Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- As the attention of the rugby world is drawn to Hong Kong this weekend for the Rugby Sevens , corporations are looking to capitalize on a sport that soon will become an Olympic event . Two dozen teams will pound the pitch , put in flying tackles and perhaps lose teeth in an effort to claim the 2012 championship trophy . For the New Zealand Sevens team , it 's time to defend last year 's victory . For spectators , it 's a chance to run up a credit card bill on beer and bizarre costumes . But for HSBC , this year 's tournament marks its return to the stands as a sponsor after a 17-year hiatus . `` There 's more to sports than just the players on the field -- there 's the financial funding , '' said DJ Forbes , the captain of the New Zealand Sevens . `` If a sponsorship deal is held in high esteem , potential sponsors are going be sure the money they invest is put in the right places . '' But is the right place the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens ? HSBC thinks so . Even as the bank is cutting tens of thousands of jobs worldwide , HSBC is investing in rugby ahead of the sport 's inclusion in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games . `` Rugby has changed enormously . The HK Sevens is a very popular tournament but was much more standalone than it is now , '' said Giles Morgan , HSBC Group head of Sponsorship and Events . `` That and its upcoming inclusion in the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro have made the game much more international and much broader. `` But while HSBC has ramped up its sponsorship investment in Hong Kong , the `` world 's local bank '' is winding down some of its Asian retail operations -- notably in Japan and Thailand , while cutting 30,000 workers worldwide by the end of next year . All of this is a cost-cutting plan as laid out by HSBC 's Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver to save some $ 3.5 billion . Morgan quickly defends HSBC 's sponsorship as a calculated strategy . `` We very much regard our sponsorship as a business -- with business objectives , '' he said . `` This is not about a fun investment . We are targeting key demographics and key geographies . `` It made sense for HSBC to come back , '' he added . `` We did n't know rugby was going to grow the way it did . '' And it has grown . From the Hong Kong Sevens first tournament in 1976 that featured just nine teams , it now invites 24 teams spanning every continent except for Antarctica . It now pulls in profits for Hong Kong on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars . Morgan declined to comment on how much HSBC actually invests in sponsoring this year 's Hong Kong Sevens but he says the bank aims for a three-to-one return on sponsorship investment . But it is rare for any company to know its rate of return on investment , according to one Hong Kong advertising firm . Not only that , companies may pay a prestige premium that comes with being a title sponsor for high-profile sporting events because there are so few of them . In American football there 's only one Superbowl . In international football , there 's only one World Cup . In Hong Kong , there 's only one Rugby Sevens Championship . So why invest in the Sevens then ? For HSBC , it helps target specific clients in markets like Hong Kong , Shanghai and Singapore -- hub cities the bank is targeting for growth , even as it streamlines elsewhere , Morgan said . `` With strong expat communities you 'll be looking at strong growth . '' HSBC is sharing title sponsorship of the Rugby Sevens with Cathay Pacific , whose global hub is Hong Kong . `` We 're looking for sponsorships that really help build Hong Kong and help bring people in to make the city a tourist destination , '' says Camilla Taylor , Cathay Pacific 's Marketing Manager-Events . `` We target a lot of different groups , including average rugby fans around the world . We 're trying to promote the Sevens to a wider audience . '' Cathay has been investing in the Hong Kong Sevens for much of the last 35 years . Aside from a seven-year break from 1997 to 2004 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis , the territory 's flagship air carrier will likely not fly away as a Sevens sponsor soon , Taylor said . While HSBC , Cathay Pacific and other sponsors refuse to divulge their investment or returns , Hong Kong gladly throws its books wide open . The Hong Kong Tourism Board says last year 's Rugby Sevens drew in more than 21,000 spectators from overseas . The average Sevens spectator from abroad spent $ 1,650 over the course of six days . In total , Hong Kong raked in more than $ 289 million in direct economic benefit . Companies are counting that as thousands descend on the city , more spectators may notice that DHL ad on the Jumbotron in Hong Kong 's Central bar district , notice the Cathay Pacific billboard streak by on a Citybus , or notice that red-and-white HSBC banner flutter in the Sevens stadium breeze .
Despite cuttings hundreds of thousands of pounds , HSBC returns to sponsor the Rugby Union . Profile of sponsorship growing with the sports inclusion in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games . HSBC says it expects a 3-to-1 rate of return for its sponsorship investment . Analyst : Returns for companies on sports sponsorship are ` ` notoriously iffy ''