Singha Corporation has signed a four-year partnership contract with English Premier League club Manchester City.
Singha's Bhurit Bhirombhakdi, right, and Manchester City's Damian Willoughby.
The deal, which is worth about 100 million baht, was announced at a press conference in Bangkok yesterday by Singha executive Bhurit Bhirombhakdi and Damian Willoughby, City's director of partnerships Asia and Pacific.
Singha is now a partner of four EPL teams with the other three being Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester.
Bhurit said: "Actually, Singha became interested in becoming Manchester City's partner many years ago and this deal is an important step for both Singha and Manchester City.
"Before we signed the contract with Manchester City, we had become a global partner with three other English Premier League sides -- Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester.
"We received proposals from many teams in the Premier League, [English] Championship and La Liga of Spain, but we opted for Manchester City.
"In fact, Singha and Manchester City have been working together since 2007 and this contract reflects the growth in our relationship as we now join hands to work towards many objectives, especially expanding the fan base."
The partnership is expected to help Thai football fans get closer to the club's stars and also includes a project to develop Thai junior players by having them train at Manchester City.
Willoughby said the deal was good as City wanted to expand its market and fan base in Asia.
True signs new TPL deal
TrueVisions has signed a new four-year contract with the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) worth 4.2 billion baht to continue as the official broadcaster of the Thai Premier League (TPL), FAT president Worawi Makudi announced yesterday.
The current contract will end next year and the new deal will begin from 2017.
Worawi said: "At the moment, each TPL team receives 20 million baht but the amount will increase to 25 to 30 million baht from 2017."
TrueVisons CEO Supachai Jierawanont said: "TrueVisions wants to help upgrade Thai football and we are ready to broadcast 811 matches live per season from all four major competitions in Thailand, which are the Thai Premier League, League One, FA Cup and League Cup."