12 March, 2021. UK: CKH Innovation Opportunities Development, a telecom unit of CK Hutchison Holdings (CK Hutchison), announced today that activation of Three UK’s Chelsea FC sponsorship will be expanded into four territories in APAC.
Three UK kicked off the biggest sponsorship in its history in July 2020 after signing an initial three-year deal with Chelsea FC as principal shirt sponsor in January 2020. The partnership has already enhanced brand awareness amongst football fans in the UK and the blueprint is now being rolled out to CK Hutchison’s other telecommunications businesses, starting in APAC.
The initial market to launch is Hong Kong, operating under the Three mobile brand – which today announced two tailored SIM plans for football fans and an exhibition of Chelsea FC products at their 3Supreme flagship store – soon to be followed by Vietnamobile in Vietnam. Hutchison Telecommunications (HUTCH) in Sri Lanka and Three Indonesia, who plan to launch in time for the start of the 2021 / 22 football season.
Chelsea FC is a huge brand in Asia and one of the most supported football clubs globally, with hundreds of millions of fans around the world, (275 million of which are in Asia) and 126 million followers across their social platforms. This vast reach means that these additional territories now have the opportunity to benefit from a global association with the premium brand of Chelsea, supporting market growth and brand affinity.
The rights include bespoke and signed merchandise, Club imagery, video assets, player and legend access, tickets, and hospitality, plus support for local activations, incentives and brand campaigns.
Three UK has concentrated on ensuring it connects the fans and its customers to the team and game they love, through innovative activations and initiatives created alongside Chelsea FC Men’ and Women’s teams. The global nature of the rights secured enables the four APAC affiliates to benefit from assets the UK team has already developed or activated.
This includes bespoke content featuring authentic stories around the teams and players, which aim to amplify the sponsorship. This is designed to target and inspire both Chelsea and broader football fans by going beyond the pitch and diving into key passion points – keeping a broader theme of connectivity throughout.
APAC is the first territory to benefit from the Chelsea FC partnership outside of the UK and it could expand it into other Three Group businesses within Europe in the future.
Joe Parker, CEO of CKH Innovation Opportunities Development, said: “We are delighted to be able to engage millions of additional Three customers and connect so many more Chelsea fans internationally with this sponsorship through our strong collaboration with Chelsea across our wider global telecoms footprint”.
Chelsea Football Club chief executive Guy Laurence adds: “The expansion of this important partnership into APAC comes at the right moment. With advancement of 5G network deployment across the footprint of CKH Innovation Opportunities Development, the acceleration of digital technology adoption and their large base of digitally savvy consumers, together we can provide our global fan base many more innovative ways to watch, follow and support Chelsea FC at a time when staying connected is more crucial than ever before.”
