China’s Luckin Coffee Backs Australian Open 

Luckin Coffee, often known as China’s Starbucks, has secured a partnership deal with Tennis Australia.

Under the deal, Luckin Coffee has been named the official coffee partner of the Australian Open (AO) in China and Southeast Asia, and also receives virtual signage rights in the season’s first Grand Slam. 

It is also planning to offer Australian Open themed products in China and Singapore, as well as give away free items during the Australian Open, which began last weekend.

With the deal, Luckin Coffee aims to boost brand recognition as it ambitiously sets its sights on expanding across Southeast Asia. It already has over 300,000 coffeeshops in about 300 cities across China. 

Following the deal, Cedric Cornelis, Chief Commercial Officer, Tennis Australia, said, “We’re delighted to partner with Luckin Coffee – one of Asia’s dominant and fastest growing coffee retailers. Partnering with Luckin is an important and exciting next step in executing our strategy to expand the Australian Open’s presence in China and Asia more broadly, where tennis continues to grow rapidly in popularity. Both Luckin Coffee and the Australian Open embrace premium playfulness in our brands, making us a great fit.” 

Yang Fei, Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Luckin Coffee, added, “The sport of tennis is associated with a healthy lifestyle, and represents elegance and expertise, which is well aligned with the brand of Luckin Coffee. As one of the largest coffee chain brands in China, the partnership between Luckin Coffee and the Australian Open will bring great synergy as both are leading brands representing healthy, high-quality lifestyles, and will help to promote our coffee to the world.”

According to ASN data, Luckin Coffee has invested US$805k in the Asian sponsorship market since Q221, particularly in its domestic market. The Chinese coffee chain is also tipped to have a lively Q124, increasing its spend by 64.6% to US$128k from its average quarterly spend of almost US$78k, making up for its inactivity in the second half of 2023.