Intel is one of the key tech drivers in the esports industry, driving the PC gaming market. In 2024, the brand generated high-value deals with esports teams and series, Riot Games, JD Gaming, and Global Esports. With an annual spend of $8.85 million generated from only three deals, Intel recorded the highest sport technology sponsorship spend value by a brand in Asia-Pacific (APAC), reveals GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s latest report “Sponsorship Sector Report – Technology – APAC 2024”, reveals that soccer has just over six times more active agreements than any other sport in the APAC region, while also generating the highest total annual deal value. The most lucrative deal in the APAC region is between Riot Games and Intel.
Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The technology sector is constantly evolving and sponsorship opportunities for tech brands are becoming more and more significant in the sports industry. Intel has been a long-term partner of esports leagues and publishers for nearly two decades, and therefore, it is unsurprising that all three of its deals in the APAC region are with esports, given the rising popularity of esports over the last several years.”
Looking at the most active tech brands in the APAC region, Sharp Extensive IT, the IT solutions company, has the highest volume of deals, with eight active deals. EA Sports and Comwire followed behind with six deals. However, tech brand sponsorship portfolios are very limited in terms of volume, with 80% of all tech deals in the APAC region only having one sponsorship deal in the market.
Snooks continues: “Despite some tech brands being very active in the APAC market, there is a definite reluctance for tech brands in the APAC region to commit to several sponsorship deals within the region at one time. Additionally, brands often commit their sponsorship with one sport, with the likes of Sharp Extensive IT focusing its spend with the Australian Football League (AFL).”
Asian brands dominated the sector spend, with their deals generating the highest annual deal value. The top sponsorship deal in the Asia region comes from Infosys’ deal with Tennis Australia, worth an estimated $15 million across five years. American brands followed in second, with their top two most lucrative deals in the Americas being both with esports.
Snooks concludes: “The Asian brands dominating the sector spend in the APAC region can be very much attributed to the strength of the tech industry in East Asia, mainly China. With esports dominating the top deals in Asia, this is not surprising given the large amount of money Asian tech companies have invested in esports.”
