Thursday, September 24, 2009

Liverpool: Standard Chartered Explain Backing Of Club With ‘Huge Following’

Standard Chartered, the bank that has signed a world record sponsorship deal with English soccer club Liverpool, has moved to explain the reasoning behind its move into soccer.

The bank will pay Liverpool more than US$130 million over the next four years as it seeks to increase its business. Its sponsorship of Liverpool, who has been the English champions 18 times and European champions five times, is tailored not at either of those regions, but at Asia.

"From a Standard Chartered perspective, Asia is our home," senior group brand manager Nicola Apostolis told Asia Sponsorship News. "We opened our first branches in 1858 in Shanghai and Mumbai; and in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1859. Today, 80 per cent of our business is done in Asia.

"The Liverpool sponsorship is a perfect match in terms of geographic footprint, as the club has a huge following in many of our markets, particularly across Asia."

Liverpool claim to have 58 million fans in China, the country identified by many analysts as the next key market for the English Premier League. Asia Sponsorship News quotes a study reporting that 90 per cent of Asian sports fans identified the Premier League as the sports competition they follow most closely.

The bank has confirmed it will sell Liverpool shirts in its Asian branches, providing another revenue stream for the club.

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