Bundesliga International strengthens leadership team ahead of APAC expansion

Tomoi Kouchi will join Bundesliga International as the new Head of East Asia.
Dennis Kittel has been promoted to Head of Southeast Asia and India from Head of Sales and Strategic Projects, Asia Pacific.
Mano Nhouvannasak will assume the role of Head of Strategic Projects, Asia Pacific and will be responsible for strategic projects in the region.
The expanded APAC team will continue to be led by Kevin Sim, Head of Asia Pacific, who oversees Bundesliga International’s Singapore Asia Pacific regional HQ and China office in Beijing.

15 May 2024 – Bundesliga International is strengthening its presence in Asia through multiple new appointments to fuel its growth across the Asia Pacific region and India.

The strategic restructuring will allow for more focused and deeper market growth in key Asian markets and intensify key market projects and cooperation with regional football, sports and governmental stakeholders together alongside its clubs.

Tomoi Kouchi joins as Head of East Asia. In the role, Kouchi will be responsible for growing the key region including Japan and South Korea, where Bundesliga has recently clinched a new five-year cooperation with e-commerce giant, Coupang Play. Kouchi is a sports industry veteran, who is joining Bundesliga International from NBA Asia after almost 16 years of service. At the NBA, he was responsible for Japan’s media business, managed NBA’s Rakuten partnership and led NBA’s Pan-Asia regional DTC (direct-to-consumer) NBA League Pass SVOD service. Kouchi also had prior stints at FIBA Asia and Reebok Japan.

“The Bundesliga has a special connection to the Asia Pacific region and over the last two decades has welcomed more Asian players than any other top European league combined. The APAC region represents a key growth area for the Bundesliga, and Tomoi Kouchi, Mano Nhouvannasak and Dennis Kittel bring a wealth of experience, expertise and network that will allow us to dive deeper and better tap into the growing market opportunities. The appointments will propel our overall growth across the APAC region by navigating the uniquely different region through dedicated, market-by-market approach while underlining our market commitments to our current and future partners,” said Peer Naubert, Chief Marketing Officer, Bundesliga International.

Dennis Kittel has been promoted to the newly created position of Head of Southeast Asia and India. In his new role, Kittel will focus and consolidate on growing revenues and increasing Bundesliga’s market presence across key Southeast and India markets. Kittel joined Bundesliga International in 2018, overseeing sales and market growth and leading and implementing key strategic projects. In particular, this has included the creation and implementation of the Virtual Bundesliga’s International Series and Bundesliga Dream projects in several markets including Vietnam, Thailand and India. Bundesliga Dream India, which is still ongoing and hosted in Germany, is a cooperation local sports organiser, Big Hit, encompassing a search across 11 states and 100 cities, and further supported by Sony India and Bollywood star Kartik Aaryan.

Mano Nhouvannasak will assume the role of Head of Strategic Projects, Asia Pacific and will be responsible for the strategic projects in Asia Pacific, particularly youth football projects like the Bundesliga Dream programmes and strengthening cooperation with regional football, sports and government stakeholders. This includes the ongoing MoUs with Sports Authority of Thailand, Government of Maharashtra, CFA and PSSI alongside Bundesliga clubs. Previously, Mhouvannasak held internationalisation, brand and business development roles at Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg. He also previously held roles at Sportfive, Lao Football Federation and Laos Premier League.