Length of contract: 1 year | Annualised value: US$15 million | Overall value: US$15m

Nike will invest further in China, its second largest market outside the United States, after agreeing a US$15 million deal to sponsor soccer in the country for 2009. The company is in talks with China's Super League to extend the deal for another nine years after the current season, in an agreement that would be worth around US$200 million.

It marks a continued increase in Nike's spending in China. The company announced plans last month to invest US$99 million to build a new logistics centre in the east of the country. The facility, to be completed next year, will be Nike's largest logistics centre in Asia.

Lv Feng, general manager of the Chinese Super League, confirmed that the initial deal has been done, and that a memorandum of understanding has been signed for the extended contract. "It will be accumulative and will increase annually over a spread of 10 years," he said.

According to the Beijing Times, the initial US$15 million will see 12 of the 16 league teams provided with US$732,000 worth of equipment and US$220,000 in cash. Remaining funds will be held by the Super League. If the potential long-term contract can be agreed, it will cover all 12 league teams and could see Nike paying US$30 million per annum by 2018.

It represents a major coup for Chinese soccer at a difficult time. Telecommunication and electronics company Siemens cancelled its sponsorship of the league in 2005 after a string of match-fixing allegations, while the national team failed to qualify for both the 2006 and 2010 Fifa World Cups.

Zhu Jinqian, Nike China's media director, praised the company's continued investment in the country, which he claims amounted to a total of more than US$1 billion in 2008, but would not comment on the mooted decade-long deal while negotiations were ongoing. The Chinese soccer season begins on March 21.