Asia

Athletics

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.

Football

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.

Cricket

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.

Athletics

State-owned Dutch bank ABN AMRO is set to overhaul its sponsorship strategy in the summer of 2014 and stablise its focus on partnerships with properties in the Netherlands, Ernst Boekhorst, manager of sponsoring and events at ABN AMRO and director of the ABN AMRO foundation, told Sports Sponsorship Insider.

Multi-sport

Sports marketing company Dentsu Sports Asia generated more than $3m (€2.2m) in sponsorship revenue for the 27th Southeast Asian Games in Myanmar in December 2013.
Para Sport

Brand perception is at the forefront of energy company BP’s decision to become an International Partner of the International Paralympic Committee, Mike Sharrock, partnership director for Olympics and Paralympics at BP, told Sports Sponsorship Insider this month.

Badminton

Financial services provider MetLife is looking to make greater strides in China under its new title sponsorship of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Superseries, Simon Smith, global marketing and communications executive at MetLife told Sports Sponsorship Insider this month.

Rugby Union

Rugby World Cup Limited has appointed the Emirates airline as a worldwide partner of Rugby World Cup 2015 in England and the 2019 tournament in Japan.

Motorsport

The Force India Formula One motor-racing team has announced sponsorship agreements with Mexican telecommunications company Claro and Kazakh sporting foundation Astana, while fellow F1 outfit Caterham has…
Multi-sport

Tokyo-based company Otsuka Pharmaceutical has signed a sponsorship deal with the Olympic Council of Asia to make its Pocari Sweat brand the official sports drink for the next two editions of the Asian Games multi-sport event.

Football

Chinese building equipment company Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery (SDLG) has signed a three-year sponsorship deal to support the Asian Football Confederation’s club competitions.

Motorsport

Formula One motor racing team Force India has announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with Mexican lubricant oils manufacturer Roshfrans.

Football

Indian smart phone brand Xolo has reached an agreement with Liverpool to become the English Premier League football club’s first regional marketing partner in the country.

Hockey

Pakistan State Oil has announced a wide-ranging one-year sponsorship agreement with the Pakistan Hockey Federation which will include the launch of a team to take part in the governing body’s competitions.

Basketball

NBA basketball team Sacramento Kings has sealed its first commercial partnership with an Indian company since it was bought by Vivek Ranadive last year.

Tennis

The organisers of the Chennai Open ATP World Tour tennis event have announced a number of new sponsorship deals for the 2014 edition of the annual tournament.

Para Sport

South Korea’s national airline Korean Air has announced a commercial partnership with the 2014 Asian Para Games in Incheon.

Football

Advertising agency Dentsu has struck a deal to become the official marketing partner of the Japan Professional Football League (J. League).