Legacy

The ‘Trio to Rio’ concept created by national governing bodies USA Swimming, USA Track & Field and USA Gymnastics could lead to a collaborative sponsorship programme between the organisations if it proves successful.

The Royal Dutch Hockey Association (KNHB) is generating over €4.2m ($5.8m) per year from central sponsors for its 2013 to 2016 commercial cycle as it prepares to host the men’s and women’s Hockey World Cups in May.

EE beat competition from rival telecoms brands and brands from the finance sector to sign its six-year Lead Partner deal last month with Wembley Stadium in London.

Japanese carmaker Toyota has become the first Founding Partner of the Daytona International Speedway in Florida, in a deal from 2015 to 2025.

US mobile telecoms operator Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay $12m (€8.6m) per year for the title sponsorship and ‘activation and media’ rights to the IndyCar Series, the North American open-wheel motor racing championship.

Deals with sportswear company adidas and tyre maker Continental in February are understood to have taken Uefa to a new high in sponsorship revenue for the inaugural commercial cycle of its newly rebranded European Qualifiers, from 2014-15 to 2017-18.

The Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) is close to a new four-year sponsorship deal which will take the competition to between $55m (€39.5m) and $60m in annual central sponsorship revenue.

The Bacardi drinks group is switching the emphasis of its marketing strategy from above-the-line advertising to sponsorship and experiential-based marketing in a move led by the return of Martini Racing to Formula One motorsport as title sponsor of the Williams F1 team.

The Asian Football Confederation is generating between $18m (€13.1m) and $20m per year from Official Sponsors for its club competitions from 2014, in the 2013-16 cycle, following the addition of a second Chinese brand in as many months, construction machinery manufacturer Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery (SDLG).

The England and Wales Cricket Board signed a £2m ($3.1m/€2.4m)-per-year agreement in August with NatWest bank in the first deal under a new sponsorship structure.

IT WAS THE sponsorship image of 2010: Bernie Ecclestone with a black eye with the strapline "see what people will do for a Hublot"

MANNY PACQUIAO vs JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ: The upcoming Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas highlights the paucity of major brands in boxing

PEPSI INDIA EMERGED as the new title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) last month in a move which sees the brand refocus its marketing efforts back to cricket after running a more football-centric…

THE NAMING RIGHTS to London’s Olympic Stadium are again the subject of speculation now that West Ham United has been named as the preferred bidder for a concession to play at the venue by the London L…

SAMSUNG MAY BE the world’s leading electronics company by sales, but its process for choosing its top management is more reminiscent of the selection of Chinese party leaders than it is of a modern public c…

NPOWER IS THE latest brand to announce it is distancing itself from sport and switching strategy to charitable causes when its current sponsorship deals end

IN MANY WAYS some airlines are like armies: they carry a country’s flag, take it into new territories and the impression they leave lasts long in the memory around the world.

IT IS AN INEVITABLE fact of life that for every press release announcing a brave new sponsorship between brand and sport, there are a roughly equivalent number of withdrawals, cancellations or simply lapses