In good news for future golf sponsorships, HSBC, the multi-national investment bank and financial services firm has announced multi-year renewals of three of its longstanding multi-million dollar title sponsorship deals in golf.
The agreement will see HSBC continue to put its name to the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the China Golf Association -HSBC China Junior Golf Programme.
Jonathan Castleman, HSBC’s group head of brand and brand partnerships, said: “When we first introduced the HSBC Champions format to Shanghai in 2005 and Singapore in 2008, professional golf in Asia was in its relative infancy.”
“Today, the world’s best golfers appear in ‘Asia’s Majors’ every year and the CGA-HSBC China Junior Golf Programme has established a long term and sustainable pathway for future generations of Chinese golfers. Our ambition is to promote the game at all levels by inspiring future generations to take part in the sport.”
An official PGA Tour event, the Shanghai tournament is one of the biggest golf competitions in Asia and in 2019 featured an increased prize purse of US$10.25 million. This year’s edition was due to take place from 29th October to 1st November, but was cancelled when it was announced in July that China would not be hosting most of its planned international sports events for the remainder of 2020 due to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, the HSBC Women’s World Championship, which features on the LPGA Tour and was first held in 2008, included a prize pot of US$1.5 million last year. The 2020 edition, due to be staged from 27th February to 1st March, was also cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
The renewal of both these world class events is a big boost to the profile of the game in Asia.