Automotive manufacturer Ford has reached a four-year agreement to become a premier partner of the Chinese Super League football competition from 2014 to 2017.
Ford is the first automotive company to sponsor the CSL and will be the exclusive and official car of the league for its member clubs. Ford will also target grassroots football development in China, organising 600 events over the course of the deal.
According to China Sports Insider, the agreement is worth as much as 390 million yuan (€45m/$62.5m) over four years. The website said 240 million yuan will be paid as the main sponsorship fee, with the remaining 150 million yuan earmarked for promotion and activation.
The deal was brokered by the IMG agency, which has brought in a number of high-profile partners for the CSL since agreeing a 10-year partnership in 2012. Brewery Carlsberg and online retailer JD.com are among those on the league’s commercial roster, while Ford joins having missed out on the title-sponsorship slot that went to insurance company Ping An last year.
IMG's Asia Pacific chairman and chief executive for Greater China, Adam Zhu, said: “The CSL is the most popular football league in China with hundreds of millions of fans. Every high-level football league throughout the world has an automobile sponsor, thus the partnership between Chang An Ford and the CSL means that our football league now has world football practices.”