The Badminton World Federation has agreed a four-year title sponsorship deal for its World Superseries event with global insurance company MetLife.
Commencing with the third edition of the competition next month, the event will be branded the MetLife BWF World Superseries. The contract was brokered by the BWF’s commercial partner Enterprise Sports Group, with BWF president Poul-Erik Høyer declaring the partnership a “significant landmark which will elevate badminton in the realm of global sports-entertainment commodities.”
Høyer added: “We are pleased to join forces with MetLife to enhance and promote badminton – specifically the Superseries – and make it an even more compelling product for badminton fans worldwide. This partnership is a good fit as BWF and MetLife share similar goals in terms of seeking to further spread our respective brands and products globally. Insurance also naturally goes hand-in-hand with sports as it helps to safeguard a person’s health which is something that is vital to athletes and others in the badminton family.”
Starting with January’s Korea Open, the new agreement includes the umbrella series sponsorship where MetLife will be visible in the 12 World Superseries events and the World Superseries Finals throughout the 2014-17 tournament cycle.
Chris Townsend, MetLife’s president for the Asia region, added: “Diversity is a key value of MetLife’s culture and badminton is an inclusive sport that appeals to all genders, age groups and nationalities. Health and wellness is also an important focus for MetLife and the BWF is a great vehicle for us to demonstrate our commitment in investing and encouraging sports, healthy activities and engagement with customers, families and our employees around the world.”