaction to the announcement that the Chinese Basketball

Association has blocked locked-out NBA athletes from playing in its league.

The chance to play in China has been profitable for contract players locked out of the American

league with the possibility of making as much as USD $60,000 a month.


The new ban doesn’t apply to free agents. These players will be allowed to sign with CBA teams

but they won’t be able to return to the US if the NBA lockout ends during the current season.


The CBA’s 17 teams had previously been able to to sign up as many as three foreign players as

long as one of them was Asian.


The American league has been locked out for eight weeks. An update on NBA.com reports no

new talks have been scheduled with the players’ association.



In sponsorship news, Premier League champions Manchester United has capitalized on its

popularity in Southeast Asia by adding another sponsor to its ever-growing roster of financial

backers. The latest deal is with Malaysian snacks producer Mamee Double Decker Bhd.


The agreement allows the company’s potato crisp brand, Mister Potato to use the club’s logo

and images of the players on branding and advertising in Malaysia.


‘Through our partnership with Manchester United, Mister Potato will bring you closer to delicious

English and European football from now until 2014," a statement on the company’s website

reads. "Look out for exciting contests, great giveaways, free merchandise, and even a chance

to meet the Manchester United team themselves, at Old Trafford. "



Thai AirAsia has become a major sponsor of nine Thai soccer teams. The deal, worth about USD

$1.7 million, involves Buriram PEA, Muangthong United, Chonburi, Osotspa-Saraburi, BEC and

Chiang Rai United from the Thai Premier League and teams in Division 1 included in the deal

are Samut Prakarn Customs, FC Phuket and Suphanburi.


As well as providing travel services for the teams, Thai AirAsia will also offer youth training

clinics with top players from the teams under the guidance of popular Thai footballer Piyapong

Pue-on.



The sportswear brand, Uniting Future Legends (UFL) has become the official apparel partner of

the Asia-Pacific Golf Tour.


A planned marketing strategy will include setting up "Team UFL" composed of five leading

OneAsia players as brand ambassadors.


UFL founder Ashok Mahtani said the partnership with OneAsia will allow the company to expand

its horizon in supporting young golfers in Asia. "Golf is a multi-billion dollar industry in Asia," he

said, "…employing over 300,000 people region-wide. The youth market in Asia affords us the

opportunity to grow our business while becoming part of golf’s new history."



The week closes off with motorsport news as the Indian telecommunications company Bharti

Airtel announced its partnership with Formula One Group Companies as that country joins the

prestigious club of Grand Prix racing.


Company representative Sanjay Kapoor and Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone recently

unveiled the official logo of Airtel Grand Prix of India.

The first race is scheduled for Oct. 30 at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida (Uttar

Pradesh, India.)


Bharti Airtel serves more than 228 million customers with operations in 19 countries across

Asia and Africa. The company has been ranked among the six best performing technology

companies in the world by Business Week.

Weekly Asian Sponsorship Round Up

It’s been an active week with another takeover move by Tony Fernandes as well as news of Chinese enterprise expanding to the USA. There were broadcast deals, sponsorship announcements in motorsports and football and money problems with the upcoming Asia Games.

Tony Fernandes is at it again. The dynamic Malaysian entrepreneur has spread his net even further. This time, he bought the Queens Park Rangers. The introduction of a powerful new owner to the 2011 Football League champions is expected to add some serious money to help develop new talent.

Forbes magazine estimates the Fernandes fortune to be worth about USD $330 million. The Air Asia executive controls the Formula One group Team Lotus and is president of the ASEAN Basketball League.


The Chinese alternative energy producer Yingli Green Energy has expanded its football sponsorship into the American market. The company will become the United States Soccer Federation’s official renewable energy partner in an arrangement with the men’s, women’s and youth teams for the next four years.

US Soccer is the official governing body in North America with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois.

A Yingli spokesperson said  the company was set to to capture about 15% of the North American solar market this year and its soccer deal with help develop brand recognition in that country.


In media news, ESPN Star Sports will broadcast the 2011 Rugby World Cup in various regions across Asia.

Each of the tournament’s 48 games will be aired live in Singapore, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Vietnam. The competition, hosted by New Zealand, kicks off on 9th September.

Rugby World Cup Ltd. executive Mike Miller said Asia is a major growth region for rugby and his organization is committed to ensuring that sports fans across the territory are able to experience their showcase event.

“ESPN Star Sports is recognized as Asia’s leading sports broadcaster and through extensive Rugby World Cup 2011 programming, it will deliver the platform for rugby to engage new fans across the region,” he said.

ESPN Star Sports managing director, Manu Sawhney, added: “We are delighted to bring the third largest sporting event in the world to rugby fans across Asia. We have a proud history of rugby programming and have screened every RWC tournament since 1999, which underscores our commitment to bring the best in worldwide sports to our viewers in Asia.”

Asia is a rapidly developing market for rugby. Participation in the sport has increased by 18 per cent since 2007.


New sponsorships this week include the announcement that UPS has renewed its sponsorship of the Japanese racing group Team Taisan. The arrangement will maintain the partnering arrangement with the global courier helping the team transport racing car parts and equipment to events around the world in return for logo branding on cars and team member uniforms.

The new deal ensures that combined charity activities will continue. One project last year invited children from the Chofu Gakuen foster home to watch the Formula Nippon Fuji Sprint Cup and visit Team Taisan’s pit garage.

Team Taisan competes in the Super GT series and the Electric Vehicle Grand Prix.


Carlsberg is now Arsenal’s official beer. The Danish brewer will be partnered with the north London Premier League club for the next three seasons while the brewery’s range of beer, ale and cider will have exclusivity within the club’s 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium.

The arrangement will give Carlsberg unique marketing rights to promote the relationship to the team’s growing fan base across Southeast Asia. The Arsenal Football Cub recently completed a pre-season tour of Malaysia and China.

“We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Carlsberg, a truly global brand with real history and heritage within football," said Arsenal’s head of global partnerships, Vinai Venkatesham.

Keld Strudahl, Carlsberg's international marketing director, added, "Arsenal and Carlsberg have much in common. Both are well known, established brands, recognized around the globe.”

The Gunners - one of the most successful clubs in English football - are the only team to have completed an entire Premier League season unbeaten.


The week ended off with news from the upcoming Southeast Asia Games. Organizers of the event have asked the Indonesian government to release funds for the games that are set to begin in that country in less than three months.

Spokesperson Rachmat Gobel said the organizing committee is waiting for government authorities to sign a decree releasing the funds which are necessary to complete venue construction and renovations for the Games.

Legislation requires that sponsorship funds be first transferred into the state’s budget before being used for the event.

The 26th Southeast Asian Games will be held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia this November. The Games will feature hundreds of events in some 44 disciplines from archery to wushu.

 

50 Greatest Sport Ads

Very US centric but there are some great ads here (Warning:  Do not click this link unless you have an hour to kill...)

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/804007-the-50-most-iconic-commercials-sports-history/page/18

Between the eyeballs and the action

Between the eyeballs and the action is where there is gold to be found. Sponsors pay top dollar to get their message in front of you because that is where your focus is.

Yet the game is changing.

Facebook announced it will be screening an FA Cup Football Match. Back in October of last year I wrote about the potential drastic change we will see when brands can utilise this technology for targeted marketing.

See the original post here



Whilst the guys behind the digital boards at Premiership football are just starting to roll out regional market technology (the ability for viewers in Asia to only see Asian brands on the hoardings), our prediction is that technology will quickly be superseded as more and more people watch games through browsers.

Either the browsers themselves will become the most valuable component OR the browsers ability to insert brands into the action will become key.

Having watched the Americas Cup on YouTube recently I can assure you I was not aware of a single bit of advertising in the browser, but was very aware of the brands on the boats.  Had the software replaced those logos with more targeted logos it would have been very effective.

Legally it opens up a crazy can of worms, but from a pure technology standpoint I would expect to see it happening soon.

The art of flight - Redbull

We've been trying to ween ourselves off Redbull promo videos.  But... watch this and you'll understand.

Weekly Asian Sports Sponsorship Round Up

The news this week includes a summertime update from the Premier League as well as media
deals and sponsorship announcements in snooker and sailing.


The summer of 2011 has seen Manchester United focus on the team’s American market.
Several key players including Thierry Henry joined the New York Red Bulls to help promote
soccer in the USA.

The Red Bulls, backed by their new sponsor the courier company DHL, toured various cities and
a crowd of 82,000 watched United play against Champions League final opponents Barcelona in
Washington, DC.

The off season has been profitable for Manchester United by adding several new deals to their
considerable roster of sponsors.

Forbes Magazine describes the reigning Premier League champions as the most valuable sports
team in the world with a net worth of about USD $1.83 billion.

Meanwhile the Chelsea Football Club has been spending the off season developing the
Southeast Asian market.

The Blues visited Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong playing exhibition games, holding meet
and greets and signing autographs. The team hired the UK-based agency ECN Management to
develop the commercial potential in the Chinese market of 19 current players such as Fernando
Torres and David Luiz. “We hope to work closely to build on our players’ image and reputation
in China,” said Chelsea representative Ron Gourlay.

Team members coached groups of Hong Kong youngsters in a project with the Asian Football
Confederation and the Barclays Spaces for Sports initiative to develop grassroots soccer.

The Chelsea Football Club is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the seventh most valuable soccer
club with a current revenue stream of some USD$313 million. Chelsea enters the Premier
League’s next season with premium partners Samsung and Adidas, platinum partners Thomas
Cook Sport, EA Sports, 188 Bet and Singha and official suppliers Dolce & Gabbana, Lucozade
Sport, Laurent Perrier and Viagogo.


In broadcasting news, Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank has announced that his next bout
will be televised on HBO. The Pac-Man meets Juan Manuel Marquez November 12th in what has
been described as the fight of the year.

The Filipino champion’s last fight against Shane Mosley was broadcast on Showtime. Top Rank
spokesperson Todd DeBoef said HBO had a better offer.

“HBO’s proposal included all of the Time Warner entities — which include both digital and cable
nets,” he said. “, its publications and very aggressive marketing — and that was obviously
something that we were interested in.”

The pair last fought in 2008 with Pacquiao, an eight division world champion, winning by split
decision.

The Mexican-born Marquez is a three-division world champion. Ring Magazine ranks the 37-
year-old as the number four pound-for-pound boxer in the world.


In more broadcast news, the international media group Trace TV is bringing its sports channel
to Asia. The celebrity-focused sports channel Trace Sports will be carried across the AsiaSat
network and will debut on Hong Kong Broadband Network’s bbtv.

Coverage will be strictly limited to sports with celebrities, personal stories and lifestyle content.
The channel will broadcast in English with subtitles in Mandarin and Korean and be available to
cable, DTH, broadband and mobile platforms across Asia and Australasia.


In marketing news, MediaCom Worldwide has launched a new sports division. The new group
will focus on providing clients with access to marketing opportunities and managing relations
with key sporting bodies. Other priorities will include strategic advice, rights negotiations, rights
activation and measurement.

MediaCom Chairman and CEO, Stephen Allan said he wants the company to focus on a more
global approach to sports and to give the best opportunities to their clients.

The division will be headed by former IMG Asia Pacific executive Marcus John.


New sponsorships this week include China’s Bank of Communications that’s become title
sponsor of the Shanghai Masters snooker tournament. The Masters, to be held at the Shanghai
Grand Stage in September, will be broadcast by Shanghai Media Group.


The week’s news rounded off with sailing. China’s only challenger to the America’s Cup, China Team, has announced three new sponsors: The online game Firefall created by Red5 Studios, the fashion company, Tony Studio and the handbag maker Mbaobao.

The America’s Cup, the oldest active trophy in international sport, is awarded to the winner
of a race of sailing yachts. The Cup is one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events and
attracts the top sailors, yacht designers and sponsors.

China Team spokesperson Wang Chaoyong said the main objective was to attract a younger
generation of entrepreneurs as partners and sponsors.

“Unlike the traditional sponsors of the America’s Cup challengers, these new generation of
companies can relate to the Chinese young sailors, training and getting ready to sail in the
races around the world with China Team,” Chaoyong said.

The next America’s Cup will be held in San Francisco in 2013.

Barcoded Bottoms

Two beach volleyballers want you to take photo's of their behinds.

Last month we talked about the lack of coverage womens sport gets.  This probably isn't the answer but it's still a creative bit of sponsorship.

Weekly Asian Sport Sponsorship Round Up

August started up with news in martial arts, motorsports and sponsorships in golf and football
as well as a major conference on the hosting of sports events set for Singapore next month.


Adidas has agreed to sponsor combat sports in the Philippines. Company brand Adidas
Budomart International will back the country’s national boxing, tae kwon do and judo teams.

Adidas International director Eric Siu said the world’s top athletes use his company’s equipment
and that he expects good things from the Filipino teams at the Southeast Asian Games later this
year.

In more combat sports news, an Indian team has joined the World Series of Boxing as a
franchise in the international amateur boxing championship after a deal brokered by Mumbai-
based TransStadia.

The ten-year USD $5 million arrangement allows the sports infrastructure company to oversee,
host and manage all commercial rights of the Mumbai Fighters under guidelines set out by the
International Amateur Boxing Association.

The addition of the Indians as well as a German team brings the next World Series event
to a total of 14 franchises from America, Asia and Europe. The competition format includes
matches of five bouts consisting of five three-minute rounds. Participants are split up into five
weight categories who fight without head guards and are judged by means of professional-style
scoring.


In motorsport news, the tire brand Federal Tire will be the presenting sponsor of a new drifting
event, to be called Drifting Muscle, that will be held in Japan.

Drifting is a driving technique where the operator deliberately over steers when turning at high
speed. Professional drifting competitions first started in the 1980s in Japan and have been
steadily gaining popularity around the world.

The Drift Muscle event will consist of four classes: Ladies Class, the Muscle Challenge for
beginners, Drift Muscle for experts and the 86 Class for modified cars.


A major event is planned for Singapore this September as some 200 sports industry
professionals will get together to network on the increasing role of sports in regional
development.

The Asia-Pacific Sports Conference will group industry professionals from federations,
governments, host cities and sports equipment suppliers to discuss the critical business
challenges in hosting sports events in Asia.

The two-day event will showcase major sporting events in Asia-Pacific through workshops and
seminars focusing on such topics as bidding, stadium and venue management, the marketing of
sponsors and paying customers.

The keynote speech will be given by the Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia,
Captain Husain Al-Musallam, a swimming champion and life-long avid sportsman.

Other speakers will include high profile leaders such as Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for
Community Development, Youth and Sports; Teo Ping Low, Vice-President of Singapore
National Olympic Council and President of the Singapore Rugby Union; Pang Chung, Honorary
Secretary General of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong; Cornel
Marculescu, Executive Director of FINA and Toh Sen Nee, Assistant Secretary General, Asean
Football Federation.

Also participating will be James Clarke, Senior Vice-President of World Sport Group; David Voth,
Senior Director, Sport Business at Singapore Sports Council; Eric Lynge, Director for TV and
Broadcast, ASIAN Tour.

The program for the event is being developed by Informa Sports Group in cooperation with the
Singapore Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Asia.


The Asia-Pacific Sports Conference will be held September 27-28 at the Grand Copthorne
Waterfront Hotel in Singapore.

The Olympic Council of Asia is a governing body of sports in Asia currently composed of some
45 member National Olympic Committees. OCA headquarters are located in Kuwait City.


In golf news, the global hotel chain Wyndham Worldwide has extended its sponsorship of
Greensboro’s classic PGA Tour event, the Wyndham Championship. Media reports indicate the
sponsorship is worth about USD $10 million a year.

"We are delighted to continue our relationship with Wyndham Worldwide,” said PGA tour
commissioner Tim Finchem.

“…The PGA Tour and Wyndham Worldwide remain a great fit, as both hold a commitment to
excellence, a dedication for others through philanthropy and a great appreciation for the time to
enjoy one's passions." added Stephen P. Holmes, Wyndham Worldwide chief executive.
The 2011 Wyndham Championship is set for Aug. 15-21 at the Sedgefield Country Club in
Greensboro, N.C. Established in 1938, the event has included such champions as Sam Snead
and Ben Hogan.


The week rounded off with football news from Barclays and the Chelsea Football Club
Foundation that have partnered together to help disadvantaged youngsters in Hong Kong.
Some UK£400,000 will be invested through the Barclays Spaces for Sports project with the idea
of using soccer and basketball to help the children develop key life skills.

“…Our experience has proven that sport can make a lasting difference to the prospects of many
young people around the world,” said Barclays Asia chairman Robert Morrice.

"We take our role in the community very seriously at Chelsea,” said team manager Andre Villas-
Boas, “and we are delighted to be partnering with Barclays Spaces for Sports here in Hong
Kong.”

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