In Asia in 2023, USD38.4 million was invested in volleyball according to ASN’s just-released Brands In Volleyball Asia 2024, making it the 11th ranked regional sport sponsorship platform, despite volleyball accounting for only 1 percent of all regional investment in sport sponsorship.
At the global level, volleyball in Asia accounted for 9.3 percent of the global volleyball sponsorship investment (USD415 million).
The rapid evolution of volleyball in Asia is illustrated by the massive 280 percent growth in sponsorship investment between 2013-2020. While this dropped sharply in pandemic-hit 2021, it shot back up in 2023 to just below its highest ever level. While globally volleyball is set to achieve 7.2 percent CAGR between 2023-2030, industry insiders anticipate that Asia will substantially outperform the global picture.
In 2023, 92 percent of all sponsorship investment in Asian volleyball was in just five markets – China (32 percent), Thailand (20 percent), Japan (18 percent), India (15 percent) and Pan-Asia (7 percent), each market exhibiting significant differences in sponsorship investment metrics.
The Top 10 brands in Asia sponsoring volleyball in 2023 were: RuPay at USD5.6 million (India/Financial Services) Est Cola at USD1.9 million (Thailand/Non-alcoholic bev), Peak at USD1.4 million (China/Apparel), Stake.com at USD1.3 million (Pan-Asia/Gambling), China Mobile at USD1.1 million (Telcoms), Ganten Water at USD1.1 million (China/Non-alcoholic Bev.), Loong Airlines at USD1.1 million (China), Luzhou Laojiao at USD1.1 million (China/Alcoholic Bev.), Orion Confectionery at USD1.1 million (China/FMCG) and Panpan Foods at USD1.1 million (China/FMCG).
The Top 10 brands accounted for USD16.8 million – 44 percent of total investment – the next 10 ranking brands bringing that up to USD24.6 million (64 percent). A further 52 brands invested the remaining USD13.8 million (36 percent) with spending from USD25,000 up to USD596,000, demonstrating volleyball’s appeal to brands looking to sponsor at a wide range of sponsorship levels.
Just to reiterate from ASN analysis, the following were the top 10 brands in volleyball sponsorship in Asia in 2023.
- RuPay (India) spending USD 5.6 million
- Est Cola (Thailand) spending USD 1.9 million
- Peak (China) spending USD 1.4 million
- Stake.com (Pan-Asia) spending USD 1.3 million
- China Mobile (China) spending USD 1.1 million
- Ganten Water (China) spending USD 1.1 million
- Loong Airlines (China) spending USD 1.1 million
- Luzhou Laojiao (China) spending USD 1.1 million
- Orion Confectionery (China) spending USD 1.1 million
- Panpan Foods (China) spending USD 1.1 million
These 10 brands contributed just over 64 percent of the total volleyball sponsorship investment in Asia in 2023.
RuPay’s investment in Prime Volleyball League (formerly India Pro Volleyball League) has been consistent at just over USD5 million since 2019. This is RuPay’s only sponsorship vehicle and volleyball’s only significant Financial Services sponsor in Asia.
The rest of the Top 10 brands (except for Stake.com) were all Chinese sponsors of the China Volleyball League, all sponsoring at the same ‘Main Sponsor’ level with identical investments.
Since 2013, the main sponsorship brand categories have seen some major shifts. Financial Services shot from 2 percent of total investment in 2013 to 20 percent in 2023. This is not, though – as it might seem at first glance – a trend towards a new leading sponsorship category across the markets and sponsoring brands. Rather, it is the impact of a single sponsor coming into play in 2019 with a multi-year deal in a single market: India’s RuPay with its USD5+ million investment.
Non-alcoholic beverages, surging from 3 percent to 16 percent, represents more of a trend – influenced by Est Cola’s entry into the market, its USD1.9 million accounting for 30 percent of all investment in the category.
FMCG was another category seeing positive change, climbing from 3 percent to 12 percent, China’s Orion Confectionery and Panpan Foods accounting for almost 50 percent of the total.
2013’s top category with 30 percent of all investment, Apparel, saw a major negative shift down to 15 percent in 2023, yet it remains a significant player with several brands, led by Peak, showing long-term commitment.
The combined effects of cultural pressure and legislation saw Alcoholic Beverages drop from No.2 with 11 percent of the total to No.7 with just 4 percent.
The 20 biggest deals in 2023 were not particularly exciting, with eight of the 20 ranked deals made by brands in China, all for just over USD1 million and all as Main Sponsors of the China Volleyball League.
Notably, several of the biggest deals came from brands that did not feature in the Top 20 brands. Non-ranking brands The A2 Milk Company, Schwarzkopf, Shinhan Financial Group, Puma, Wave Company, Allianz PNB Life and VolleyStation all invested at least USD500,000, which put them among the biggest deals, while Mikasa, Grand Sport, Euro Cake, Piyavate Hospital, CP Meiji, ANA and Sealect – while all ranking in the Top 20, were not amongst the biggest deal makers.
The biggest deal by a factor of 5x was RuPay’s Title Sponsorship of India’s Prime Volleyball League, the brand’s only sponsorship investment in 2023.
Taking all the above into consideration, it is clear that volleyball sponsorship in Asia does not yet exhibit any meaningful trends, while investment by single brands can have such a strong impact on the market.
It is worth noting that Pan-Asia, while ranked fifth out of five markets, saw 68 percent of investment come from Gambling and Technology – categories absent from the other four markets, at least for this year.
Perhaps the only trend of note in 2023 is that 25 percent of all volleyball sponsorship went to women’s volleyball (as opposed to events or associations for both men and women). This fits well with the global trend towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), values that are inherent in the sport.
ASN released its Brands in Volleyball Asia 2024 in late September 2024.
ASN is the leading market intelligence service for the sponsorship industry in Asia, which distributes independent news, analytics and insights on a subscription basis, with a bespoke consultancy and training service.
ASN is operated by Asia Sponsorship News Co., Ltd. a subsidiary of Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd.
Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. is an independent marketing consultancy based in Bangkok, Thailand specialising in commercial sponsorship and partnership marketing, working with both rights holders and brands - acting as a catalyst by bringing them together and maximising the relationship.
We have packaged, sold and managed sponsorship and partnership opportunities for a wide range of rights holders and worked with many of the world’s leading brands to source and engage the right sponsorships and partnerships for them to maximise.
