London-based sports marketing agency API Sponsorship has been hired to
handle broadcast rights and international sponsorship for the 1998
Commonwealth Games in Malaysia.
The firm, which competes against rival ISL and IMG in the international
sports rights field, will also play a central role in handling PR for
the games - the first to be held in Asia - and has set up an office in
Kuala Lumpur to co-ordinate press facilities.
API has been acting as consultant on domestic sponsorship business to
the Malaysian organisers of the games, SUKOM Ninety Eight Berhad, for
several months.
The appointment represents a hat trick for API, which also handled
broadcast and sponsorship sales for the two previous Commonwealth Games
in Auckland, New Zealand and Victoria, Canada.
According to Ian Howard, managing director of API Asia and Canada: ‘It
is API’s intention to make the Kuala Lumpur Games the most successful
yet in terms of commercial revenue and build on the success of the 1990
and 1994 Games, where we raised USdollars 18 million and USdollars 40
million respectively.’
The UK, Australasia and Canada are seen as the key commercial markets in
which API will seek to maximise coverage and sponsorship exposure during
the ten-day event.
Sponsors for the last games included Canon, Coca Cola, IBM, Kodak,
Labatt’s, Reebok and Seiko.
