Bayern Munich heads for China in search of sponsors

German football champion Bayern Munich has become the first foreign club to open an office in mainland China as it seeks new sponsorship and merchandising deals in a nation where the sport has become a national priority. “It’s the right time to come to China,” the team’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said in an interview in Shanghai, where the office was officially opened yesterday. “We will come here constantly.”

Bayern, headed for a fifth straight German soccer championship, says it has 136 million fans in China, more than Germany’s entire population. The club isn’t alone in targeting Asia’s soccer-loving public: rivals like Manchester United and Barcelona have a presence in Hong Kong, where they’re looking to leverage their global popularity to secure sponsorships.