With an ever increasing investment in football teams, Chinese companies are making moves to position their brands to sponsorship platforms in football. There is a clear appetite for alignment with the biggest global teams and franchises and this can only be a good thing for football in China.
Whether its a pursuit of passion or a more strategic marketing decision, brands such as Alibaba, Suning, Yingli, Huawei and Bosideng to mentioned a few, are all involved in the sport, they have targeted teams with global appeal and fan bases and are looking to leverage these teams and fans to elevate their brand consideration. The increased sponsorship activity is part of a wider trend for Chinese companies investing in soccer, which was signaled by Yingli as far back as their World Cup sponsorship deal in 2010.
The trend is good news for Chinese football. Invariably, these sponsorship programs will involve team tours, friendlies or camps around China, where the brand & team will align to help promote and develop the game here. That can only aid the domestic football landscape and plant seeds for the games future in China.
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