Badminton champ has new game to master - managing sponsors

Singapore

FIVE years have passed since his Olympic gold medal breakthrough in Brazil and it's been 4 months since his disappointing dethronement in Tokyo, but Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling remains a very marketable personality.

Many of the 26-year-old's sponsors have remained faithful to him, and recently I attended a meeting when a businessman discussed an ambassadorial role for a community project for Schooling with his agent.

The final outcome of that meeting has not been revealed, but the bright outlook remains that Schooling is still someone sought after by corporates, although it has been a while since his Olympic glory rocked the whole of Singapore and beyond.

In that same vein, it should follow that Singapore's new badminton world champion Loh Kean Yew will have a string of sponsors and companies knocking on his door in the coming days and weeks to secure his signature to be the face for their products and services.

Depending on what Loh eventually aligns himself with, the 24-year-old - who has 16,000 followers on Facebook and 177,000 on his Instagram page, and whose net worth is believed to be around S$1 million - should see those numbers multiply easily, now that he is the most talked-about player in the badminton world after his heroics in Huelva.

A little over 2 months ago, despite his occasional successes in regional tournaments, Loh was sponsored mainly by Chinese sportswear giant Li-Ning.

Relatively small was his following, but very big was his fixation on becoming the world's best and one day securing Olympic gold.

The Penang-born player first came to Singapore in 2010, studied at the Singapore Sports School on a scholarship, became a citizen in 2015, enlisted in National Service the following year and quit his diploma programme at Republic Polytechnic to become a full-time athlete at 18.

All this, with the blessings of his parents to plunge himself into the unknown world of professional sports at such a young age.

As he chases his lifetime dream of becoming an Olympic champion in Paris in 2024, Loh is now on the cusp of badminton greatness which should offer him many tempting prospects from sponsors, companies and benefactors.

It is from this lofty position that negotiations with potential supporters will need to be structured based on terms that will ensure his path to Olympic glory is paved with financial and emotional support, so that he can have a stress-free ride to mega-stardom.

This is where Singapore companies can and should step forward and ride on Loh's back in return for advertising mileage, as many have done with Schooling after the 2016 Olympics.

A sports business group leader of a financial consultancy was quoted as saying: "Research has shown that sports sponsorship of a major sporting event or athlete can significantly increase a brand's appeal... 55 per cent of customers who were aware of a brand's Olympic sponsorship had a higher propensity to recommend the brand to their friends and family".

Although many sports in Singapore turned professional back in the 1990s, the magnitude of sports sponsorship only came to the fore after Schooling's spectacular butterfly swim on Aug 12, 2016.

Within months of Schooling's stately return - marked by a grand reception at Changi Airport and a bus parade around the city - companies jumped on the sponsorship bandwagon and he had a bank, motor company, clothing brand outfit, probiotic drink company among others to support him.

It has been 5 years since, and many still remain faithful to him. And there is a specific reason for that: they still see Schooling as an attractive marketing tool because of his dynamic personality and charisma underlined by his natural ability to hold an audience.

Schooling speaks well and speaks right - also because of his years of education in the United States in the company of true champions - and that is why he is called upon even today for engagements by businesses and educational institutions.

Loh is not there yet in this aspect, probably because he was monolingual when he came from Penang and brushed up on his English only while studying here.

Also, he may not be as successful as Schooling because the sport of badminton is not as universal as swimming, and the lower profile could mean a comparatively lesser reach.

With badminton being one of the biggest and most popular sports in China, Singapore companies with a presence there should do what they can to court Loh, whether it's by having his image on billboards or TV advertisements.

There is enough time for Loh and his team to study the different options on the table and pick what works best for him.

He will do well to tie down several suitors to 3-year contracts (or longer), which would take him up to the Paris Olympics in 2024 where the gold medal is his goal.

READ MORE:

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• After being crowned badminton's newest world champion, Loh Kean Yew can dream of Olympic glory next
• Badminton: Singapore's Loh Kean Yew is world champion