Africa

For this year’s rugby union autumn internationals, Sports Sponsorship Insider surveyed the sponsorship portfolios of the leading nations: Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales.

Spanish Liga football club Barcelona has extended its partnerships with South African firm Castle Brewery and Catalonia-based cava producer Freixenet.

German sportswear giant Puma has extended its partnership with the Ivory Coast Football Federation national governing body.

English Premier League football club Manchester United has entered into a multi-year sponsorship deal with Nigerian food and beverage company Chi Limited.

Chinese telecommunications company Huawei aims to use football sponsorship to increase brand awareness and drive sales in the Spanish market.

Healthcare and pharmaceutical brand Abbott has signed the title rights to the World Marathon Majors (WMM) for four years, from 2015 to 2018, as part of a larger overall spend on the six-marathon series.

South African Premier Soccer League team Ajax Cape Town has reached a two-year agreement to make Chinese telecommunications company Huawei its official shirt sponsor.

South African investment holding group Bidvest has agreed a five-year extension to its naming rights deal for the Wanderers Stadium, one of world cricket’s leading venues.

Medical electronics company Toshiba Medical Systems is looking to move away from branded sponsorships towards commercial partnerships, whereby its products are sold to sports teams.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has negotiated an increase on its current minimum guarantee from Japanese media agency Dentsu for the global marketing and licensing rights, and media rights outside Europe and Africa, to the World Athletics Series, from 2020.

German carmaker BMW will measure results from its supplier deal with Formula E before deciding whether to further its involvement in the competition.

Samsung has wrapped up the computer and telecommunications categories under the terms of its extended Worldwide Partner deal for the Olympic Games, from 2017 to 2020.

The Malawi Football Association (FAM) has agreed a three-year deal with Umbro to make UK-based sportswear provider its technical sponsor.

Business solutions group Nashua Limited has signed up as the principal sponsor of South African cricket team Cape Cobras for the 2014-15 season.

Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTCL) has signed a three-year extension to its title sponsorship deal with the Botswana Premier League football competition.

Omega president Stephen Urquhart told Sports Sponsorship Insider that there will be no change to the luxury watch brand’s sponsorship strategy or targeted sports over the next 24 months.