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Writer's pictureDenis Green

Asia Sports Business Weekly | 15th November


Hello Industry Friends, here is the very latest news and insights from Asia.


📰 Headlines: UEFA hosts the Chinese Football Association, Sydney Roosters sign historic BYD deal, LIV Golf unveils new Korean tournament, Bundesliga announces second edition of Dream China, Thai telco lands six-year EPL deal, and VSPO completes rebranding. 

 

🗞️ Key Industry News


UEFA Hosts Chinese Football Association Visit During the visit, the pair exchanged knowledge on several key areas, including marketing and women’s football, with a specific focus on collaboration on technical development. "Wednesday’s meeting continued the long-standing warm relationship between UEFA and the CFA," said Theodore Theodoridis, UEFA general secretary. "Football, and European football in particular, is hugely popular in China. We are committed to working together to help inspire the next generation of boys and girls to help them fall in love with the game." Read more on UEFA (English)


💡 Our Take: UEFA competitions, particularly the EUROs and Champions League, are some of the most popular competitions for Chinese sports fans. Despite the unfriendly match hours, fans still brave the early hours to watch their favourite teams and players live. UEFA has 16m social media followers across four digital platforms and had five major Chinese partners for this summer’s EURO 2024, including Hisense, BYD, Vivo, Alipay, and AliExpress.

 

Sydney Roosters Sign Historic BYD Sponsorship Deal

In what is rumoured to be a $10m sponsorship deal with a Chinese electric car manufacturer, the NRL club announced that BYD will become the Roosters’ new major partner until the end of 2029. The partnership will see BYD signage feature prominently across the front of both home and away jerseys for the NRL and NRLW teams, as well as relevant club apparel. Read more on Mumbrella (English)


💡 Our Take: The Sydney Roosters' partnership with BYD marks a big change in NRL sponsorship, with the growing influence of sustainability-focused brands within sports. With a reported $10m deal, BYD’s long-term commitment brings substantial financial backing, but it also introduces a strong sustainability narrative to the league.


LIV Golf Unveils New Korean Tournament

LIV Golf has updated its 2025 calendar, announcing a new tournament in South Korea, which will take place on May 2-4 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon. It will be the league’s fourth Asian stop in 2025, following Riyadh, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Read more on SportBusiness (English)


💡 Our Take: LIV Golf and many other leagues including South Korea as a destination for their tournaments acknowledge the country’s value towards the sport. An estimated 10% of the Korean population plays golf. Those 5m people are responsible for 45% of the $9bn spent on golf apparel annually. That figure alone is enough reason for it to be necessary for any golf-related business to have plans to serve the Korean consumer base.


Bundesliga and CFA Announce Second Edition of “Bundesliga Dream China”

As part of the youth development project, members of the China U16 national team squad will travel to Germany in April 2025. Following the success of the first edition earlier this year, “Bundesliga Dream China” will give talented young players a chance to experience elite German youth academies. The training camp will also include several matches against youth teams from across the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. Read more on Bundesliga (English)


💡 Our Take: The Bundesliga has been committed to the Chinese market for a long time now, investing in multiple areas such as grassroots football. The first edition of the Bundesliga Dream was a resounding success and has set a blueprint for how other international leagues and organisations can support the bottom of China’s sporting pyramid, particularly in football, which has been ignored for so long.


Thai Telco Looks to Seal Six-year Premier League Deal

Jasmine International (Jas) has secured exclusive rights to the English Premier League and the FA Cup in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos for at least three seasons, from 2025-26 to 2027-28. Jas has also bid to hold the rights for a further three seasons, covering 2028-29 to 2030-31. Read more on SportBusiness (English)


Tottenham Agrees Dashing Sponsorship

The English Premier League club has agreed to a new sponsorship deal with the Malaysian male perfume and deodorant brand, Dashing. The two-year contract names Dashing as a regional sponsor in Malaysia. Read more on SportBusiness (English)


China’s Winter Tourism, Sports Heat Up Hope of Thawing Economy

As northern temperatures start to plunge, China’s State Council issues guidelines for the enhanced cultivation of a ‘snow and ice economy’. Read more on SCMP (English)


Li Retains Leadership of World Sailing

The Chinese official was re-elected for a further four-year term as World Sailing held its annual conference in Singapore. Li received 55 votes compared to Philippe Rogge’s (Belgium) 29 and Rodion Luka’s (Ukraine) two. Read more on SportBusiness (English)


Milk Life Holds Soccer Challenge Tournament in Jakarta

The children's milk brand, which is a collaboration between a big local company (Djarum Foundation Corp.) and a farm in Australia, successfully held the Milk Life Soccer Challenge, as a form of support for women's football in Indonesia. This tournament included U-10 & U-12 girls' teams from elementary schools throughout Jakarta. Read more at KONI Official Website (Bahasa)


💡 Our Take: This tournament is a big step for Milk Life, which has children as its target audience and health as its value. Over the past few years, this brand has successfully competed with big names such as Dancow, Frisian Flag, and MILO. However, this is the first time they really carried out an activation that targets sports value. The fact that there is a collaboration with KONI & the Women's NT will clearly make this brand more respected and good for the future of women's football in Indonesia which is currently building from the grassroots.


Sony Teams Up with Sydney FC

The A-League club has agreed a two-season sponsorship deal with the Australian arm of Japanese technology company Sony. Through the deal, which focuses on the men’s team, Sony becomes the membership partner and exclusive audio partner for the club. Read more on SportBusiness (English)

 

🤔 Opinion


Sportswear Giants Eye China’s Design Talent

Anta-owned Fila’s collection with buzzy Chinese actor and singer Johnny Huang, as well as another global sportswear brand connecting with the world’s second largest economy, Puma, which unveiled an art concept sneaker with local streetwear brand Roaringwild last month. Read more on Jing Daily (English)


🎮 Esports


VSPO Completes Hero Esports Rebranding 

The Chinese esports tournament organizer has officially completed its rebranding to Hero Esports to support the company’s globalisation strategy. Initially announced on October 8th, Hero Esports is looking to ’empower esports’ based on values of inclusion, diversity, transparency and passion. Read more on Esports Insider (English)

 

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Founded in China in 1999, Mailman has evolved to become one of Asia’s leading sports digital agencies. We are digital marketers who help sports rights holders enhance their local brand equity and create sustainable presences. We exist at the intersection of digital & technology, helping the world’s biggest sports, entertainment & lifestyle brands build successful businesses in international growth markets. Mailman is part of 160/90, Endeavor’s global cultural marketing agency. Learn more about our story here.

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