In the early morning of Aug. 1, slugger Chen Chin-feng (
It was his first public appearance after returning home from the US to prepare for the Olympic Games in Athens.
"The reason we decided to release Chen's first TV commercial now, despite his tight schedule, is that we hope to translate his fans' ... support into a driving force behind him and his teammates to do well in Athens," said Tina Chiang (
Chen is not the only baseball player helping to promote products recently. Companies are eager to be connected with the popular baseball team, whose players attract public attention and make news headlines.
At a press conference earlier this month by President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), three famous baseball players -- Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠), Peng Cheng-min (彭政閔) and Pan Wei-lun (潘威倫) -- were introduced, amid the loud cheers of about 30 fans gathered there, to unveil the 7-Eleven chain's products to commemorate the baseball team's long-awaited appearance at the Olympic Games.
Rising Sponsorship
Over the past two months, companies such as MasterCard and President Chain have poured resources into sponsoring individuals or sports teams.
Ask these companies why they are doing so and they typically answer that it's a way to show support for the nation's Olympic athletes. But in an increasingly sophisticated sponsorship market, what companies do not say out loud is that they want their names known.
"No one would [invest in] a money-losing business. Companies always look to create the biggest return on investment," said Cheng Chih-fu (
The strategy has become more prevalent this year, with a dozen companies -- including E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行), Mitac International Corp (神達電腦), Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大), and Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (台灣菸酒公司) also showing an interest in using this new strategy to talk to their prospective audiences, according to market insiders.
"Compared with past Olympic Games, we've received more business sponsorships this year," said an official surnamed Hsieh in charge of sports marketing at the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC, 中華奧會). As the nation's baseball and taekwondo teams appear to stand a good chance of winning medals, some big companies have contacted the CTOC to arrange corporate sponsorships.
The CTOC is the sole sports organization with exclusive powers to organize and field representative delegations from Taiwan at the Olympic Games, the Asian Games and other international sports competitions recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Taiwan's biggest liability in promoting sports activities, however, is its relatively small population and limited government subsidies, which force athletes to rely heavily on corporate sponsorships, said Richard Lin (林宗成), secretary general of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (中華棒協). The association was established in 1973 to organize national and international baseball tournaments as well as player training programs.
"We're very happy to see that more and more enterprises are investing to help cultivate sports," Lin said.
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