The English Premier League has begun looking for new sponsors for its biennial summer Asia Trophy tournament.
Executive chairman, Richard Scudamore, told SportBusiness International that this was part of a wider sponsorship strategy to find more partnerships without the restrictions of a title-partner, to help grow the league’s brand in overseas markets.
The 2015 Barclays Asia Trophy is currently taking place at the Singapore Sports Hub, with Arsenal, Everton, Stoke City and a Singapore Select XI involved in the pre-season tournament. In June, the League announced that its clubs had voted to remove the title-sponsorship category from the league once Barclays’ existing deal expires at the end of the 2015-16 season.
“Deciding not to have a title sponsor was a strategic decision undertaken by the Premier League and the clubs, the view being that to help grow the competition brand internationally, it would be better to be unencumbered by a title sponsor and the demands that come with that,” Richard Scudamore, executive chairman of the Premier League told SportBusiness International. “We will still have sponsors and partners, but specific to categories such as technology or timing.”