BADMINTON England and Yonex announce major sponsorship renewal

BADMINTON England and Yonex have announced a major sponsorship renewal for the All England Open Badminton Championships.

The agreement sees Yonex recommitting its support as title sponsor to the Championships, the oldest and most prestigious badminton event in the world.

The partnership between BADMINTON England and Yonex is one of the longest standing relationships in UK sport, spanning thirty-one years.

In a significant multi-million pound agreement, Yonex will retain title rights to the Championships until 2021 and increase activity at and around the event.

Adrian Christy, Chief Executive at BADMINTON England, said: "This is the largest partnership in BADMINTON England's history and represents a true milestone for the sport in this country. The commitment Yonex has shown to the All England Open Badminton Championships and to the sport is fantastic news for English badminton and it enables us to continue our promise to deliver the best Superseries Premier event in the world.

"We are incredibly proud to extend our extraordinary relationship with Yonex for another seven years. Long term, committed partnerships are relatively rare in sport and they offer huge benefits to the sport and the sponsor, enabling both to grow together".

Ben Yoneyama, Yonex President, said: "We are proud and honoured to continue with our title sponsorship of the All England Championships, having agreed a new seven year contract with Badminton England from 2015 to 2021. The All England is the oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament in the world and we are delighted to be able to remain part of this world class tournament.

"This year is the 104th Championships, and the 31st time that Yonex has been title sponsor since 1984, making Yonex one of the longest title sponsors across all sports events in the world. And now with a new 7 year contract this claim will be even stronger in the future.

"May I also say that our commitment to the All England is representative of the investments we make at all levels of badminton to stimulate interest in the sport and inspire tomorrow's champions. By 2021 we shall have been the title sponsor for nearly forty years which strongly indicates our long term commitment to the development of this great sport".

Yonex is headquartered in Tokyo with subsidiary companies operating around the world, including in the USA, Germany, Canada, Taiwan and the UK and a global distribution network. Yonex has also recently committed support to the English National Badminton Championships.