Games attract big money in sponsorships

GUANGZHOU - China has become a rising sports sponsorship market, thanks to the hosting of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the current Guangzhou Asian Games, said Gyehyun Kwon, vice-president of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

Companies have developed more interest in supporting popular sporting events with the view that these events are golden opportunities to build corporate branding, he said in an interview with China Daily on Monday.

Gyehyun Kwon, vice-president of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

As of the opening of the Asian games in Guangzhou on Friday, 53 companies have signed sponsorships with the games' organizing committee, according to Fang Da'er, director of the committee's marketing department.

The sponsorship value surpassed 3 billion yuan ($452 million), five times more than the 2006 Doha Asiad.

The Guangzhou Asian Games has also helped create many business opportunities for international and local companies, with 103 billion yuan in output value generated for the host city, according to research conducted by the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.

Kwon, who is also sports marketing director of Samsung, said the global sports sponsorship market increases by 5 percent each year. "In contrast, the traditional advertising of companies is decreasing," he said.

Samsung, which conducts annual research on the development of sports marketing, revealed that the global sports marketing is valued at $45 billion, of which 8 percent belongs to sponsorship, Kwon said.

Samsung has made significant contributions to Olympic sporting events, with the Guangzhou Asiad becoming the company's sixth consecutive sponsorship in the Asian Games history.

The company first began its support of the Asian Games as a local sponsor during the 10th Asian Games held in Seoul in 1986. Samsung signed an agreement with the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee in 2008, becoming a prestige partner of the 16th Asiad.

Kwon believes that more Chinese companies will participate in sports marketing in the near future as the Guangzhou Asian Games has attracted many local brands in sponsorship.