Asia

China’s Ping An Insurance has sealed a four-year deal to become the title sponsor of the Chinese Super League, the country’s top football division.

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).

Sporting goods brand Puma’s five-year kit sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Arsenal is part of a strategy focused on fewer, but bigger, “killer” deals to make it the number three brand in the football market, Christian Voigt, Puma’s senior head of global sports marketing has told Sports Sponsorship Insider.

Soft drinks brand Coca-Cola, razor brand Gillette, financial services company Citigroup and electronics company Sony have shown interest in the McLaren Mercedes F1 Team title sponsorship, but the team may wait until the entry of its new engine partner Honda in 2015 before signing a deal.

Indian bath and sanitary products manufacturer Prayag has reached an agreement to become an associate sponsor of the 2014 Asia Cup one-day international cricket tournament.

Mattress manufacturer Peps India has reached an agreement to become the central associate sponsor of the 2014 Asia Cup international cricket tournament.

Organisers of the EurAsia Cup have announced a new club sponsorship programme to raise awareness around the inaugural edition of the matchplay golf tournament.

Singapore-based insurance company Great Eastern has renewed its co-title sponsorship of the country’s premier football division, the S.League.

Fast food restaurant McDonald’s’ franchisee programme sees each store contribute a cash fee to the brand’s global sponsorships of the Olympic Games and the World Cup, Thomas Truttmann, head of sports at McDonald’s Europe told Sports Sponsorship Insider.

PyeongChang 2018 will sign its first domestic sponsorship deal for the winter Olympic Games in the first quarter of this year, according to organising committee president Kim Jin-sun.

Japanese premium bedding topper firm Airweave has agreed a sponsorship deal with the US Olympic Committee ahead of the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Carmaker Audi’s far-reaching involvement in winter sports sits as one of four cornerstones in the brand’s wider sponsorship approach, Florian Zitzlsperger, head of sports marketing at Audi, told Sports Sponsorship Insider. The three remaining cornerstones in Audi’s wider strategy are: motorsport, football and golf.

The Star India broadcast subsidiary of media company 21st Century Fox has sold the title sponsorship rights for the 2014 Asia Cup international cricket tournament to electronics manufacturer Arise India.