Here are the top sports business stories you need to know from this week:
Alibaba Cloud Presents World Club Cup
Alibaba Group has agreed to a multi-year deal with FIFA for its Alibaba Cloud brand to become the presenting partner of the Fifa Club World Cup until 2022. This agreement will help promote Alibaba Cloud to a worldwide audience. Alibaba Cloud will also design and provide the competition’s Most Valuable Player award. Read more on Soccerex (English)
Mailman Take: Chinese businesses are constantly trying to reach younger generations of sports fans and make an impact on them at major sporting events, and using advanced technology plays a key role in connecting businesses with their target audience. Alibaba and FIFA already have a top-level partnership in place, with this partnership reinforcing their commitment to one another.
Leo Wu Becomes NBA Ambassador
NBA China has signed well-known Chinese actor Leo Wu as an ambassador on Weibo. The 18-year-old star is known as the “Nation’s Little Brother” in China and has 19 million followers on Weibo. He is a big fan of many sports, including basketball and was specially invited to attend the NBA China games earlier this year. Read more on SportsMoney (Chinese)
Mailman Take: In China, pop stars enjoy huge amounts of popularity and have a much wider audience compared to their sporting counterparts. China’s entertainment industry is more mature than its sports industry, and currently there is a strong trend of sports organisations, apparel brands and events engaging with pop stars to further expand their fan base.
Also this week:
CBA Partners With LKL
The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has announced a strategic partnership agreement with the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). The agreement includes a joint pre-season tournament and plans to organise specialised training camps. The LKL is the first league to sign a partnership with the CBA. Read more on SinaSports (Chinese)
The CFA Teams Up with SK Slavia Prague
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) will collaborate with SK Slavia Prague to create a training centre for the Chinese national youth soccer team. The club will offer training courses and education, and provide the Chinese team with chances to play against other elite youth teams in the Czech Republic. Read more on SportsPro (English)
Beijing Guoan in Sponsorship Season
Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan released a series new sponsorship opportunities this week. For the upcoming season, Guoan sponsorships will be categorised into three levels: partner, sponsor and supplier. The sponsorship fees for official partners will start from RMB50 million, for sponsors from RMB5 million, and for suppliers from RMB 1 million. Furthermore, the main shirt sponsorship will be available for RMB100 million. Read more on Lanxiong (Chinese)
Tencent Overtakes Facebook in Market Value
Tencent, the operator of WeChat, was recently valued at $528 billion, just above Facebook’s $522 billion. Founded by billionaire Pony Ma, Tencent has continued to grow into one of the most important and influential companies in the world, with departments spanning social, sports, esports and ecommerce. Read more on Bloomberg (English)
Dentsu CEO Joins Alisports
Alisports recently announced that Yiming Wang, CEO of China Dentsu Media Palette, has become vice president of the company. He will be in charge of brand marketing and strategic partnerships at Alisports. Mr. Wang has extensive experience in marketing, operations, overseas media strategy and overseas investment. Read more on MadsionBoom (Chinese)
Mailman is a sports digital consultancy and marketing platform and a leader in the China Sports Marketing industry. We help global rights holders, athletes, and leagues to build a successful business in China.