Event organisers to bring in 6-a-side football, D1 series
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To cash in on the rising demand for branding tied into sports marketing, event organisers and media enterprises are keen to acquire the rights to bring international sports tournaments to the Kingdom.
Yesterday, event organiser Football Focus Asia announced it would hold the Standard Chartered EPL Masters Football Thailand Cup 2012 at Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani on May 20.
Masters Football is an established indoor six-a-side football tournament that has been running in Britain. This year Football Focus Asia brings the tournament to five countries in Southeast Asia: Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
Chief executive officer Robert Teasdale said his company, in partnership with Masters Football Thailand, would bring legendary players such as John Barnes and Paul Parker to Thailand in this event.
Samart Benjamin Assarasakorn, marketing and sponsorship manager of Masters Football Thailand, said the company had gained the right to organise this tournament under a three-year contract. It anticipates lining up a number of sponsors, as many companies are interested in creating brand awareness via sports marketing.
The EPL Masters Football Thailand Cup 2012 already has key sponsors including Standard Chartered, Singha, TrueVisions, Thai Airways, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
Investment in the organising rights was about US$1 million (Bt30 million) a year. Samart estimated the value of the event, calculated from annual sponsorships and ad-vertising income, as well as broadcasting fees to other countries, at about $100 million.
In separate interview, Wiluck Lohtong, CEO at Inspire Entertainment, a subsidiary of sport newspaper and magazine publisher Siam Sports Syndicate, said the company had gained the rights to organise a “drifting” grand prix under a three-year contract from Japan-based D1 Corporation.
