September 11 – Chinese sponsorship of its Super League clubs is showing signs of growth beyond its traditional single benefactor status, where the main sponsor is generally the business owning the club and often has the company name branded into the club’s identity.
Beijing Sinobo Guoan FC (more generally referred to as Beijing Guoan), has announced two new partners. Sports nutrition brand BioSteel has signed a five-year partnership deal, becoming the club’s exclusive sports nutrition partner.
At the same time HIGHSPORT, a Beijing-based company offering premium sports channels, launched the Beijing Guoan official TV channel on September 6.
Biosteel, a Canadian company, is no stranger to sports sponsorship having partnered with 85 professional sports teams in North America, as well as Olympic teams. The company has also partnered with CSL club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng and Suzhou Dongwu FC from China’s second tier.
Currently sitting in seventh place in the Chinese Super League (CSL), the Beijing club is reckoned by Forbes to be the second most valuable club in China.
The new channel will air exclusive content from the club’s daily training as well as lifestyle pieces looking at players outside of football. Interviews with the club’s current or former players and coaches plus programmes about the Beijing Guoan’s fan club will make up the content schedule.
Beijing Guoan was founded as a professional football club in 1992 and was a founding member of the first fully professional top tier league in China.
CITIC Gouan Group financed the club with shares being held in CITIC Corp. Via a series of internal corporate mergers the club became part of subsidiary CITIC Ltd in 2014 which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
CITIC subsidiaries had been the man sponsors of the club and in the 2015 season, the sponsorship from CITIC Securities is listed as CN¥25 million. In 2016 CITIC opened up the share capital of the club to new shareholders with real estate company Sinobo Group buying 64% with state-owned CITIC Limited holding on to 36%.
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