What Does A Sponsorship of MuangThong United Really Mean?

Thai Yamaha Motor Co. is well-known for being one of the biggest manufacturers for motorcycles and home electrical-appliances in Southeast Asia. However, not many people know about Yamaha being a main sponsor behind the success of Muangthong United football club for the past three years.

Yamaha’s sponsorship for football clubs is considered a part its marketing strategy. The company’s objective is to create sport activities for customers, to get them involved with the club, this type of activity is considered part of a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), opening new opportunities for fresh and young soccer hopefuls to make their ways into the professional soccer world.

“We looked at many different teams, but only few teams could meet our criteria, as a very remarkable and outstanding club, Muangthong United is a team that satisfied us, with clear indication of their strong enthusiasms, Muangthong United has a very good management system and also superb form on the pitch. 4 years ago, we decided to be a sponsor of Muangthong United which played in Division 2. Since then, Muangthong United has made history with three championships in three years; in Division 2, Division 1 and the Thailand Premier League this year. This year Muangthong also won another Thailand Premier League trophy. After winning consecutive championships, Muang Thong United has proven their continuous development and we, at Yamaha, are very pleased,” said Miss Jintana Udomsub, Chief of Commerce of Thai Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

For annual financial support, Yamaha provided Muangthong United with full sponsorship deal. This included sponsoring for football stadium and involving with Muangthong United, not only with a club but also with various fans and customer’s activities across the nation.

According to Mr. Praphan Phornthanavarsit, Executive Vice President of Thai Yamaha Motor, “Yamaha believes in the importance of sports marketing, last season, we supported Muangthong United and retained being good business partners. In the 2009 season, Muangthong United won the championship and gave Yamaha a positive feeling from this investment. In addition, activities involving with Muangthong United football club this year have considered being successful in terms of marketing and consumers perception.”

Yamaha’s sponsorship of Muangthong United Football Club led to the funding of Muangthong United’s football field, Yamaha Stadium. With Yamaha sponsoring the company and the club for three years, the financial sponsorship has been around 100 million Baht in total, which Mr. Praphan firmly believes will lead to even greater success for the both the club and Yamaha.

The sponsorship brought Yamaha benefits such as opening up new territories for nationwide extensive marketing promotion. Yamaha’s customer base increased with new potential target groups and these particular customers who would tend to hold Yamaha’s brand image well. With Yamaha being an official sponsor partner for Muangthong United especially for Yamaha Stadium, there were many spots used to impel Yamaha brand and promotion, for instances, Yamaha logos on football jersey, various casual shirts and wears, VIP box in YAMAHA Stadium, and commercial sideboards around the pitch.

The ‘Yamaha Soccer Clinic’ was an example of outreaching programs, this activity brought many famous football players from Muangthong United to teach basic football techniques to many kids in many provinces around the nation. The Yamaha Soccer Camp was another activity that organized during the period of school break for children to practice football while learning Mathematics and English. The Yamaha Football On Tour was made to arrange friendly matches between Muangthong United and other clubs. Consequently, these sponsorship and activities helped to push up the company’s sales volume and good brand perception from the customers. It is Yamaha’s intention to send the messages that the brand has very strong understanding to its customers and the company insists to create positive and constant activities for Thai society.

Currently football industry in Thailand is moving to the right direction. Few years ago, each football club had much fewer fans. However, every football club has been improving and beginning to reach international standards. This includes the fields, players, referees, securities and other related issues. Many teams have already developed those factors which is a very good signal for Thailand football industry. Yamaha hopes all football fans would help and write a new page of Thailand football history by creating proper way of cheering and supporting all local teams to raise the standard of Thailand football clubs. The highest goal is to have the same standard as European football clubs, such as Manchester United or Barcelona FC. Yamaha will remain to support Muangthong United and eventually bring this team to compete in international stage with the supports of nationwide football fans.

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Muangthong United Chonburi

F.C. Rayong F.C.

Income from tickets per matchIncome from Merchandises per matchTotal income per match

baht

Average income from top3

Thailand Premier League teams in season 2009/2010

Muangthong united has the most average income per match.630,000 baht which divided into merchandise 250,000 baht and ticket 380,000 baht.

Chonburi F.C. has average income 592,800 baht per match which divided into merchandise 275,800 baht and ticket 316,480 baht.

Rayong F.C. has the average income of 585,000 baht per match which divided into merchandise 180,000 baht and ticket 405,000 baht.

rank Team Income fromtickets(baht)

  Average total income permatch(baht)

1. Muangthong United 6,321,190 790,1492. Chonburi F.C. 4,667,107 583,3883. Buriram PEA F.C. 4,968,360 496,8364. Bangkok glass F.C. 2,301,060 328,7235. Rayong F.C. 2,623,930 327,9916. Thai Port F.C. 1,553,200 310,6407. Sisaket F.C. 1,814,100 259,157

Season 2010/2011 TPL average income in 1st leg(half season) 

*The average total income per match of Muangthong United increased 25.39% from last season.

€0.5m for transfer fee

Yaya Alfa Soumahoro Soumahoro Yaya, ex‐Muangthong United’s player, joins K.A.A. Gent(Belgian football club) for Thailand Premiere League records for the highest transfer fee of €0.5m

MT UTD merchandisesMT UTD Jourseys

MT UTD Scarfs

Polo shirts 

Pillows

Other merchandises

24% 57%

3%6%10%

Average income from merchandises per match(season2009/10): 250,000 baht

Average income per match from product

142,500

60,000

25,000

15,000

7,500

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