E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. signed an eight-year partnership agreement with FIFA, making its Internet car brand Alibaba E-Auto an official supporter of the FIFA Club World Cup, China Daily reported.
The company made the announcement in Tokyo ahead of the start of this year's competition scheduled on Thursday, Dec. 17, where China's five-time champion Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao is set to play against other continental giants.
The report said that the partnership will run until 2022 and will promote Alibaba's first car business, scheduled to be launched next year.
Starting this year, Alibaba E-Auto will be presented in both stadiums and during TV coverage, a strong global platform on which to launch the upcoming automobile project, the report said.
"Sports is at the intersection of Alibaba's strategic themes of health and happiness," said Zhang Yong, CEO of Alibaba.
"We are looking forward to adding new value for participants and consumers in the sports sector through data-driven Internet technology," Zhang added.
Industry analysts said that after becoming a partner for the event, Alibaba could now get involved with more sports-related activities. The FIFA Club World Cup was first held in 1980, then sponsored by Toyota Motor Corp. It is considered the sport's most prestigious club tournament.
Alibaba announced in September that it was setting up a new operation to tap into the multi-trillion-yuan sports market in the country.
Ali Sports, its newly founded company, is expected to use digital technology to transform the entire industrial chain of China's traditional sports industry.
According to the report, Alibaba sees its involvement in sports as a foundation to develop its so-called Double-H strategy--meaning, health and happiness.
By the end of June, Alibaba, a dominant player in China's online shopping industry, had 367 million active users, and thousands of sports brands have set up virtual stores on its online shopping platforms.
Jiang Qian, an analyst with Analysys International, said that apart from e-commerce, Alibaba's business ecosystem also has advantages in media, cloud computing and smart devices, which can be advantageous in the broadcasting and distribution of sports programs.
"However, the group lacks content. That's why Alibaba has invested in building its own Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club and becoming the partner of the FIFA Club World Cup. The more core assets it gains, the more it can monetize in different channels and different forms," Jiang said.
Other industry insiders said that the partnership signified the country's great potential to promote soccer and the wider sports industry.