Anta signs huge deal with Chinese Olympic Committee

24 June 2009 | Posted in Sponsorship, Olympics, Top Story | By Adam Fraser

Chinese sportswear brand Anta has signed a four-year deal to become an official sponsor of the Chinese Olympic Committee.

Terms of the partnership were not officially released, but reports in China claim it is worth US$70 million over the four years, or US$17.5 million per year. That amount is surprisingly large if accurate - the US Olympic Committee, for example, charges partners between US$2 million and US$3 million per year - but the deal will see Anta act as the exclusive supplier of the Chinese teams at the Vancouver Winter Olympics next year and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as well as at the Summer and Winter Youth Olympic Games, Asian Games, Asian Winter Games, East Asian Games, Asian Indoor Games and Asian Beach Games.

"Following the Beijing Olympic experience, sports marketing has become a popular way for enterprises. Although the post-Olympic sports industry has been affected by the global recession, crisis and opportunity can coexist," said Wang Jun, vice-chairman of the COC. "The industry can reverse the crisis, as long as it makes full use of the platform and resources in line with the company's brand positioning and development strategy. Compared with international brands, those Chinese local companies have been less affected by the global economic recession and there is a strong trend among them to increase their investment in sports industries."

Zhang Tao, vice-president of Anta, added: "Anta always includes such sports marketing campaigns into our marketing strategy and despite the global financial crisis, we have found that there is still much room to develop within the domestic market."