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BEIJING, China – China’s Dalian Wanda Group announced the latest addition to its growing sports conglomerate on Thursday with a long-term partnership with basketball world body FIBA.
Wanda, headed by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, already holds a key stake in Atletico Madrid and is the top sponsor of football’s scandal-hit governing body, FIFA.
Under the latest deal, Wanda subsidiary Infront Sports & Media – headed by Philippe Blatter, nephew of the controversial ex-FIFA chief Sepp Blatter – will sell and market FIBA’s sponsorship and marketing rights over 4 Basketball World Cup cycles until 2033.
The tie-up also includes FIBA’s men’s and women’s Continental Cups, women’s World Cups and world youth championships, and will see the creation of a new entity, FIBA Marketing.
“Our partnership with FIBA is not only to promote existing commercial tournaments, but more importantly to create new tournaments and improve the reputation of FIBA,” Wang told a press conference.
FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann praised Wang’s “big ambitions”, asking: “What could be better than getting married to the number one company in China?”
A key focus of the deal is the upcoming 2019 World Cup in China, where basketball is regarded as the number one sport. Wanda has committed “very significant resources” to the competition, a statement said.
Wang built a $100 billion business empire founded on shopping malls, before setting his sights set on building a global sports conglomerate.
His Wanda Sports Holdings already claims to be the world’s largest sports company, and has a goal of reaching an annual turnover of $10 billion.
Both Wanda Sports and Infront are headed by Philippe Blatter, whose uncle Sepp Blatter was banned from football for 6 years and is facing a criminal investigation over corruption allegations.
Wanda became FIFA’s top sponsor in March, the first company to join hands with the embattled body after Blatter’s departure.
Wanda holds a 20 percent stake in Spain’s Atletico, this year’s Champions League runners-up, and also owns the World Triathlon Corporation, which runs the Ironman series.
Chinese companies are indulging in a buying spree of global sporting assets, including top football clubs, sponsorships and media rights. – Rappler.com
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