Asian volleyball competitions attracted US$38 million in sponsorship in 2023

October 7, 2024

Asia’s elite volleyball competitions generated US$38.4 million in sponsorship, making it the 11th ranked regional sport sponsorship platform - despite volleyball accounting for only 1% of all regional investment in sport sponsorship.

Revealed in Asia Sponsorship News’ just-released Brands In Volleyball Asia 2024 report, the figures advise that volleyball in Asia accounted for 9.3% of the global volleyball sponsorship investment (US$415 million).

The rapid evolution of volleyball in Asia is illustrated by the massive 280% growth in sponsorship investment between 2013-2020. While this dropped sharply in pandemic-hit 2021, it shot back up in 2023 to just below its highest ever level. While globally volleyball is set to achieve 7.2% CAGR between 2023-2030, industry insiders anticipate that Asia will substantially outperform the global picture.

The report from Asia Sponsorship News (ASN) highlights that, in 2023, 92% of all sponsorship investment in Asian volleyball was in just five markets - China (32%), Thailand (20%), Japan (18%), India (15%) and Pan-Asia (7%), with each market exhibiting significant differences in sponsorship investment metrics.

The Top 10 brands (noted below) accounted for US$16.8 million - 44% of total investment - with the next 10 ranking brands bringing that up to US$24.6 million (64%). A further 52 brands invested the remaining US$13.8 million (36%) with spending from US$25,000 up to US$596,000, demonstrating volleyball’s appeal to brands looking to sponsor at a wide range of sponsorship levels.

Top 10 brands in volleyball sponsorship in Asia in 2023.

RuPay, India (financial services) - US$ 5.6 million
Est Cola, Thailand (soft drink) - US$ 1.9 million
Peak, China (apparel) - US$ 1.4 million
Stake. com (gambling), Pan-Asia - US$ 1.3 million
China Mobile (telecoms), China - US$ 1.1 million
Ganten Water, China (beverage) - US$ 1.1 million
Loong Airlines, China - US$ 1.1 million
Luzhou Laojiao, China (alcohol) - US$ 1.1 million
Orion Confectionery, China (FMCG) - US$ 1.1 million
Panpan Foods, China (FMCG) - US$ 1.1 million

RuPay’s investment in Prime Volleyball League (formerly India Pro Volleyball League) has been consistent at just over US$5 million since 2019. This is RuPay’s only sponsorship vehicle and volleyball’s only significant Financial Services sponsor in Asia.

The rest of the Top 10 brands (except for Stake. com) were all Chinese sponsors of the China Volleyball League, all sponsoring at the same ‘Main Sponsor’ level with identical investments.

Since 2013, the main sponsorship brand categories have seen some major shifts. Financial services rose from 2% of total investment in 2013 to 20% in 2023. This is not, though - as it might seem at first glance - a trend towards a new leading sponsorship category across the markets and sponsoring brands. Rather, it is the impact of a single sponsor coming into play in 2019 with a multi-year deal in a single market: India’s RuPay with its US$5+ million investment.

The ASN report also revealed that sponsorship by non-alcoholic beverage brands, which surged from 3% to 16%, represents more of a trend - influenced by Est Cola’s entry into the market, its US$1.9 million accounting for 30% of all investment in the category.

FMCG was another category seeing positive change, climbing from 3% to 12%, China’s Orion Confectionery and Panpan Foods accounting for almost 50% of the total.

2013’s top category with 30% of all investment, apparel, saw a major negative shift down to 15% in 2023, yet it remains a significant player with several brands, led by Peak, showing long-term commitment.

The combined effects of cultural pressure and legislation saw alcoholic beverages drop from No.2 with 11% of the total to No.7 with just 4%.

The 20 biggest deals in 2023 were not particularly exciting, with eight of the 20 ranked deals made by brands in China, all for just over US$1 million and all as Main Sponsors of the China Volleyball League.

Notably, several of the biggest deals came from brands that did not feature in the Top 20 brands. Non-ranking brands The A2 Milk Company, Schwarzkopf, Shinhan Financial Group, Puma, Wave Company, Allianz PNB Life and VolleyStation all invested at least US$500,000, which put them among the biggest deals, while Mikasa, Grand Sport, Euro Cake, Piyavate Hospital, CP Meiji, ANA and Sealect - while all ranking in the Top 20, were not among the biggest deal makers.

Image: Action from the China Volleyball League. Credit: Xinhua.

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