The overall value of sponsorship deals in Inter Milan by Chinese companies has fallen dramatically in recent years, from €97 million during the 2018-19 season to just €3 million now.
This according to Italian news outlet Gazzetta.it, who report that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as restrictions by the Chinese government have meant that the revenues from Chinese sponsorships have plummeted season on season for the Nerazzurri from their peak three seasons ago.
Current Inter owners Suning opened up a significant bridge between the Nerazzurri and commercial partnerships with Asian companies starting in 2016.
The total value of the revenues from these deals increased to €75 million in the 2016-17 season, €92 million in the 2017-18 season, and finally €97 for the 2018-19 campaign, the highest that they reached.
That would prove to be the highest value of investment by Chinese companies in Inter Milan via sponsorship deals.
However, the economic shock as a result of the global pandemic changed the circumstances drastically.
Compared to the revenue during the 2019-20 season, the value of these deals dropped precipitously to €44 million during the 2019-20 campaign, the season during which the global pandemic hit.
This further dropped to €38 million during the 2020-21 season, and reached just €16 million during the 2021-22 campaign.
This time around, the total value of Inter’s sponsorship agreements with Chinese companies has dropped to its lowest point by far during Suning’s ownership, reaching a total of just €3 million.
The premature termination of two of the Nerazzurri’s most lucrative commercial deals with Chinese companies, those with Imedia and Beijing Yixinshijie, has accounted for a significant amount of this drop-off.
Meanwhile, the value of Inter owners Suning’s sponsorship of the team’s training centre and training kit has also dropped off.
From its highest point of €16.5 million plus add-ons, the value of that agreement then dropped to a fixed amount of €16 million with no add-ons in the 2019-20 season, and then by €5.4 million during the 2020-21 season and a further €4.5 million for the 2021-22 campaign.
https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Serie-A/Inter/16-01-2023/inter-sponsor-cinesi-iaria-4501982025969_preview.shtml?reason=unauthenticated&origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gazzetta.it%2FCalcio%2FSerie-A%2FInter%2F16-01-2023%2Finter-sponsor-cinesi-iaria-4501982025969.shtml
The sponsorship deals that are left with Chinese companies are those with Ld Sports and Boe United Technology, which compared to the much more lucrative deals which have been terminated, total a value of just €3 million for the Nerazzurri.
