MENA

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.

Qatar Airways has expanded its football sponsorship portfolio after entering into an agreement to become the main commercial partner of Saudi Professional League club Al-Ahli.

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.

Qatar Airways has been named as the official airline sponsor of the 2015 International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s World Championship in Doha, the capital of the Middle Eastern state.

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.

The FIA-sanctioned Formula E motor racing championship has missed its sponsorship revenue target for the inaugural race series, despite the addition of three sponsors this month, including a top-tier Official Cup Sponsor.

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.

Diageo-owned whisky brand Johnnie Walker extended its presence in Formula One by signing a four-year deal, which began this month, to become the Official Whisky of Formula One.

September (and the end of August) saw a number of landmark sponsorship deals cross the line – and Sports Sponsorship Insider has covered the best of them.

Qatar 2015 has hailed a “pioneering” sponsorship agreement with a number of the country’s leading businesses for its staging of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship next year.

Korean electronics giant Samsung has agreed a partnership deal with the Jordan Olympic Committee ahead of the 2014 Asian Games multi-sport event, which gets underway on Friday.

Sporting goods manufacturer Umbro is hoping to support a global brand revival by driving revenue through a number of football kit deals.

Energy company Qatar Petroleum International has extended its contract as the exclusive sponsor of the world’s richest horse race for purebred Arabians, the Qatar Arabian World Cup, to take in the 2014 edition at Longchamp, Paris on October 5.

Luxury holiday destination Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa has renewed its sponsorship of the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic ahead of the 2014 edition.

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.

Japanese carmaker Nissan is looking to enforce a cohesive marketing strategy across all of its sporting properties in order to push the same message across its key markets.