 |
|
HSBC Reaches the Last Fence in Sponsorship of FEI Events |
|
|
Equestrian - 07 Mar 2013 - HSBC, the international banking giant, announced today that it is ending its sponsorship of the FEI, the governing body for equestrian sports, based on the eventing discipline, at the end of 2013.
The bank has been the global sponsor of eventing and given its name to the HSBC FEI Classics since the top-tier series was launched in 2008.
The FEI said it is now “proactively looking for a new sponsor for the series.”
HSBC is in the process of reviewing its sponsorship strategy and will officially bow out as title sponsor of the FEI Classics after the season climax at Burghley in England in September.
However, the subsequent events in Pau in France and Adelaide in Australia, which kick off the 2013-14 series, will still be supported by HSBC and the cash prize for the leading rider in the HSBC Rankings will be awarded at the end of this year.
Giles Morgan, group head of sponsorship at HSBC, said: “We have had five wonderful years with the HSBC FEI Classics, and still have another one to go, and the series has proved hugely successful We would like to think that the series has now come of age and, as a result of its phenomenal success since we came in as title sponsors in 2008, that it will be snapped up by another sponsor keen to get global visibility in the equestrian world.
"The decision to end our partnership with the FEI was a very difficult one to make, but the banking sector has gone through some tough times recently and we are refocusing our entire sports sponsorship portfolio and sadly that will not include international eventing after 2013.”
In recent years, HSBC has moved to focus its sponsorship policy on the core sports of golf and rugby union, both of which return to the Olympics in 2016, with a slant towards developing Asian markets.
The bank is the title sponsor of men’s golf’s WGC-HSBC Champions held in China and the HSBC Abu Dhabi Championship and the HSBC Women’s Champions played in Singapore.
In rugby union HSBC is the title sponsor of rugby union’s Sevens World Series and the main partner of the British and Irish Lions team which will tour Australia later this year.
FEI secretary general Ingmar De Vos thanked the bank for its contribution to equestrian sport, saying: "HSBC has been a really great sponsor to work with and we are grateful that they had the vision to support a totally new concept, staying with it right from its conception through to its place now as one of the FEI's flagship series.
“The HSBC FEI Classics has proved hugely popular with riders and with fans of the sport, and HSBC's sponsorship has meant a major increase in prize money for Eventing which, in turn, has resulted in increased media coverage and visibility for our sport.
"We are very sorry to lose HSBC as a partner, and we are now of course proactively looking for a new sponsor for the series. We still have another year before we finally say goodbye to HSBC and our immediate focus is to ensure that the HSBC FEI Classics in 2013 provide a fitting farewell to HSBC and an acknowledgement of their incredible support of the series over the years."
Sportcal
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Powered by |  |
|
|