Way to professionalization: “big three” sports leagues in China

The 2015 season Chinese top tier soccer league CSL finalized with Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC securing their 5th successive trophies in the campaign at Beijing Worker’s Stadium last Saturday while two other major sports leagues in the country, which include Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) league and China’s first division volleyball league, blew their opening whistle on the same day.

Despite the fact that all these professional leagues were launched during mid-1990s, it appears that the circumstances for these leagues are mixed as the CSL, followed by the CBA, and is rising with new boosts from record broadcast fees while the CVA has just departed with its title sponsor.

However, a large amount of capital flow were invested into all these sports, soccer particularly, over the last few years.

In the CSL, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC, which is backed by Evergrande Group and Alibaba’s Taobao, has truly established its presence in Chinese professional soccer with 5 trophies in a row since being promoted in 2011. Despite several fruitful seasons, Guangzhou Evergrande was strongly challenged by other CSL giants like Shanghai SIPG and Beijing Guoan in the last two CSL campaigns.

The increasing competiveness and growing number of soccer stars who have established their career in major European leagues have boosted the engagement to the audience. As a result, the CSL has just become the 6th most attended professional soccer league in the world with average attendance of 22,580 each game. In the meanwhile, it is proved to be the most expensive sports league by far in the country with the RMB8bn broadcast deal as a convincing example.

The CBA, which has just partnered with Swiss watch brand Tag Heur, is also on the rise commercially, securing as many as 23 sponsorship deals this season.

As well as the volleyball league, several provincial women’s teams receive great financial supports from local brands despite the isolate league itself. For example, Fujian Women’s Volleyball Club has signed a sponsorship deal with real estate company Sunshine City for RMB120 million before the new season kicked off.

Having departed from the administration of Chinese soccer governing body CFA, the CSL is well on the track towards a market-oriented professional sports league in the country. For Chinese Basketball Association, one of the main tasks of the new season is to strike corruptions and speed up professionalization. Moreover, Chinese volleyball administration also set up the timetable to implement the market-oriented reform, reestablishing a true professional league by 2020.

Source: People.com