How to save stadiums in China?

The operation of large-scale stadium is always a problem to be settled in many cities of China. The utilization of domestic stadiums scattered in many places is not adequate, and some of them even become vegetable field after rounds of removal and construction. Last year, some opinions published by the State Council encouraged the social capital to be involved in sports industry and construct sports facilities.

Just a few days ago, a sports center located in Foshan Guangdong, started an open tendering for its twenty-year operation and management right. If Foshan remains its current status, it is inevitably that Foshan will follow the trail of other stadiums’ failure.

It makes the reasonable operation of large-scale stadium become a lengthy marathon because of the giant volume, huge maintenance cost, difficulty of function development.

Thus, the business operations led by the government from single function to compound management are usually taken for granted to be the common choice of the operation of many stadiums.

The evidence shows that business operation + diversified operation could solve the problems of large-scale stadiums’ popularity and operation as wished. So, from the beginning we could plan the sports fitness and commercial operation as a whole to enable stadium to be a core of the commercial circle and a necessary part of public entertainment and leisure.

Taking NBA stadiums as examples, usually art galleries, theatres as well as other commercial facilities are equipped near those stadiums. In contrast, stadiums in China are lack of reasonable planning, enough facilities etc., which leads to their operation dilemmas.