Dalian Wanda launches Wanda Sports

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group has announced that Infront Sports & Media and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) with its IRONMAN brand will be integrated into a newly formed entity, Wanda Sports.

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront Sports & Media will step up to lead the Wanda Sports’ business as President & CEO. The experienced top management of both Infront and the WTC (IRONMAN) will remain in place.

Wanda Sports will focus on three core business pillars – Spectator Sports (Media & Marketing business), Participation Sports (Active Lifestyle business) and Services (Production, Digital & Service business).

The newly established sports unit will be based in Zug, Switzerland while the holding company will be based in China.

Wang Jianlin, Chairman of the Wanda Group, said, “The significance of establishing Wanda Sports is not only to integrate Wanda's interests in sports, but also to truly expand and strengthen Wanda's businesses in the industry, while at the same time grasping the rapidly growing opportunities in the Chinese sports market. We want to truly impact the development of sport around the world.”

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Wanda Sports, added, “The integration of Infront and the WTC with its iconic IRONMAN brand under the roof of Wanda Sports represents an important step in the expansion of the Wanda Group’s strategic investment in the global sports business. Under the new structure we expect growth and acceleration of the company’s impressive portfolio of both spectator and participation sports based on the shared networks and resources of the integrated companies. The new structure will provide continuity and stability, a much enhanced service offering and strengthened resources in event development and delivery.”

Source: Infront

Proofread by John Devlin