Huawei exits main sponsorship deal with Australian rugby league team after 9 years

Chinese telecom giant Huawei has announced its exit from the major sponsorship deal with National Rugby League's Canberra Raiders, citing “negative business environment” after the Australian government blocked the company from rolling-out next-generation 5G network. Huawei Australia said that the current 2020 NRL season will be its final year as the major sponsor of the Canberra Raiders, its first-ever major sporting sponsorship in the world.

Huawei had entered into a two-season deal in June 2019 with Canberra Raiders which was supposed to run through to the end of the 2021 NRL season. However, the company decided to end the deal midway amid growing difficulties to expand its 5G network in Australia since the government banned roll-out due to security concerns.

“The continued negative business environment is having a larger than originally forecasted impact on our planned revenue stream and therefore we will have to terminate our major sponsorship of the Raiders at the end of the 2020 season,” Huawei said in a statement.

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Huawei Australia expresses disappointment

The Huawei logo will be re-located to the back of the Raiders jersey and the company will retain naming rights of the new Huawei Raiders Training Centre in Canberra. Huawei Australia’s corporate affairs chief Jeremy Mitchell expressed disappointment over the end of an almost decade-long sponsorship deal, adding that it has been one of the most successful in Australian sport.

“It is so disappointing that it has ended this way but are very proud of the small role we have played in this great NRL club,” Mitchell said in a statement.

Earlier this year, China’s envoy to Australia had dismissed the security concerns and claimed that the Huawei ban imposed by Canberra was “politically motivated”. Speaking to Sky News, Cheng Jingye said that the sanction was nothing but discrimination against the Chinese company which does not serve the “best interest” of Australian companies and consumers. 

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