Enlarge imageBy Souhail Karam
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Telecom Co (STC) is set to sign a marketing deal with football club Manchester United that could be worth $18.6 million (9.3 million pounds), a spokesman said, its first-ever deal with a non-Saudi football club.
Football is a favoured pastime in the Middle East and telecom firms, including Emirates Telecommunications Corp, are often lead sponsors of sporting events.
STC has spent more than $6 billion in foreign expansion since June 2007 as it faces greater competition in its home market, where securing sponsorship deals with local football clubs helps telecom companies retain customers in a saturated market.
"We are at Manchester now. We will have a press conference tomorrow and the deal will be announced today during a Manchester United
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game," STC spokesman Mohamed al-Faraj told Reuters on Sunday.He declined to elaborate on the nature of the deal.
The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that the five-year deal would grant STC rights to use Manchester United’s logo and imagery in its marketing in Saudi Arabia.
STC would be able to offer its subscribers video clips of match highlights, the paper said.
"The arrangement is said to be one of the biggest non-shirt sponsorship deals in British football," the Times said.
STC competes in Saudi Arabia with Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi Arabia. The incumbent operator has paid $200 million for five-year sponsorship agreements with three Saudi clubs.
Its rival Mobily signed a 200-million-riyal (28.5 million pounds) sports-marketing deal with Saudi club al-Hilal last year -- then described as the Middle East’s largest ever deal of its kind.
STC’s first foreign acquisition was of a 25 percent stake in Malaysia’s Maxis for $3 billion, opening markets in India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Many leading names in the world of football finance, including Manchester United, have sought to develop strong ties in various Asian countries in recent years, through sponsorship, tours and links with local clubs.
(Editing by Daliah Merzaban)
