Tag: sports

Man Utd: the ultimate EM club

May 8, 2013 2:10pm by Rob Minto

Share this on

As Sir Alex Ferguson steps down after one of the most successful football managerial careers of all time, the numbers machine is kicking into gear – trophies, win-loss records, you name it.

The thing is, Manchester United FC is a statistician’s nightmare. A famous Guiness beer ad from a few years back said that 98 per cent of Man U fans had never been to Old Trafford, the club’s stadium. It’s not clear where that little factoid came from.

But one thing is for sure: in terms of its fans, Man U under Fergie has become one of the world’s leading emerging markets football clubs. Continue reading »

Tags: FBfeed, football, sports Posted in Global | Permalink

India’s cricket league gets its brand value back

Apr 25, 2013 12:24pm by Avantika Chilkoti

Share this on

After years when match-fixing allegations tarnished its image and the glamour of after-game parties often eclipsed the cricket itself, the Indian Premier League brand is making a comeback.

For the first time in four years the brand value of the tournament has grown this year, to $3.03bn, up from $2.92bn last year. Continue reading »

Tags: branding, cricket, IPL, sports Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

World Cup 2018: Can Russia afford it?

Apr 17, 2013 5:57pm by Isabel Gorst

Share this on

The Kremlin believes that hosting prestigious international events is an opportunity for Russia to boost its international image.

But preparations for the World Cup 2018 will strain the finances of Russia’s regions and may end up shining a light on the country’s shortcomings, according to a new report by Standards & Poor’s. Continue reading »

Tags: FBfeed, Russia debt, Russia economy, Russia World Cup, sports, World Cup Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

The power driving Chinese golf: Citic

Apr 17, 2013 8:29am by beyondbrics

Share this on

By Julie Zhu

When China’s 14-year-old amateur Guan Tianlang made history in the US Masters golf tournament last week, few people will have been more pleased with his success than the bosses of Citic, the country’s leading investment bank.

The state-controlled group was one of golf’s earliest backers in China and is today one of its biggest sponsors. And Guan’s achievement in becoming the youngest-ever player to make the cut in the Masters has come only three decades after Citic executives helped to introduce golf into China. Continue reading »

Tags: Citic, Forward Group, golf, Guan Tianlang, sponsorship, sports, Wang Jun Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

China: Michael Jordan faces counter-suit in name dispute

Apr 10, 2013 9:22am by Simon Rabinovitch

Share this on

Chinese sportswear company Qiaodan has long been seen as a copycat for its use of a name and imagery connected to basketball legend Michael Jordan. But in the domain of trademark law, it is nothing if not original in an increasingly bitter fight with Jordan. Continue reading »

Tags: brand disputes, intellectual property, law, sports Posted in Asia, China | Permalink

NBA’s Golden State Warriors: aiming for Indian fans

Mar 20, 2013 3:00am by Peter Vanham

Share this on

NBA half time usually consists of a cheerleader show and an array of random fans trying to score an impossible shot. But when Oakland’s Golden State Warriors took a break in their home game against the New York Knicks last week, the viewers got a very different spectacle: a Bollywood performance with colorful Indian dancers and singers.

The show, organised for the third consecutive year, fits into the India strategy of the team’s vice chairman, Vivek Ranadive. In five to ten years, he wants to make basketball the second sport in India. Continue reading »

Tags: India sports, NBA, sports Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

What’s the score? Star India wins battle over cricket rights

Mar 15, 2013 1:20pm by Avantika Chilkoti

Share this on

Cricket is a big deal in India, as is broadcasting the matches and score updates. But showing the action is one thing – what about reporting the score? Can that be protected?

Apparently so. Star India, Rupert Murdoch’s Asian flagship, has exclusive media rights to broadcast Indian international matches and has just won a case in Delhi’s High Court, banning others from providing live match updates. Continue reading »

Tags: cricket, lawsuit, sports, Star India, Star TV, television Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

FC Spartak Moscow to IPO? Good for governance, maybe not for investors

Mar 11, 2013 5:48pm by Isabel Gorst

Share this on

Leonid Fedun, the billionaire deputy chief executive of Lukoil, is considering taking his Spartak football club public in what could be the first ever Russian football IPO.

Investors should not get carried away. Football is not a particularly profitable business and even the most successful clubs tend to live beyond their means. Continue reading »

Tags: football, IPOs, sports Posted in Europe, Russia | Permalink

Adidas in China: reaching out

Mar 8, 2013 11:35am by Patti Waldmeir

Share this on

If there is one thing that China’s smaller cities do not lack, it’s sportswear stores. The average fourth-, fifth- and sixth-tier Chinese city – everyone defines their tiers differently – has a high street with multiple Chinese sportswear retailers lined up in a row. Do these towns really need more running shoes?

Adidas certainly thinks so and its latest greater China sales – up 15 per cent in 2012 – seem to indicate that it’s right. The German sportswear brand, currently number two by sales behind Nike, has expanded into 350 more Chinese cities in the past 18 months, to 900 in total. Of the 800 stores opened last year, 400 were in lower-tier cities. The goal is to have 1,400 cities buying Adidas by 2015. Continue reading »

Tags: China consumer, retail, sports Posted in China | Permalink

[video] Asean progress provides a boost

Feb 11, 2013 3:31pm by beyondbrics

Share this on

Air Asia has moved its headquarters to Jakarta. Chief executive Tony Fernandes talks to the FT’s Ben Bland about running a low cost airline in southeast Asia and about owning sports teams – the English Premier League football team Queen’s Park Rangers and the Caterham Formula 1 racing team.

Tags: Air Asia, aviation, sports, video Posted in Asia | Permalink

S Korea: Special Olympics gives taste of 2018 winter games

Feb 4, 2013 11:05am by Simon Mundy

Share this on

Lee Myung-bak’s approval ratings remain painfully low as he prepares to step down as South Korean president next month. But he might hope for a belated popularity boost in 2018 when his country hosts the Winter Olympics – one of a series of major international events that South Korea won during his term.

The past week has given an early taste of the festival that awaits in five years’ time, as the South Korean ski resort of Pyeongchang hosted the Special Olympics World Games. Continue reading »

Tags: disability, Olympics, sports, Winter Olympics Posted in Asia, South Korea | Permalink

IPL auction: still spending

Feb 4, 2013 8:53am by Avantika Chilkoti

Share this on

India’s Department of Telecommunications, which saw disappointing take-up at its recent spectrum auctions, must have been looking on enviously. The rules of austerity rarely apply to sport, and cricket is no exception.

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) 2013 Player Auction took place on Sunday. Forget these straitened times – the IPL has once again bowled a googly. Continue reading »

Tags: cricket, IPL, sports Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Indonesia football: English clubs pitch for fans as local league falls apart

Jan 29, 2013 7:42am by Ben Bland

Share this on

Football is far and away the most popular sport in Indonesia and, with the domestic game in a sorry state, clubs from the English Premier League are looking to cash in.

In the latest round, Arsenal have just announced that they will play a friendly match against a national team in July, marking the team’s return to the country after a 31-year absence. Continue reading »

Tags: Asean, consumers, football, sports, UK Posted in Asia, Indonesia | Permalink

Slovenia’s Elan: a double-edged ski

Dec 20, 2012 12:26pm by Kester Eddy

Share this on

When Slovene partisan fighters needed skis to battle the occupying Nazi forces in World War II, there was but one solution: make them themselves, secretly, from wood. Some 70 years later, as a result of this initial, brave determination, the village of Begunje, nestled in the Alpine foothills about 35 miles north-west of Ljubljana, is the unlikely setting for the world’s largest ski plant.

Elan, the Slovene winter-sports company, produces 500,000 pairs of skis annually in Begunje, roughly one in seven of all skis worldwide – with 300,000, or 8.5 per cent of the global market, under its own name. Continue reading »

Tags: Corporate watch, innovation, sports Posted in Europe, Slovenia | Permalink

Pepsi deal: IPL still has plenty of fizz

Nov 22, 2012 8:11am by James Crabtree

Share this on

How goes the health of the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament? Bubbly, at least if Pepsi’s decision to spend $72m to become the Indian Premier League’s “title” sponsor for the next five years is any indication. Continue reading »

Tags: Pepsi, sponsorship, sports Posted in Asia, India | Permalink

Older entries

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

About this blog

Headlines email

Blog guide

News and comment from more than 40 emerging economies, headed by Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Follow @beyondbrics

'Like' our beyondbrics Facebook page, where we showcase a top story of the day

Sign up for our news headlines and markets snaphot service. We have two emails per day - London and New York headlines (sent at approx 6am and 12pm GMT).

Pretty much everything you need to know about beyondbrics is in our About this site page. But briefly:

To comment, please register for free with FT.com and read our policy on submitting comments.

There is an overall beyondbrics RSS feed, as well as feeds for all our countries, tags and authors. Learn more in our full RSS guide.

All posts are published in UK time.

Get in touch with us - your comments, advice and even complaints. Find out how to contact the team.

See the full list of FT blogs.

BB shortcuts

Regulars

Series

beyondbrics

Tag: sports

Man Utd: the ultimate EM club

India’s cricket league gets its brand value back

World Cup 2018: Can Russia afford it?

The power driving Chinese golf: Citic

China: Michael Jordan faces counter-suit in name dispute

NBA’s Golden State Warriors: aiming for Indian fans

What’s the score? Star India wins battle over cricket rights

FC Spartak Moscow to IPO? Good for governance, maybe not for investors

Adidas in China: reaching out

[video] Asean progress provides a boost

S Korea: Special Olympics gives taste of 2018 winter games

IPL auction: still spending

Indonesia football: English clubs pitch for fans as local league falls apart

Slovenia’s Elan: a double-edged ski

Pepsi deal: IPL still has plenty of fizz

BB: time to register

Global equities macromap

Most popular posts

Number of the day

Most commented

beyondbrics

The emerging markets hub

BB shortcuts

beyondbrics team

Regional teams:

Emerging markets data

Archive

What we’re writing about

What we’re reading