China and Football
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CHINA AND FOOTBALL WORLD SPORT’S NEWEST SUPERPOWER 2016 NIELSEN SPORTS REPORT CHINA AND FOOTBALL The growth of China in terms of its influence on the global sports business is no secret. Be it investors from China acquiring and investing THE WORLD OF SPORT in sports properties across Europe, international leagues and teams looking to tap into the country’s enormous population to engage a new IS LOOKING TO CHINA wave of fans, the buying or selling of key broadcast rights or China’s AND CHINA, INCREASINGLY, strategic acquisition of major international sports events, the world of sport has well and truly woken up to the possibilities the market offers. IS LOOKING TO The world is looking to China and China, increasingly, is looking to the THE SPORTS WORLD. world. Led by strategies developed at a national government level, Chinese companies and individuals are making their mark on global sport like never before. Football, as the world’s most popular and visible sport, has proved magnetic in its attraction: the list of clubs and agencies under Chinese control has grown substantially over the past two years, while at the same time the domestic Chinese Super League has risen in prominence, with fresh investment fuelling a number of eye-catching transfers from more established domestic leagues. The global sports calendar is also increasingly littered with major events in China. Formula One has raced there since 2004, the FIBA Basketball World Cup is heading there in 2019 and in 2022 Beijing will become CONTENTS the first city to host both the summer and winter Olympic Games when it plays host to the winter version. Given the size and fluidity of the market and with new investments being made on a near-weekly basis, 1 a detailed understanding of the Chinese consumer is more vital 4 I THE CHINESE CONSUMER than ever. This Nielsen Sports report aims to provide an outline of that Understanding the consumer must be at the heart consumer, China’s media landscape and where domestic and inter- of any global sports organisation’s China strategy. national football fits into the picture. 2 8 I MEDIA GLENN LOVETT DANNY TOWNSEND China’s media landscape has changed dramatically, led by a new wave of broadcast groups. 3 12 I CHINA’S FOOTBALL MARKET The Chinese Super League is growing in prominence and sparking international interest. 4 18 I CHINA’S INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT China is increasingly looking at global sport as a tool to raise profile and enhance business links. 2 CHINA AND FOOTBALL Copyright © 2016 The Nielsen Company 3 1 THE CHINESE CHINA AT-A-GLANCE China is a global powerhouse and it is no surprise that the sports industry – teams, federations, leagues and sponsors – are looking towards the country and its 1.37 billion people and eyeing major growth opportunities. CONSUMER As China looks increasingly outwards at the opportunities investment in sport at a global level can open up, so the world’s leading sports leagues and teams have recognised the potential that exists to engage 1.37 BILLION UNDERSTANDING THE CHINESE a large group of new fans and unlock revenue opportunities within China. Technology is opening up direct access to the Chinese consumer POPULATION CONSUMER – THEIR LOCATIONS, HABITS like never before, underlining the opportunity – in 2015, for example, the CIA World Factbook estimated there are now 1.305 billion mobile July 2015 est. CIA World Factbook AND PREFERENCES – IS A PRIORITY phones in the country. FOR ANY GLOBAL SPORTS ORGANISATION. AGE BREAKDOWN DEMOGRAPHICS 0–14 YEARS | 17% 15–24 YEARS | 14% 25–54 YEARS | 48% 55–64 YEARS | 11% 55.6% 65 AND OVER | 10% URBAN POPULATION 36.8 YEARS AVERAGE AGE MAJOR CITIES 75.41 YEARS millionMILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIFE EXPECTANCY SHANGHAI 23.74 BEIJING 20.38 CHONGQING 13.3 1.305 BILLION GUANGDONG 12.46 NUMBER OF MOBILE PHONES: TIANJIN 11.21 SHENZHEN 10.75 There are currently 1.3 billion mobile phones active in China. Source: CIA World Factbook 4 CHINA AND FOOTBALL Copyright © 2016 The Nielsen Company 5 STEADY GROWTH CURRENT CHINESE INTEREST LEVELS IN SELECTED SPORTS (%) Football accounts for three of the top five most popular sports events COLOUR CODING INDICATES THE RATE OF CHANGE OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS in China, with the FIFA World Cup and National Basketball Association heading the list. Table tennis’ world championship is the only other STRONG GROWTH STEADY GROWTH PRETTY FLAT SLIGHT DECLINE non-football event to make the top five. In terms of sports overall, interest in football has been growing steadily 26% 21% 14% 34% 31% over the last 3 years, and now stands at 31% of the urban population 31% aged 16–59. Basketball is the country’s most popular sport – the China OF URBAN CHINA Basketball Association, the top-tier basketball league in China, was IS INTERESTED founded in 1995, while the NBA has played games in the country for over IN FOOTBALL a decade – ahead of traditional favourites, table tennis and badminton. CYCLING MOTORSPORT MMA SWIMMING FOOTBALL Sports such as cycling have grown in popularity recently, perhaps a result of the increased national investment in a number of Olympic 23% 10% 10% 8% sports in the build-up to Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games. Motorsport and mixed martial arts are also growing strongly. In terms of individual European football clubs, Real Madrid are currently the most popular team in China. Italian clubs FC Internazionale and VOLLEYBALL GOLF BASEBALL RUGBY UNION AC Milan also make the top three, largely for historic reasons – Serie A was the first European league broadcast in China 40% 24% 20% BASKETBALL ATHLETICS TENNIS A Chinese fan holds the national flag to support the country’s football team at the 2015 MOST POPULAR EUROPEAN FOOTBALL CLUBS IN CHINA FIFA Women’s World Cup. 37% 36% 1 2 3 TABLE TENNIS BADMINTON Source: Nielsen Sports (Urban China), May 2016 106 106 127 MILLION MILLION MILLION FC INTERNAZIONALE AC MILAN REAL MADRID Source: Nielsen Sports, May 2015 6 CHINA AND FOOTBALL Copyright © 2016 The Nielsen Company 7 2 CHINA’S MEDIA MEDIA LANDSCAPE CHINA’S MEDIA LANDSCAPE China’s media landscape is transforming. The country has hundreds of television broadcast stations, 20 of which are operated by broadcast HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY giant China Central Television (CCTV) with the rest either provincial or local city stations. It is also one of the world’s major advertising markets. OVER THE PAST DECADE, LED BY A NEW WAVE OF SPORTS A NEW BREED OF BROADCASTER But a new wave of online media companies have emerged, reflecting BROADCAST PLATFORMS. the appetite of consumers and evolving technology, to challenge CCTV’s historic dominance of premium domestic and international sports rights. These emerging giants are increasingly incorporating the live streaming of sports into a suite of services also including messaging platforms such as Tencent’s QQ, WeChat, Sina Weibo plus retail and e-commerce, smartphones and games. Of China’s 1.37 billion population, there are currently 680 million active 680 internet users, with 653 million of them active users of social media. MILLION ACTIVE 577 million of those people are active on social platforms via a mobile.* INTERNET USERS While television is still a primary source of information for much of China’s population, particularly in non-urban areas, mobile is now close to PC in terms of devices used to access online sports content. *Source: We Are Social 2016 Digital Yearbook WHAT DEVICES ARE PEOPLE USING TO GET ONLINE SPORTS INFORMATION? 1 2 3 82% 79% 27% Celebrations during a live screening of the Super Bowl in Shanghai. Source: Nielsen China 8 CHINA AND FOOTBALL Copyright © 2016 The Nielsen Company 9 SELECTED SPORTS RIGHTS ACQUISITIONS BY CHINESE MEDIA GROUPS THREE KEY PLAYERS IN CHINA’S NEW BROADCAST RIGHTS MARKET China’s new breed of digital broadcasters are now investing heavily in domestic and international sports rights, JANUARY 2016 MAY 2016 to drive subscriptions and help showcase their other services. The major players in an increasingly competitive Sina Sports – ‘long-term strategic Tencent – nine-year marketplace are developing long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with teams, leagues and events looking agreement’ with the UFC, including partnership with FIBA, to raise their own profile and attract new viewers and fans in the country. live streaming of UFC events international basketball’s JANUARY 2015 in China and a website relaunch. governing body, covering Tencent – NBA; five-year partnership two editions of FIBA extension described as the ‘league’s Basketball World Cup and largest international digital partnership’. other international events. 1/2015 5/2016 AUGUST 2015 FEBRUARY 2016 Tencent and Sina Sports – UEFA LeEco – acquired online multimedia Champions League (246 matches per rights to the Chinese Super League for season) and UEFA Europa League 2016 and 2017, in a sub-licensing deal (205 matches per season) until 2018. with rights holder Ti’ao Power. In March, LeEco announced the launch of a live shopping service during live screenings, an e-commerce initiative allowing viewers the chance to buy official merchandise as they stream games. PLATFORM PREFERENCES Charlotte Hornets take on Los Angeles Clippers in a 2015 NBA pre-season game in Shanghai Tencent is the league’s Chinese digital partner. THE CHINESE SPORTS PLATFORMS MOST FREQUENTLY USED TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT SPORT. TENCENT SINA SPORTS LEECO A nine-year partnership with FIBA, As well as an agreement with UEFA, Formerly Letv, the online media WHICH OF THESE PLATFORMS world basketball’s governing body, in Sina is in the first year of a multi-year company has secured an enviable DO YOU FREQUENTLY USE TO FOLLOW SPORTS? May 2016 followed a five-year tie-up partnership with Manchester United – portfolio of broadcast rights to with the NBA which includes live a tie-up which revolves around international events including streaming and related programming the distribution of the club’s MUTV agreements with Wimbledon, Tour de 1 TENCENT 69% 5 PHOENIX SPORTS 32% 8 NETEASE SPORTS 27% across Tencent’s suite of apps and channel.