May 25 – Premier League West Bromwich Albion have quickly signed Chinese construction for Palm as the club’s main sponsor after Chinese online betting firm K8 pulled out of their two-year deal after just one season.
Palm will have their logo on West Brom’s kit for the 2017/18 campaign in what is a new sponsorship for the club in an initial one-year deal.
The Chinese firm already has links to Palm through club owner Guochuan Lai who served as general manager of Palm for 20 years, but stepped down from the post in 2014.
No figure was announced for the deal but K8 were understood to have been paying about £5 million per season for their two-year deal.
The club has scheduled the unveiling of next season’s kit today which will carry the Palm logo on the shirt. Adidas are the club’s kit sponsor.
Lai was co-founder of the Palm’s eco-town development arm which provides clients with services required for the ecological environment, including design and landscaping. The company is a leader in integrated environment operations.
The company says its long-term strategic goal “is to become a leading global eco-town operator and remain a leader in China’s new urban transformation to optimise the nation’s economic structure.” That ambition has now spread to opportunities in Europe.
Lai, who bought West Brom for £175 million last July, said: “Palm and Albion are naturally aligned and I am thrilled to see this partnership become even stronger. I believe we have an exciting future and we can tackle it knowing we are stronger together.”
Lin Congxiao, CEO of Palm Eco–Town Development Co. said that the relationship with West brom has been built on a long standing friendship: “West Bromwich Albion established relations with China when it visited China as the first English football club to set foot on the territory 39 years ago. Today, we are pleased to see such a valuable friendship has been further promoted by Palm Eco–Town Development Co. Ltd.
“The partnership with Albion is not only a key element in the industrial layout and strategic transformation and upgrade of the ‘Eco–Town +’ project of Palm Eco–Town Development Co. Ltd, but also a carrier of the dream of our company to promote football culture and contribute to the development of China’s football.”
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