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  • Writer's pictureDenis Green
    • Jul 27, 2018
    • 3 min read

China Sports Business Weekly | 27th July

Updated: Aug 27, 2019

Here are the top China sports business news stories you need to know from this week:

NHL Announce Ticket Release for 2018 China Games

Early-bird tickets to watch the Calgary Flames take on the Boston Bruins in Beijing on September 19th were officially released this week following a press conference in Shenzhen. Tickets for the 2018 China Game in Shenzhen will be released in the first week of August. Read more on Ecosports (Chinese) and the NHL (English)


Chinese Oil Companies Sponsor 2022 Winter Olympics

Both PetroChina Company Limited and Sinopec Group have been announced as the Official Oil and Gas partners. The details of the deal have not been released. Both PetroChina and Sinopec are state-owned. Read more on Ecosports (Chinese)

Aston Villa Receives Much Needed Investment

Following recent investment from NSWE, the biggest shareholder of Aston Villa Football Club is no longer Chinese businessman Jiantong (Tony) Xia. Dr. Xia will remain on the board of directors as co-chairman alongside new majority owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris. Read more on Ecosports (Chinese) and the Club’s Official Website (English)

  1. Mailman Take: Dr. Xia has largely had his hand forced in this matter following the club’s recent financial struggles. Villa reportedly lost around £5 million every month in the last year. Alongside reports of difficulties in getting money out of China, his company ‘Lotus Health’ has seen regular financial losses for around 15 years. In his deal with Birmingham City Council, Dr. Xia is also tied to investments in football academies and the wider entertainment and real estate industries in Birmingham.

Alibaba Cloud Partner with F1 Champion Alonso

The partnership will see Alibaba Cloud provide technical support to China’s Yi Qian Communications (Alonso’s official global karting partner). Alibaba Cloud has said that they will look to transform Yi Qian’s existing karting programmes and venues through technological advances. Read more on Alizilia (English)

Inter Clocks New Partnership

Inter Milan have continued their run of partnerships this week by adding Chinese wristwatch brand Sea-Gull as an Official Partner of the Chinese Region. Sea-Gull has created a limited edition, Inter-themed watch to mark the partnership. 5,000 pieces will be sold on Suning’s e-commerce platform Suning.com. So far, 1,116 of the RMB 1,980 watches have been pre-sold. Read more on Sea-Gulls’ Official Website (Chinese) and Inside World Football (English)


Dallas Mavericks Sign Reigning CBA Domestic MVP

Ahead of their visit to China this autumn, the Dallas Mavericks have signed Ding Yanuhang to a training camp contract. The two-time domestic MVP in China’s CBA would provide the NBA franchise with a significant boost during their China visit should he earn a place on the travelling roster. Read more on EcoSports (Chinese) and Dallas News (English)

Vatti Begin Paying Up

Chinese kitchen manufacturer and sponsor of the French national team have begun fulfilling their promise to refund all purchases made on selected items during the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ following French victory. In total, the refunds are expected to cost the company in the region of RMB 13.4 million. Read more on Sina (Chinese) and Quartz (English)

  1. Mailman Take: Although it may look as though Vatti’s PR gamble has somewhat backfired, they gained enormous amounts of coverage, both globally and domestically, during the 2018 FIFA World Cup™. The Weibo hashtag owned by Vatti for the campaign gained 87 million impressions and 90,000 discussions alone. Away from social media, online sales increased 30% and offline by 20% during the tournament. The companies stocks also saw the benefit as they climbed 7.19%.

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Mailman is a leading China sports digital and marketing platform. We help global rights holders, athletes and brands build a successful business in China.

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