Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Chinese sport still has substantial growth potential despite its huge increases in recent years, according to the tournament director of the Shanghai Masters.

The tournament has no problem attracting companies like Rolex, which has signed on to be its long-term title sponsor. Other corporations, interested in developing their presence in what was until recently a rapidly increasing Chinese market, have also become involved. Sponsor activities and campaigns at the event could become comparable to a Grand Slam event, according to Michael Luevano, the executive director of Juss Co, which runs the tournament.

“Shanghai audiences demand a premium experience and this must be delivered through every touch point of your brand’s connection,” he told a corporate publication at ANZ, on the tournament sponsors.

The tournament has now begun attracting paying customers, which it did not in the initial days of the event becoming a Masters tournament, and has also added features like corporate boxes and premium seats to increase its income from ticket sales.

The increase in public interest, which can also been seen in other sports like Formula 1, will attract more corporate sponsorship of both events and athletes, he said, further lifting China’s sporting presence. “In my professional opinion after 20 years of producing sports events in China, in the next 20 years, China will outspend, outperform, outbuild and produce the world’s greatest athletes,” he said.

Foreign companies will be the driver of that development, he suggested.

But keeping attendance high will be important. Official attendance in 2014 was 152,000 spectators for the tournament.

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.