Birmingham City Take The NeXTEP

An Xtep store in China

The People’s Republic of Birmingham FC (Bongo no longer works) are about to become a big hit in China. The Blues new owner, Carson Yeung has tied up a 7.1 million pound sponsorship deal with Chinese sportswear firm Xtep.

The company will provide the teams kit as part of the deal and feature on shirts under the new brand ‘XTEP-BCFC’.

But that’s not all, the agreement will also see China Central television broadcast 8 live PRB FC games next season, a move that could see the midland’s club become a popular team in China.

“Xtep provides an excellent platform for us to bring our English Premier League team to the PRC [Chinese] market and promote Birmingham City FC to a wider group of football fans.” - Carson Yeung, PRB FC owner.

The Xtep deal is the biggest sponsorship deal in the clubs history, the 5 year arrangement will begin in August and will also see the club receive 800,000 pounds worth of training gear from the Chinese firm.

Mr Yeung, who took over at Birmingham City last October, clearly sees a large market to be exploited for his team in China, along with the TV deal, PRB FC will visit China and Hong Kong during the pre-season to play friendly matches against local sides.

Xtep have 5405 stores in the China and recently secured a licensing deal from Disney to produce a ‘Disney sports’ brand.

The Xtep deal is not the only sign that Yeung looks determined to turn the People’s Republic of Birmingham FC into one of the Premiership’s bug guns, this month he handed manager Alex McLeish 40 million to spend on new players, but with 12 days left of the window, he has only spent 3 of it, on 24 year old Spanish midfielder, Michel from Sporting Gijon.

PRB did have a 10 million pound offer for Liverpool’s Ryan Babel rejected at the start of the month and that dead deal may now have new life after the recent events involving Mr Babel and his current employers.