The festival – due to be held from late July to early August – is another example of banks forging relationships with professional sports as part of their branding.

DBS is continuing a trend of banks linking their brands with professional sports by announcing that it will be supporting this year’s Hong Kong Football Festival, featuring heavyweights such as Inter Milan, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus.

The lender’s Hong Kong business is the Diamond Sponsor and Banking Partner for the festival’s first match on 1 August between Manchester City and Inter Milan.

HKFF 2026, which is organised and promoted by TEG Sport, will take place at Kai Tak Stadium, from 31 July to 5 August, DBS Bank (Hong Kong), said.

“As a bank deeply rooted in Asia and committed to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, we support Hong Kong as it continues to be the major international financial centre and event capital of Asia. DBS welcomes fans and supporters from around the world to Hong Kong and we look forward to having a spectacular week celebrating football and sportsmanship,” Sebastian Paredes, head of North Asia and CEO of DBS Hong Kong, said. 

Banks are continuing to flex their sports sponsorship muscles, seeing an opportunity to promote their brands, and associate themselves with the values associated with competition and teamwork. UBS, for example, has a sponsorship deal with the Mercedes Petronas F1 motor racing team; Standard Chartered sponsors Liverpool FC; and Mastercard sponsors several golfers. Deutsche Bank, to give a different angle, has developed a sports finance arm to tap into the desire of wealthy clients and corporates to invest in sports. Banks also are involved in areas such as arts festivals, as in the case of Deutsche Bank which backs the Frieze art programme, among others.

DBS said that it will issue details on priority booking for the football festival in due course.

For the wealth management industry in general, associating with sports teams, as well as the individual financial affairs of sportsmen and women, has become a distinct – and large – specialism. For example, in the US, the Rockefeller Global Family Office has experts who look after athletes and entertainers. Other firms that have expertise in and around sports include Carnegie Private Wealth and Merrill Lynch Management. In the UK, the private banking group Coutts has a sports, media and entertainment division for its wealthy clients.