Kumho Tire : Partners with Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

▶ Official sponsorship deals have been reached with Tottenham Hotspur, the football club that Son Heung-min plays for, and Olympique Lyonnais.
▶ The partnerships with popular football leagues are expected to help boost Kumho's brand recognition and its presence in the global tire market.

Kumho Tire (President & CEO: Lee Han-Seob) signed an agreement yesterday local time to officially sponsor Tottenham Hotspur, a prestigious football club in English Premier League (EPL), from the 2016/2017 season. This is the first time in five years for the tire maker to sponsor an ELP club after the end of its deal with Manchester United.

Among those on hand at the signing ceremony held at the club's training center in London dubbed Hotspur Way were President & CEO Lee Han-Seob of Kumho Tire and Manager Mauricio Pochettino of Tottenham Hotspur as well as the club's players such as Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen.

Started in 1882 and based in northern London, Tottenham is one of the leading clubs in ELP and was ranked third in the last season. Its popularity among Korean fans grew significantly last year when the Korean football star Son Heung-min moved from Bayer Leverkusen in Bundesliga. It has some 150 official supporters' clubs and over 400 million fans worldwide. The football club started receiving greater attention from Korean fans when Korean footballer Lee Young-pyo played for the team from 2005 to 2008.

As an official partner of Tottenham, Kumho can display its brand on LED panels, A-boards, match brochures and websites during matches of the regular EPL season and cup competitions that take place at the team's home stadium known as White Hart lane. The partnership deal is expected to help promote Kumho Tire significantly as ELP is one of the most-watched football leagues in the world with a potential TV audience of 930 million and television rights deals worth $2.5 billion (KRW 3 trillion) last season. Kumho can use the club's logo and the images of its key players like Son and also plans to invite Tottenham players to events and football lessons for customers.

From 2007 to 2011, Kumho Tire sponsored Manchester United that Korean football star Park Ji-sung played for at the time in a successful bid to present an image of a young, dynamic company to international football fans. In addition to regular brand promotion, the tire maker hosted a variety of marketing and promotional events, which lead to more robust relationships with local customers and global business partners.

President & CEO Lee of Kumho Tire said, 'The partnership with Tottenham Hotspur, a prestigious club in one of the world's most popular football leagues, will help further boost our brand recognition and name value as a global tire maker not only in Europe but also in the rest of the world.'

Since its deal with Manchester United, Kumho has sponsored major football clubs in European leagues and currently has partnership agreements with Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC and FC Schalke 04 of Bundesliga as well as Atlético Madrid of Spanish Primera Liga, as part of its aggressive marketing campaign using European football.

On July 20, a day after signing the Tottenham deal, Kumho is scheduled to officially reach a sponsorship agreement for the 2016/2017 season with Olympique Lyonnais, a team in Ligue 1 of French Football League, at its home stadium dubbed Parc Olympique Lyonnais with President & CEO Lee and CEO Thierry Sauvage present.