When New tournaments Meets New Tech, the Old Friend of Football Has New Stories

©️Hisense

When Chinese Innovation Meets the Global Stage, How Can Brands Make a Lasting Impression?

The new 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has come to an end, with the Premier League giant Chelsea claiming the first ever championship title.  

New tournaments never lack new stories, among which the Chinese elements were often the ones that naturally became a focal point for global attention. When building world-class enterprises and brands become a strategic move for Chinese companies, top-tier tournaments like the FIFA Club World Cup were seen as a “must seize” opportunity for domestic enterprises expanding overseas. Looking at the global sports marketing landscape, the enthusiasm of Chinese companies for the tournaments has reached an unprecedented level. At the same time, maintaining innovation and continuing to tell good stories have also become realistic challenges for enterprises.

Simon Chadwick, a world’s leading expert in sports marketing, and Professor of Eurasian Sports Industry at Emlyon Business School, believes that globalization, digitization, consumer behaviour, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development have become core elements driving the growth of the sports industry. As one of the most important participants in the global sports market, Chinese companies and brands are part of this dynamic environment. They are responding to changes in the sport industry but are also instrumental in driving further changes.The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup has served as a good observation window.

When Chinese Innovation Meets the Global Stage, How Can Brands Make a Lasting Impression? Professor Simon Chadwick and Qin Shuo, a humanities and finance observer and initiator of Qin Shuo's Moments, respectively gave their analyses from their perspectives.

1. “Football Connects the World as One”

Football is central to the success and scale of the global sports industry. It is the most popular and commercially powerful sport in the world. The sport has an estimated 4 billion fans worldwide, cutting across continents, languages, and cultures. No other sport matches football’s geographic penetration and cultural ubiquity.

Professor Simon Chadwick notes that Football serves as a primary platform for global brands, its simplicity (just a ball and space) makes it accessible and easy to consume, which extends its cultural influence across the world. Qin Shuo recalls his experiences during the 2016 UEFA Euro and 2018 FIFA World Cup, when he became deeply aware of the feeling of “football connects the world as one”.  

When discussing Chinese companies’ deep engagement in global sports marketing, Hisense has great stories to share. The company’s globalization success stems from product innovation and robust management, while the significance of its long-term strategy to sponsor top-tier sports and football events should never be omitted, which have significantly elevated its brand influence.  

©️Hisense

Qin Shuo observes that Hisense’s journey—from the EURO Cup and World Cup to the new FIFA Club World Cup—reflects its ambition to push the boundaries of sports marketing and embark on a new chapter of globalization. This demonstrates Hisense’s confidence on its technological prowess and brand strength as well.  

He also adds that, in an era of global challenges and uncertainties being intensified, the universal languages that forge worldwide consensus has been becoming rare, while sports would be one of them. Transcending geography, culture, and ethnicity, sports and football strike a deep emotional chord and foster strong resonance. When Hisense became the first ever official sponsor of the FIFA Club World Cup, the company had secured an exclusive position, a "first-mover advantage", that would further solidify its global brand awareness and recognition.  

2. The Core of Sports Marketing

To some extent, Chinese enterprises have become one of the decisive forces driving the development of the global sports industry. Professor Simon Chadwick also notes that, Chinese companies are playing increasingly influential roles in the reinvention and development of both the global sports industry and global football, driven both by strategic national ambitions and by corporate globalization goals.  

Chinese brands have become significantly influential in the sponsorship and development of the global sport industry, particularly football, over the past decade. 

In 2016, Hisense became the first Chinese brand to sponsor the UEFA Europa Cup, creating a new era that makes sports marketing as a prior choice for Chinese companies expanding overseas. Since then, Chinese brands have become prominent names among sponsors of world-class sporting events, particularly in football. For example, at UEFA Euro 2024, there were a record-breaking five Chinese brands becoming the tournament’s top-tier sponsors, making China the single largest source of sponsorship for the event.

At the club level, teams like Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Chelsea have also established global or regional partnerships with Chinese enterprises. In this regard, Hisense sponsored elite European clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan, all of which were competing in this year’s FIFA Club World Cup.

Qin Shuo believes, it is the transition from "Made in China" to "Designed by China," from domestic brands to global brands, that becomes must-do choices for Chinese brands, in order to achieve high-quality development, while it is also a long-term commitment. This is exactly the philosophy that Hisense has been adopting to sports marketing. Apart from brand exposure, Hisense is integrating its technology into the tournaments, highlighting its innovation prowess.  

At this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, Hisense is not only the display partner of the tournament’s Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which demonstrates the deep integration of technology and sports, but is also using AI to redefine the viewing experience. By driving technological upgrades and scenario-based innovations, Hisense helps deliver a better event while creating superior experiences for fans.This has become the fundamental purpose of Hisense’s football marketing strategy.  

©️Hisense

In fact, from black-and-white to color screen, and from 1080p to 4K Ultra HD, the broadcastings of world-class sporting events have been serving as testing grounds for cutting-edge technologies. By 2025, another milestone moment arrives at the global display industry as the RGB-Mini LED technology makes its debut at the Club World Cup, led by Hisense.  

3. What is Major Event Marketing Bring to the brand?

Of course, for Chinese companies expanding overseas, sponsorship is a tool rather than a goal. The core challenges lie in how to select the resources and activate in a right and effective way. These are all critical questions for brands that is using sports sponsorship to grow at global stage. While in this perspective, Hisense’s sports marketing strategy has also become a benchmark for Chinese enterprises venturing abroad.  

Firstly, the global marketing of brands asks for a high positioning. Professor Simon Chadwick points out that, by collaborating with prestigious international sports events like the UEFA EURO and the new FIFA Club World Cup, Hisense is reinventing the world’s perception of Chinese brands from simply manufacturers to innovative and high-quality creators, which leads to the considerable increase of its brand recognition and influence in international markets.

In the meantime, with support of sports major events sponsorship as a springboard, Hisense managed to drive its international market expansion, which can be proved by the growing consumer confidence and increasing product sales. Hisense has reported significant sales surges during major sponsored events, such as a 275% year-on-year increase during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, demonstrating a direct link between sponsorship and sales growth. Their overseas revenue increased threefold between 2016 and 2024.

©️Hisense

What’s more, Football sponsorships also help Hisense to enhance its positioning and impact at overseas markets, with Europe (the largest and most mature market for football in the world) and Saudi Arabia (which is currently pursuing an ambitious development strategy promoting football) as clear examples. Sponsoring major football events like the UEFA EURO and top clubs such as Real Madrid provides Hisense with extensive brand exposure across Europe and supports the brand to compete for a better customer awareness. 

Moreover, Football evokes strong emotions and loyalty among fans. By being a part of these events, Hisense can tap into these emotions and build stronger connections with consumers. Sponsoring football signals Hisense's commitment to the markets in which they operate and its ambition to be a leading global brand.

Finally, There are also benefits in terms of fostering national pride and communicating Chinese soft power.

4. The Globalization of Chinese Brands’ Capabilities: A Future Opportunity

Why Football?

A Hisense Group executive once mentioned that, TV and football are perfect matches, just like wine and cheese. The sportsmanship and vitality embodied in football are highly consistent with the determination of Chinese enterprises to constantly pursue, develop, innovate, and go global.

Qin Shuo adds that this spiritual resonance between sports and national identity is the deeper reason hidden behind Hisense’s steadfast football marketing strategy.  

As the wave of Chinese brands’ globalization converges with the commercial and technological transformation of global sports landscape, the synergies will be activated further. Qin Shuo believes, the globalization of Chinese companies represents a major strategic opportunity for China’s economy. China need, and will ultimately produce a group of world-class brands like Sony, Panasonic, Toyota, and Samsung that had gone global from emerging markets. Hisense’s 10-year journey proves that for Chinese companies, the commitment to sports marketing and steadfast support to sports development can be a pioneering path with pragmatic meanings.

While the challenges can never be counted out from Chinese brands’ road to globalization. Qin Shuo believes that Hisense's exploration and innovation in the journey of globalization have offered valuable reference and inspiration to more Chinese enterprises. Taking sports marketing as an example, the Chinese brands firstly need to tell a "boundless story" through sports. Secondly, the globalization of Chinese enterprises is not a "choice question" but a "survival question". Living in a global market as competitive and ferocious as today, Chinese brands must shift from "product going global" to "brand going global" and "brand entering in mind".