Athletics

IPC Athletics, the International Paralympic Committee’s federation for para-athletics, has reached a 12-month agreement to make financial services company Allianz its first global partner.

Legal firm Graham Thompson Attorneys and food and beverage multinational Nestle have agreed to become sponsors of the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) inaugural World Relays event, which takes place in the Bahamas later this month.

Korean car brand Hyundai beat rival carmaker BMW and consumer electronics company Toshiba to the title sponsorship of the Beijing Marathon last month thanks to strong local connections.

International banking group Standard Chartered has signed a three-year extension to its title sponsorship of the Singapore Marathon.

USA Track & Field (USATF), the governing body for athletics in the United States, has extended its deal with sportswear giant Nike through 2040.

Online gaming company Unibet has agreed a deal to become a main sponsor of the 2014 Stockholm Marathon in Sweden.

USA Track & Field (USATF), the governing body for athletics in the United States, has entered into a seven-year partnership with confectionary producer Hershey that will focus on grassroots participation.

Japanese watch manufacturer and timing specialist Seiko has extended its long-running top-tier partnership with athletics’ world governing body the IAAF for a further six years.

UK telecommunications company BT has renewed its title sponsorship of the Great CityGames Manchester, taking in the 2014 edition of the urban athletics event.

German sportswear company Adidas has entered into a multi-year partnership with Athletics Australia.

Isotonic drinks manufacturer Lucozade Sport has agreed a three-year partnership with mass participation event organiser Nova International to sponsor its UK-long distance running property the Great Run Series.

German automotive manufacturer BMW has signed a multi-year extension to its title sponsorship of the Berlin Marathon.

Japanese premium bedding topper firm Airweave has agreed a sponsorship deal with the US Olympic Committee ahead of the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

State-owned Dutch bank ABN AMRO is set to overhaul its sponsorship strategy in the summer of 2014 and stablise its focus on partnerships with properties in the Netherlands, Ernst Boekhorst, manager of sponsoring and events at ABN AMRO and director of the ABN AMRO foundation, told Sports Sponsorship Insider.

British Athletics, the UK governing body for athletics, and its German counterpart, the Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband (DLV), have given mixed responses to the question of whether hosting upcoming World and European Championships have helped generate increased sponsorship revenue.

Footwear manufacturer New Balance’s sponsorship of the Irish Olympic Team is part of the brand’s strategic decision to move from individual endorsements to team partnerships, Josh Rowe, running marketing manager for New Balance told Sports Sponsorship Insider.