Chelsea boosts Samsung name recognition by 68%

Since South Korea-headquartered Samsung Electronics signed up as major sponsors of the English Premier League club Chelsea in April 2005, the company's name recognition has been boosted by 68 percent. "Thanks to Chelsea's success, sales of mobile phones and LCD TVs in Europe increased by 12 percent and 177 percent respectively in 2006 year-on-year," Samsung announced. The electronics giant predicted that sales of mobile phones will grow 29 percent and LCD TVs 79 percent in 2007, based the current growth rate. Total sales in Europe rose 11 percent in 2006 compared with 2005. In 2007, total sales are expected to increase by 26 percent year-on-year.

The South London club were the EPL champions of the 2005 and 2006 and also secured the 2006-07 FA Cup trophy last Saturday by beating rivals Manchester United. Chelsea's games have been broadcast in 204 nations worldwide to "some 2.9 billion soccer fans".