SUPER LEAGUE SPONSOR EYES ‘NEW NORMAL’
CIMB plans to move fans to digital ground
WHILE football leagues around the world, including the EPL, fear a sponsorship fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysian fans are wondering what is the stand of the M-League backers.
Last week, Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan reassured that things are “okay”, and they have been keeping their sponsors updated on the current situations.
Ghani had said that the MLeague is not like the English Premier League who have lost billions of ringgit as they are a “world wide business”.
“Our league is only focused in our country and it doesn’t bring in a lot of revenue.”
As far as sponsorship for the tier one Super League is concerned, it seems to be on a good footing.
CIMB Group, the title sponsor for the Super League, and in its first year of involvement, has reaffirmed its support for the competition.
“As title sponsor, we remain committed to supporting Malaysian football through the CIMB Malaysian Super League,” CIMB said in a statement.
“We are working closely with MFL to understand and support their plans while adapting to the new normal environment brought about by Covid-19.”
Not only has CIMB pledged its commitment to the Super League, the bank group also hinted it has something in the pipeline to enhance football for the new normal.
“Given the situation, we will be moving towards a more digital focus in our engagement with football fans, a mutually beneficial situation for all,” read the statement.
Though CIMB, which is Malaysia’s second largest bank, has the financial strength to help keep the Super League on a good footing, smaller companies that sponsor the clubs can’t continue their commitments.
A SME (small medium enterprise) company told Timesport that it will reduce its sponsorship of a Super League club as its business has been badly afffected by the MCO.
“We have been impacted hard but we will try to sustain our partnership with the club,” said an official of the company.
“We are coming down to two options, either to reduce the sponsorship amount or lengthen our commitment but at lesser amount.”