Suning and PP Sports to increase investment for sports business

Sun Weimin, Vice President of Suning Holdings Group and Vice Chairman of the Board of Suning.com, has confirmed that Suning will raise investment in sports industry to meet customers’ demands ranging from content to related experiences. The statement was made on July 19 in Shanghai, at the PP Sports & Premier League collaboration for Season 2019/2020 - 2021/2022 press conference. 

Sun Weimin also pointed out that PP Sports’ total number of paid subscription members has exceeded 6 million, which shows sport becoming an integral part of the Chinese lifestyle. As a result, they want to attract and accumulate users via good content and to engage people with relevant activities and scenarios. 

PP Sports and the Premier League will officially commence their partnership from the upcoming European football season 2019/2020. PP Sports announced their strategies on Premier League content and operation of the EPL rights at the press conference. For example, they are going to have reporters based in London, Manchester and Liverpool to report on the matches. They will offer multiple match commentator options to suit different users, including well-known commentators, entertainment stars and female commentators. Advanced broadcasting technologies, football shows and fan activities will also be important parts of the strategies. 

The Premier League’s interim CEO Richard Masters made his first public appearance in China at the press conference after first visiting the Suning headquarters in Nanjing, according to PP Sports. He is reported to have said that the Premier League hopes to collaborate more with Suning in diverse areas in the future, with the expectation that Suning can help the league further improve its brand influence and realize its commercial value via Suning’s channels, technologies and user base. 

PP Sports currently holds media rights to a range of sports properties, such as the Chinese national football team, Chinese Super League, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, UEFA Champions League, the FA Cup, WWE and the UFC. 

Reference: Yutang Sports

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick