Manchester City strengthens its Chinese foothold with Whaley partnership
Manchester City have stepped up their efforts to strengthen their Asian fan base after announcing Chinese home entertainment brand, Whaley, as the club’s official TV partner.
Whaley, a fast-growing home entertainment brand with a focus on smart technology will work with the club to produce exclusive 4K content.
Whaley branding will also appear on the back of City’s kits for its pre-season fixtures in China against Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.
City Football Group’s chief executive Ferran Soriano said: “We are very pleased to add Whaley to our family of Chinese partners, reflecting our growing commitment to and presence in that market.
“Whaley is a great entertainment brand, committed to creating immersive experiences for Chinese families and millennials and we are confident that we can extend those experiences to City fans across China. We are looking forward to working together in the years ahead, and particularly when we visit China over the summer.”
Whaley chief executive, Huaiya Li, added: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with Manchester City and to playing be a big part in the Club’s upcoming visit to China. We are both fast growing brands with innovation at the heart of everything we do. We are extremely excited by Manchester City’s plans to develop their presence in China and believe we can create some fantastic content for our consumers through our cutting edge technology”.
With China Media Capital owning a 13 per cent stake in City Football Group Manchester City have partnered with a number of Chinese companies in an effort to cement the brand into the lucrative Asian market. Whaley, who are in fact owned by CMC, have gone from strength to strength in China and have attracted investment from Two of China’s biggest Internet focused companies Alibaba and Tencent.