Both local and international companies have shown great interest towards the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, the biggest annually organized winter sports event.

“We will announce more partnerships later this year,” promises Mika Sulin, General Secretary of the Finnish Local Organizing Committee.

Marketing Manager Tero Kumpulainen, who is in charge of partnerships within the Finnish LOC, says that with eight months to go both the LOC and the newly announced partners will have to work hard to make the most out of their commitment.

"For most of the companies a logo in the official materials is no longer enough, the companies want the partnership to benefit their business on many levels."

From a partner perspective, the IIHF World Championship is an attractive communication platform for brands. They can strongly benefit from the popularity of the tournament as well as from its wide reach.

When compared with many other big events, the upcoming World Championships that will be co-hosted by two countries (Finland and Sweden) for two years in a row offer many possibilities for the partners. Most importantly, all the partners will benefit from the extra year, as normally the contracts cover only a one-year period. The partnerships can also be negotiated on a Nordic level if the companies wish their contract to cover both organizing countries.

On top of national partnerships, the Event has a number of international sponsorships negotiated by Infront Sports & Media AG, the owner of IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship marketing rights. The most visible and well-known of the international sponsors is Skoda, the Official Main Sponsor of IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship since 1992. So far international sponsorship deals have also been signed with the following companies: AJ, Bauhaus, Beiersdorf, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Henkel, Kyocera, Nike, Raiffeisen Bank International, Tissot and Zepter.

The first 12 national partners of the 2012 & 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships are: Cramo, Event Travel Finland, KONE, MTV3, Muuttopalvelu Niemi, Mynthon, Nokia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Puustelli, Scania, TuroTailor and Veikkaus.

The main venue and the arena for the semi-finals, bronze medal game, and the final of the 2012 World Championship is the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki. The Swedish venue, and the home of Tre Kronor, is Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, also the main venue for the 2013 tournament. www.iihfworlds2012.com