ESPN picks HK rep as Euro '04 looms

Hong Kong is the second Asian market after Singapore that ESPNSoccernet has an advertising sales contract in place ahead of a major soccer draw, the Euro Cup at mid-year. Kevin Huang, chief executive officer of Pixel Media Hong Kong, said: "With the Euro Cup 2004, there will be a lot of sponsorship opportunities. "Advertising on sports-related platforms in Asia is extremely popular, however, until now, there has been a lack of quality sports websites in Asia that can meet advertisers' needs." Huang said rival offers had more of a gambling rather than sports focus and were not "the type of sites companies would want to advertise on". Asia is an important market for ESPNSoccernet, which provides updates on all major European leagues, including the English Premier League. Of the more than four million unique users the English-language soccer site attracts globally each month, 1.3 million are from Asia. Singapore is by far the biggest market, drawing 600,000 unique viewers a month, followed by Hong Kong, described as a rapidly-expanding market, and currently attracting 300,000 unique viewers. ESPNSoccernet is represented in Singapore by Interactive Hub, which was appointed in late 2002. "The success of Interactive Hub's work on behalf of ESPNSoccernet, working on both local and pan-Asia campaigns, was a big factor in our decision to pursue opportunities in Hong Kong with Pixel Media," said a spokesman. While the site declined to provide figures for its advertising revenue gains, Huang said Pixel saw a 62 per cent growth in online ad sales revenue between 2002 and last year. "Admittedly, it's from a small base, but the percentage growth is very encouraging." Huang said the site provides a highly desirable target audience -- predominantly males, aged 18 to 34 and who are working professionals and early adopters of technology -- making it attractive to beverage, sports apparel and technology advertisers.