Asian Sport Business Round Up 5/6/2012

[Callum]

April had plenty of rugby, football and soccer news along with marathon running, motor sports and the usual bunch of media deals.

The Chinese IT firm Huawei was busy last month. The telecom company signed a two-year contract to sponsor the Canberra Raiders National Rugby League team reportedly worth some USD $1.77 million. 
Huawei Australia spokesperson John Lord said the move would help build brand awareness in mobile handsets and enterprise IT. Huawei also made a deal with Atletico Madrid to become the club’s front of shirt sponsor for their game against Real Madrid.

Track and field was a big item. Adidas announced it was bringing back its King of the Road marathon to Malaysia. The 14th annual edition of the event is a regional effort of Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some 10,000 participants are expected at the run to be held on September 9.

The Adidas ‘All In’ campaign is in full swing. The company’s ‘Ready to Run’ promotion signed up pop icon Katy Perry and a couple of big name athletes to advertise the new line of Adidas ClimaCool running gear. The ‘Ready to Run’ campaign will be held in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

More track news had the fitness and wellness firm True Group announcing it would return as sponsor of SPH Magazine’s Shape Run. The all-female event is planned for July 15 in Singapore.

In racing news, Budweiser announced as its first venture in Asian racing a project to sponsor the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia for the current season.

 The race celebrates its 10th season as the region's premier one-make championship. 

In motorcycle racing, Air Asia extended its sponsorship agreement with the MotoGP World Championships and series organizer Doma Sports.

The airline will serve as title sponsor of the Japanese Grand Prix 2012 and 2013 as well as this year’s Australian Grand Prix and an option for next year’s event. 
Air Asia holds the title rights to the British leg of the series to be held June 15 to 17th.

There was more Olympics news with the dairy brand Dutch Lady announcing it would support four Malaysian athletes at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The month rounded off with the usual run of media deals. The sports marketing firm MP and Silva signed a contract with the Football Association for broadcasting rights to English soccer games across Asia. 

The International Cricket Council announced that Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation will be its official broadcast partner for this year’s World Twenty20. 

Eurosport secured air rights to the US Open Grand Slam in several Asian regions for the next four years while the Chinese video website made a deal with CCTV to stream a series of Olympics programmes online. 

The series will provide viewers with an overall look at the Games with news, interviews, documentaries and content sharing between viewers.
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