Large sponsors from autocratic states – this trend will intensify
A familiar image at this EM: the Chinese online payment system Alipay advertised with Chinese characters
Source: pa / augenklick / J / Jürgen Fromme
It has never been as clear as at this European Championship which business Uefa is getting involved in. Probably without hesitation. This will also be the case at the World Cup next year and the 2024 European Championship. According to experts, there is a long-term plan behind this.
Dhe Chinese characters are likely to have caught the eye of millions of football fans at the European Championship finals – perhaps even irritating them. Sponsors from China also advertised everything related to the games of the European championships in the national language, and the advertising messages for the home country flickered into European living rooms via TV.
At the same time, Hisense and Alipay underlined the trend with their unusual approach: One third of the twelve main sponsors of the European tournament came from China – and this trend has been increasing for years, it is also visible at the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 European Championship.
From the point of view of the sponsors’ association S20, “the presence of Chinese companies at the European Championships reflects global competition,” said Managing Director Jana Bernhard, “the companies want to gain market share in Europe, and they do this by sponsoring.” Uefa, the other companies are from the USA, Russia and the Middle East.
In other words: half of the donors come from countries that have an extremely bad reputation with human rights organizations. “Turbo capitalism in football means that autocrats suddenly appear as sponsors,” the “Handelsblatt” quoted sports marketing expert Raphael Brinkert as saying.
Uefa collects around half a billion sponsors at EM
According to Uefa, the fact that China’s share is so high reflects what is happening on the market. There is “no specific strategy that focuses on China,” said the association: “However, we try to reach a global audience, as do the brands that participate in our commercial program.”
Uefa collects estimated sponsorship income of around half a billion euros. Obviously, where the money comes from is not important. “For top associations outside of Europe, higher prices can often be achieved in sponsorship,” explained Marco Klewenhagen, managing director of the specialist magazine “Sponsors”. In Chinese companies there is often a high level of motivation to “occupy the advertising platform in order, for example, to enter the market or to position one’s own brand”.
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A look at South America also shows that this is not a pure EM phenomenon. At the Copa América in Brazil, the ratio of Chinese (TCL, Kwai, Sinovac) to European (Betsson) sponsors was even 3: 1.
What criteria does Uefa use to select its sponsors? “Financial considerations are taken into account as well as business activity, geographic presence and marketing activations,” replied the association. There is also a social responsibility clause in the Treaties “to ensure that the fundamental principles and rights adopted by the International Labor Organization are respected”. Who controls this remains open, however.
The EM sponsors Vivo (smartphones) and Hisense (household appliances), who also operate as partners of the World Cup in Qatar, are on the market in Europe, as is the social media platform Tiktok. It’s different with the online payment system Alipay, just like with Fifa sponsor Wanda.
According to Tobias Ross, these companies also have completely different goals than advertising. “Many of the Chinese World Cup and European Championship sponsors involved are definitely looking for proximity to the international associations through their sponsorship in order to establish an exchange and, through dependencies, to bring the World Cup to China promptly,” said the sponsoring specialist who used to work for the DFL .
According to Ross, this can also be seen “at the time of these sponsorships, which have increased enormously in recent years, at a time when Fifa and Uefa have lost many western sponsors due to the far-reaching scandals”. In addition, some Chinese companies are trying “to establish a good relationship with the government through football,” said Ross: “Many of these international sponsorships thus show in the country of politics that the government is supported in the reforms and that they are well connected.”
In this case, Alipay and Co. can cope with the media wastage and the confusion of European viewers caused by Chinese characters.
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