Why are there so many sponsors from China in the Euro Cup?

The Euro 2024 has marked the return to normality of the national team tournament. After the multinational experience of the 2020 edition, held a year later due to the pandemic, the tournament that is held until the 14th in Germany has recovered the single-country headquarters format and pre-coronavirus revenue figures. Sponsors have wanted to position themselves to take advantage of this revaluation, especially Chinese brands. Five of the 13 large global trading partners (the total portfolio is 18) of the UEFA for this competition are from the Asian giant.

A Euro between China and German sponsors

The governing body of European football expects revenue of just over 2,409 million euros, a figure that is 26% more than what was collected in France 2016, according to data from ‘2PlayBook’. It is the first time that the 2,000 million barrier has been surpassed, something possible thanks to the increase in income from television rights and sponsorships, 21% more compared to Euro 2020. Ticketing has skyrocketed (300 million, double that in the previous edition) and audiences demonstrate in countries like

Spain, where TVE broadcasts the matches openly, the interest generated by the tournament (Spanish parties are close to 60% share).

This attractive context is what Chinese brands have taken advantage of: Hisensemanufacturer of televisions and household appliances; AliExpressAlibaba’s ‘marketplace’; Alipay+payment service from Ant Group, financial technology; Alive, the smartphone brand; and BYDelectric car manufacturer. The latter replaced the German Volkswagen as UEFA’s mobility partner, which held this category between 2018 and December 2013. A significant change that demonstrates the change of era in sports sponsorship. The place that Chinese brands now occupy was in the past the territory of Carlsberg, McDonald’s, Canon or JVC.

This does not mean that European companies have ignored the Euro Cup. On the contrary, with the focus on Germany the renationalization of the brand ecosystem has occurred, as demonstrated by the agreements with the German companies. Lidl, supermarket chain; or Strauss, dedicated to work clothes. In addition to these great alliances, there are others on a lower level, such as the brewery Bitburger; the transport operator Deutsche Bahn; the ‘teleco’ Detusche Telekom; the insurance chain Ergo; and the meat Wiesenhof, which once sponsored a Pro Tour cycling team.

Adidas, Coca-Cola, Booking or Visit Qatar

Despite the transformation that has been experienced in recent editions, there are faithful partners such as adidas either Coca Cola‘main partners’ of the Eurocup along with Booking.com, a tourism aggregator based in Amsterdam. Another of the main sponsors of the tournament held in Germany is Visit Qataran initiative of the government that hosted the last World Cup, a location vehemently criticized in the country where these days the name of the emirate is present everywhere.

“In general, brands

China, and other Asian countries, use major sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, FIBA ​​World Cup and the UEFA Eurocup itself, to try to gain visibility and, therefore, increase its brand awareness worldwide. And this is its main sponsorship objective, brand visibility, since its notoriety in Europe still has a lot of room for improvement,” Carlos Canto, CEO of SPSG Consulting, a consulting firm specialized in the sports industry, explains to this newspaper.

“On the contrary, better-known brands in Europe, such as Coca-Cola, Lidl, Booking.com, to name a few of the current Euro 2024; They activate their sponsorships aligned with additional objectives. This is the case of VIP Hospitality, ‘engagement’, the generation of income and/or the improvement of brand reputation, usually through the development of projects with a relevant mark of environmental and/or social sustainability“Adds Canto, to explain the differences between the motivations that move brands more traditionally related to the Euro Cup and those that seek notoriety through it.

David Beckham, AliExpress ambassador at the Euro

When it comes to understanding the vector of sustainability, proposals such as Lidl’s are useful, which promotes a healthy lifestyle by offering fresh fruit in the ‘fan zones’, while Coca-Cola encourages followers to recycle their beverage containersDeutsche Bahn offers train discounts in Germany and BYD provides a fleet of electric cars.

For the automobile manufacturer, the Eurocup is a real challenge in a market in continuous dispute. On June 12, at the gates of the opening of the tournament, the European Commission announced that Chinese producers of ‘zero-emission’ vehicles would be subject from July 4 to additional tariffs to the 10% they already paid (between 17.4 and 38.1%). Still, BYD takes as an example what happened with Hisense in the Euro 2016its first appearance, which allowed an 83% increase in sales abroad.

The same has happened with Temu, Shein’s rival, both ‘marketplaces’ from China, which made an investment of tens of millions of tens of euros in a marketing campaign for the Super Bowl. Advertisements and gift vouchers constituted the bulk of an action that allowed it to gain a foothold in the US market. Companies from the Asian country have national income that allows them to undertake expansion by storm, as demonstrated by the powerful activations of the Euro Cup.

To increase conversion rates, AliExpress, present in all formats, has used ex-footballer David Beckham as brand ambassador. In this way, Chinese companies aim to improve their market shares in Europe, where they remain relatively low. To do this, they take advantage of the most universal of sports, with which they reach a global audience. All, on the back of a winning project like the Euro Cup that, according to Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA’s marketing director, will exceed 5 billion users in accumulated audience.