Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei has agreed to extend its deal with Australian rugby league side Canberra Raiders and will continue its role as a major sponsor of the team for the 2014 National Rugby League season.
Huawei will retain kit sponsorship rights as a result of the deal, with the company logo remaining on the front of players’ jerseys.
In addition, Huawei will now work with the Raiders in an attempt to schedule a match from the 2014 NRL season in the company’s home city of Shenzhen. The two parties have already submitted a joint proposal to the NRL regarding a possible game, and have also held internal discussions with stakeholders to help build support for the plan.
Huawei corporate affairs director Jeremy Mitchell said he hoped the sponsorship renewal would add weight to the push for the first 2014 NRL match to be hosted in China.
“As China’s most successful global company, Huawei would love to see Shenzhen Stadium filled with our 65,000 China-based staff – with all of them backing the Raiders,” he said. “The Canberra Raiders were Huawei’s first major sports sponsorship anywhere in the world when we first signed up in 2012, and we’re excited to have the Huawei logo front and centre on the Raiders jersey for another big season.”
Huawei first agreed to become a major sponsor of the team in 2012 in a two-year deal that included an option to extend for an additional season, which the company has opted to take up with this latest move.