Highlights: 61 Enterprises Sponsor Chinese Athletes Team

1.1 trillion， the sponsor companies’ scale

Among the 61 enterprises at home and abroad that sponsor the Chinese Athletes Team in the London Olympics， 29 are listed companies across the world: 13 are listed in the A share market of the Chinese mainland， 6 in Hong Kong， 3 in New York Stock Exchange， 2 in NASDAQ， 2 in Germany and 1 respectively in Taiwan， Korea and Japan. Moreover， Inoherb， a domestic company， has just announced that it plans to be listed in the Shanghai Stock Exchange this year.

Except 6 listed companies whose data cannot be accessed to， the rest 24 companies including Inoherb， registered a total business revenue of 1.13 trillion in 2011 and a net corporate profit of RMB 68.369 billion.

Fast-moving consumer goods， dominate the sponsorship

Enterprises for fast moving consumer goods still play a significant role among the sponsors for Olympic Games. The same situation goes for the listed companies sponsoring the Chinese Sports Delegation. To be exact， 8 sponsors are from the fast moving consumer goods domain: Moutai， Yanjin Beer， Yili， Langsha， Zhujiang Beer， COFCO， Mengniu and Inoberb.

One of the most established sponsors for the Olympic Games is Coca Cola， which boasts of 80 years history of cooperation with Olympics. Coca Cola is the designated beverage for every Olympic Games， during which it has become a household renowned brand.

Yili， a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee， has also perceived that the Olympic Games may exert great impact on its brand popularity. Since 2005 when Yili signed to be a sponsor of the Beijing Olympics， its brand value rose to RMB 20.135 billion in 2008 from RMB 13.612 billion. In 2011， Yili reaped a business turnover of RMB 37.451 billion.

Although Mengniu， another well-known dairy enterprise， did not spend lavishly to strive for being a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee， its sponsoring to the Chinese Men’s Basketball Team helps it to be shortlisted among the sponsors for the Chinese Sports Delegation.

Sportswear brands， throat-cut competition

In the Olympic Games， a sports event striking the attention of the whole world， clothing the athletes with their sportswear is what all the sportswear brands are competing for.

Among the listed companies sponsoring the Chinese Athletes Team， the sportswear brands hold 7 seats， ranking second among all the sponsoring categories. These 7 companies include Anta， Li Ning， 361°， Nike， Mingle(China)， Adidas and Mizuno.

As a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee， Anta provides tailor-made winning outfit — the “Champion Dragon Outfit” for the Chinese Sports Delegation， while the established brand Li Ning sponsored such popular sports teams as women’s gymnastics， diving and table tennis. Spectators may have observed that it is very common for the Chinese athletes to wear Anta outfits to enter the stadium and then take off the outerwear to be dressed in outfits in such brands as Li Ning to finish the contest.

In 2011， Anta and Li Ning posted business revenue neck and neck， while the latter gained a narrow advantage by about RMB 20 million. However， in terms of net corporate profit， the new star Anta are far ahead by a net profit of RMB 1.73 billion， RMB 380 million above Li Ning. Besides， with a much less business revenue， 361° surprisingly pocketed a net profit of 1.13 billion last year， which can never be neglected.

Logistics enterprises， “backstage winner”

Mentioning the sponsors for the Chinese Sports Delegation， the general public may be only familiar with the international big names like Nike and Adidas， whereas the big-budget sponsors are the logistics enterprises.

Although only two logistics enterprises —Sinotrans Ltd. and UPS are in the sponsor list for the Chinese Sports Delegation， they come out on top both in industrial ranking and business scale.

Surprisingly， UPS possesses the largest business scale and highest net profit among the 30 Olympic sponsors. With a business scale of approximately RMB 334.6 billion and a net profit of RMB 2.39 billion in 2011， UPS is absolutely the richest sponsor. However， rather than partnering with the Chinese Olympic Committee， UPS sponsored the popular Chinese Men’s Basketball Team.

Sina and Acer， loss leaders

Among the 29 listed companies sponsoring the Chinese Sports Delegation， only two enterprises — Sina and Acer gained negative net profit in 2011， the former with a loss of RMB 1.903 billion and the latter with RMB 1.403 billion.

However， these two enterprises are tycoons among the sponsors for the London Olympics. Sina is a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee， while Acer has a bigger name—replacing Lenovo to become the highest-level partner sponsor of the International Olympic Committee.

Just a couple of years ago， to strive for the top sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics， Lenovo paid a big cash of USD 65 million， equipment and services. In the light of the principle that the sponsorship fee from the top sponsor of the Olympics sees a yearon-year rise of 10%-20%， it is estimated that Acer stumped up USD 70 million to USD 80 million this time though it refused to disclose details about the sponsoring fund.

Whether it has good value for the huge investment， Sina and Acer aim at upgrading their brand image by sponsoring the Olympics despite the fact that they are in the red.