THE CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE (CSL), China’s top-flight football league, has announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the Chinese arm of Danish beer brand Carlsberg.
Carlsberg’s agreement, from 2014 to 2016, sees the beer company become the exclusive Beer Partner of the league.
The deal was negotiated by the IMG Worldwide agency, which handles the CSL’s commercial rights along with Chinese broadcaster CCTV after agreeing a ten-year partnership in October.
“As the most commercial and most watched sports league in China, CSL is the crown jewel of Chinese sports,” said Stephen Maher, chief executive of Carlsberg China.
“This new partnership will leverage the two partners’ experience and resources and improve the quality of the league, bringing the fans higher quality football and entertainment.”
The sponsorship is an extension of Carlsberg’s football portfolio. The lager brand sponsored Euro 2012 and recently signed a three-year deal to become the Official Beer of the English Premier League between 2013-14 and 2015-16.
By Robin Jellis
Follow Robin on Twitter: @robinjellis