Rattakorn Surbsuk, trading partner of GroupM, a media-investment management firm under British advertising and public relations company WPP, said marketing activities related to world-class sport competitions would have a big impact on advertisers.

“Thai football leagues are gaining in popularity among local audiences, mainly driven by improving performance of Thai national teams. This creates huge opportunities for advertisers and sponsors that want to publicise their brands through these events and local football clubs,” Rattakorn said.

The advertising industry looks like benefiting significantly from the Uefa European Championship from June 10 to July 10 and Summer Olympics from August 5 to 21.

The country’s second-largest TV station, Channel 3, will broadcast the 15th edition of Uefa Euro 2016, which will take place in France. Meanwhile, Channel 3 along with other main free-TV broadcasters including Channel 7, the Army’s TV5, MCOT’s Modernine TV and NBT channel will be co-broadcasters of the Summer Olympic Games, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Such world-class sporting events will boost related business including advertising investment, sport marketing and on-ground activities by at least double from normal periods,” he added.

Amid the economic slowdown, sport-related marketing is expected to play a key role in media industries. Bangkok Entertainment Company (BEC), the operator of Channel 3, agreed that it was also witnessing this growing trend.

“Live sports programmes will be one of the key drivers boosting ratings for Channel 3 and its affiliate networks this year,” Surin Krittiyaphongphun, executive vice president of BEC, said recently.

Apart from the Uefa Euro 2016, BEC plans to air big sports competitions such |as the FIVB Volleyball| World Grand Prix Final in July and MotoGP World Championship.

Bangkok Media and Broadcasting’s PPTV digital channel appears to be aggressively promoting its live sports content to boost its ratings and expand its audience base.

Kematat Paladesh, president of PPTV, said that from the second half of this year, the channel would show live the new seasons of major soccer leagues including the English Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga, Italian Series A, Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League, as well as leading soccer tournaments such as the International Champions Cup and Fifa Club World Cup.