China Sports Business Weekly | 10th August
Here are the top China sports business news stories you need to know from this week:
UFC Returns to China
The UFC will return to China for the second year in a row, following the last year’s highly successful sell-out debut in Shanghai. The event will be held at the Cadillac Arena on Saturday 24th November and will be presented by UFC’s official tire partner in the Asia Pacific region, General Tire. Read more on Sina (Chinese) and UFC’s Official Website (English)
- Mailman Take: As yet, UFC has not released any information on the fight card, however, this hasn’t stopped all early-bird tickets selling out via the UFC WeChat Account within 24 hours. This is another example of the power that WeChat, combined with urgency and exclusivity, can provide. Last year, the early bird tickets also sold out but took around one week.
iQiyi Takes Over Super Sports
Chinese online entertainment service, iQiyi, has partnered with DDMC Group subsidiary, Super Sports Media to establish a new joint venture named Beijing Xin’ai Sport Media Technology. Under this deal, the Super Sports Media app will change its name to iQiyi Sports and will bring together soccer, tennis, and golf coverage combining the broadcasting rights of both parties. iQiyi Sports also announced financing of RMB 500 million from IDG Capital and Huiying Borun. The estimated value of this new player is around RMB 3 billion. Read more on Ecosports (Chinese), DigitalTV.com (English) and Asia Times (English)
- Mailman Take: Even with their top tier tennis and golf broadcasting deals, iQiyi still needed insight and experience in sports content operation. With years of sports broadcasting in China and after becoming one of the first movers to a pay-to-watch membership model, Super Sports is well placed to help iQiyi with their needs. With this deal, iQiyi, Youku (European football through cooperation with PPTV) and Tencent (NBA) now make up the Top 3 in the sports broadcasting internet platforms in China.
Juventus Strengthen Asian Presence with China Merchants Bank
Reigning Serie A champions, Juventus, have signed a regional partnership with Chinese banking giant, China Merchants Bank. At the partnership announcement, the two parties launched two co-branded payment cards featuring the Juventus’ logo and shirt. Read more on SportBusiness (English)
Czech Brand Steps Into CSL
Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune FC has signed a sponsorship agreement with luxury Czech water brand, Fromin Water. Under this deal, Fromin Water will provide premium water products for the club’s training for the rest of the 2018 season. Read more on Sohu (Chinese)
ONE WAY Supports Beijing 2022
The Finnish winter sports sportswear brand, ONE WAY, has reached a sponsorship agreement with the General Administration of Sport of China Winter Sports Administration Center, to be the sports equipment partner from 2018-2022. The brand will provide professional sportswear for seven Chinese national winter sports teams, as well as their competition sportswear at Beijing 2022. Read more on Sina (Chinese)
Wayne Gretzky Made HC Kunlun Red Star Ambassador
Ice hockey legend, Wayne Gretzky, has been named as the global ambassador of Chinese ice hockey club, HC Kunlun Red Star, to promote this sports in China. Red Star, who play in the KHL, is the only professional men’s hockey team in China and will split their home games between Beijing and Shanghai as renovations of the Beijing home are finished. Read more on Sports Illustrated (Chinese)
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This article was originally published by Jill Zhu here.
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