Here are the top China sports business news stories you need to know from this week:
IOC Opens Online Store Alibaba has opened a Tmall store for the International Olympics Committee (IOC) as part of a 10-year agreement to digitise the games. It’s the first online store of the IOC in China, allowing fans to buy official Olympics products developed for the store. According to Alibaba, this is a precursor to building a major global online e-commerce platform for the games, which will sell merchandise ahead of Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. Read more on The Drum (English) and Sohu (Chinese)
Mailman Take: This represents a significant step towards the IOC’s strategic goals as they seek to grow relevance amongst the younger audience through the digitisation of the games. The launch of an online shop also helps them stay connected with Chinese fans during low periods without an event.
CFA Set Out 2019 Regulations The Chinese Football Association (CFA) have unveiled their latest policies for China's professional football leagues in 2019. Clubs will be required to adhere to a new set of regulations from next season, including a player salary cap, restrictions on cash injections for clubs and a new U21 player policy. Read more on ecosports (Chinese)
BVB & Shanghai Football Association Agree Culture Exchange The agreement includes comprehensive support from Borussia Dortmund (BVB) in youth football development programs in Shanghai, including cultural exchange from both parties, a coach-to-coach program, as well as referee seminars for local members of the association. Read more on PPSports (Chinese)
NFL & Youku Partner in China The National Football League (NFL) and Youku, Alibaba Group's video entertainment platform, announced a digital partnership in China to bring high-quality football programming to Chinese fans. The partnership will feature weekly programming on Youku's sports channel, including game highlights and behind-the-scenes stories from NFL games such as the Super Bowl, NFL Kickoff, Thanksgiving, and the NFL International series. Read more on NFL (English) NFL (Chinese)
Mailman Take: The partnership with Youku is the latest addition to NFL's collaboration with Alibaba after the establishment of their flagship merchandise store on Tmall in 2013. The behind-the-scenes and documentary content complements the live game broadcasting provided by Tencent and will deliver an all-around viewing experience to the fans. The move also indicates NFL's intention to diversify the distribution of their localised content, with Tencent no longer their exclusive video partner in China.
Southampton Announce Dongqiudi Partnership Chinese app Dongqiudi, a global football media and community platform, has been announced as an official partner to Southampton Football Club. The agreement makes Dongqiudi the first organisation from Mainland China to partner with the club. The two sides will look to cooperate in a variety of areas such as sponsorship, brand promotion, fan activities and charity. Read more on Sohu (Chinese)
Tsingtao & Yanjing Say Cheers to Beijing 2022 Sponsorship Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games’ organising committee have signed up Tsingtao Beer and Yanjing Beer, which jointly become the Official Beer Sponsors of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and will enjoy category exclusivity. Read more on Xinhua (Chinese)
Soccer Mandate Partners with Sport 8 International Newly launched player transfers app Soccer Mandate has announced a strategic partnership with China’s Sport 8 International. Soccer Mandate is a business-to-business app aimed at the professional market of clubs and agents providing information on football transfers. Through the app, clubs will be able to identify the official agent or mandated intermediary of/for each player. Read more on Inside World Football (English) and Sport 8 (Chinese)
In Other News:
Over 10 million request Ofo refunds 10 million users have applied for online refunds from Ofo, once China's leading bike-sharing company, totalling at least 1 billion yuan from the company. The company claimed 200 million users by November last year, meaning deposits could amount to as much as 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion). Read more on China Daily (English) and Sina (Chinese)
Chinese golfers secure Web.com cards China will have its largest representation on the Web.com Tour next year after three players secured cards at a qualifying tournament in the US. This grows the total amount of Chinese players on the tour to four. Read more on aiqiyi(Chinese)
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