OCBC Bank Acquire Naming Rights to a Number of Singapore Sports Hub Facilities

OCBC Bank has secured the official naming rights for facilities at the new Singapore Sports Hub, in a deal worth more than S$50 million.

Covering the sports hall and aquatic centre, the deal will also support grassroots activities at the Sports Hub – which will open in April next year.

It has been dubbed Singapore’s largest one-time sports sponsorship to date and the first venue sponsorship for the country’s sports and entertainment industry.

OCBC was picked due to its right fit, being an established local bank and having a long-standing involvement in local sports.

Besides the sports hall and aquatic centre, the bank will also have naming rights for the National Stadium Club lounges in the North and South wings and VIP lounge at the Indoor Stadium.

Samuel Tsien, group CEO of OCBC Bank, said: “We want to bring in new sports to Singapore so people can try it out. We wanted to bring in sports clinics so that the community who do not have the opportunities to participate in these sports, have an opportunity to do that.”

Iconic national landmarks, the new National Stadium and Indoor Stadium are not part of the corporate naming rights.

Lawrence Wong, acting minister for culture, community and youth, said: “Have the possibility of either the National Stadium or Indoor Stadium named after a personality for example, somebody that we may wish to commemorate or remember. So that remains a possibility, but for now we decided not to have commercial naming rights for either of these entities.”

Operators of the S$1.33-billion Sports Hub, scheduled for completion in April 2014, said they would like to see more companies follow OCBC’s initiative, to sponsor other facilities within the complex.