Asian Sport Business Round Up 31st March 2012

[Callum]

Japan and Singapore were in the spotlight this week with news in rugby and the purchase of the Japan Dome baseball stadium by the telecommunications firm Softbank. Young Singapore athletes competing in the upcoming SEA games will be given a financial boost while that country’s National Olympic Council signed a long term deal with the telecommunications company Singtel.


The Japan Rugby Football Union announced that the Toyota Motor Corporation would be an official sponsor of that country’s national rugby teams. Under terms of the three-year deal, the car maker will be allowed to display advertising during match venues and use the Japan national team logo and photos of team members in promotional activities.
Toyota is a keen supporter of rugby union; the company sponsors various club sides around the world and owns Toyota Verblitz in the Top League.

Softbank has agreed to pay USD $1.06 billion to buy the Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome stadium, home venue to the company’s Nippon Professional Baseball League team, the Hawks.
The 35,000-seat capacity ballpark, formerly owned by the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., is part of Hawks Town: an entertainment district surrounding the stadium comprised of hotels and a shopping mall.
The telecommunications company said it intends to re-model the 19-year-old building, Japan’s first stadium with a retractable roof.

The Singapore Athletics Association has clinched a sponsorship deal with Sembcorp for the 7th Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships to be held in Singapore.
The integrated energy and marine conglomerate will be providing about USD $120,000 to help fund the event. Some 400 athletes, aged 16 and 17, will compete at the Bishan Stadium on 28th and 29th April.

The Singapore National Olympic Council has signed a landmark agreement with Singtel. The five-year partnership will include cash sponsorships and complimentary smartphones to athletes competing in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Unconfirmed reports indicate the arrangement is worth a seven-figure sum.
The agreement includes about 3,200 hours of TV broadcasting across 13 channels covering all 26 sports and 302 events. The coverage will be aired on Singtel’s pay-television platform Mio TV through a connection with ESPN Star Sports.

The week ends off with the results of another case study. Malaysian representatives of sports apparel giant PUMA say they’re satisfied with a series of bowling parties held recently in various cities.
The on-ground events were a lead-up to a main party held at Cosmic Bowl in Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur.
PUMA’s regional general manager Sheryl Wong said the results were positive with good brand buzz in social media. “…our target audience enjoys interaction through social sports,” she said. “…To them, it’s all about catching up or meeting new people through sports that are not competitive in nature. She said there will be guidelines to follow in future campaigns and PUMA is always looking to break the norm, to think outside the box, but to do it in style.

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