CHINA SPORTS MARKETING NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1, No. 1-May 31, 2001
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- China's First Heavyweight Bout Heating up as King, Boxers Visit Beijing
- China Frontrunner in Olympic Bid as IOC Steers Clear of Politics
- Nike Leading the Pack in Chinese Sports Marketing
- CCTV Challenges the Right of ESPN to Broadcast Chinese Soccer
- NBA 2001 Draft Standout, China's Yao Ming, Not Allowed Out of China
China's First Heavyweight Bout Heating up as King, Boxers Visit Beijing
Don King and his entourage traveled to China recently to promote the upcoming "Melee in Beijing" - the first ever heavyweight title fight to be held in the People's Republic of China. The entourage included the two boxers featured in the main event - Evander Holyfield and current WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz. The group toured the Great Wall, Forbidden City and Mao Zedong's mausoleum before taking a peek at the bout's venue.
Aside from promoting the fight, the trip also served the purpose of finalizing details and perhaps getting Chinese approval to bring over WBC and IBF champion Hasim Rahman to fight, too.
King and his Chinese counterparts had hoped to hold the fight before the International Olympic Committee's much-anticipated vote on July 13 on where to stage the 2008 Olympic Games. The feeling was that a successful bout would pave the way for a decision to allow Beijing to host the Games - Beijing is in the running now with Toronto and Paris (please see article below). Nonetheless, King did his part to promote Beijing's bid for bringing the Olympic Games to the "great country of China".
Boxing was banned in China in 1952, shortly after Mao Zedong's Communists took control of the mainland. However, boxing made a rebirth in 1979 when then leader Deng Xiaoping hosted a visit by the legendary Muhammad Ali.
China's only major bout since the historic visit was a bout in 1992 labeled "Brawl at the Wall", which featured both Chinese and Western boxers. While the bout helped promote boxing in China, the Chinese have failed to medal in any Olympic Games since then. It is hoped that this bout will further boost boxing in China now that an environment open to traditionally Western sporting events is starting to flourish.
(Source: The Associated Press)
China Frontrunner in Olympic Bid as IOC Steers Clear of Politics
An International Olympic Committee report released Tuesday ranked Beijing among the top three candidate cities for the 2008 Olympics. Paris and Toronto also received top ratings, while Osaka, Japan and Istanbul, Turkey, have all but dropped out of the contention.
While the report did not explicitly imply that Beijing is the frontrunner, this seems to be the consensus among many involved, especially when considering the fact that IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch has openly lent his support to Beijing.
Efforts by groups and organizations as diverse as Tibetan women in exile in India to Animal Rights Activists (the use of parts of rare animals for medicine is still rampant in China) to U.S. Congressmen to block Beijing's bid seem to be having only a limited impact on IOC members.
The 107-page report primarily dealt with practical considerations and the feasibility of hosting the Games at the various locations. It seemed to steer clear of any political considerations. The report did include a line that stated that it is ''impossible to ignore'' the human rights debate; however, it was stated that the impact of such an issue would have to be weighed by IOC members on an individual basis.
The Chinese government has pledged US$20 billion for building venues for the events, improving infrastructure and cleaning up environmental concerns that surround one of the world's most polluted cities. This expenditure plus the national enthusiasm that has accompanied the chance for China to host its first Olympics has greatly boosted China's prospects.
A confident proposal was made by Beijing to allow Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, to host some of the events. This offer was subsequently turned down do to the fact that certain conditions were attached to the offer, foremost of which was an acknowledgement by Taiwan that there exists only one "China" and that it is the PRC.
(Source: Agence France Presse)
Nike Leading the Pack in Chinese Sports Marketing
Nike has just completed the finishing touches on a deal that will combine the sporting goods giant with Fudan University and the China Olympic Committee to form a sports marketing center in Shanghai. The sports marketing center, Fuon, will be a part of Fudan's School of Management and will offer a sports marketing MBA. The program will begin in September of 2001. Twenty students have already been accepted.
The move allows Nike a foot in the door of China's fledgling sports marketing industry. For China, Fuon is a sign of its commitment to athletics and another reason why it should be given the bid for the 2008 Olympic games.
In the United States, sports marketing is a US$250 billion industry. In China, it is not nearly as lucrative. Several factors still exist that bar China's sports marketing industry from really taking off. For example, athletes are considered the property of the State and thus cannot generally be represented on an individual basis.
Another problem deals with copyright issues involving the broadcasting and re-broadcasting of sporting events. Television stations, for example, only started to pay money to broadcast soccer games three years ago. However, rates still do not match the number of viewers the games attract.
This is not to say that there does not already exist a substantial sports-marketing presence in China. Sports marketing and promotion giant IMG has promoted the Chinese soccer league for the last seven years, yet it still is not making a profit.
Agents and sporting companies have taken the opportunity to recruit Chinese stars that are currently competing in the U.S. Nike sponsors National Basketball Association center Wang Zhizhi and U.S. women's soccer star Sun Wen.
Recent events that will help boost the sports marketing realm in China include this Summer's heavyweight title bout between Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz, to be held in Beijing, the 2002 women's basketball championship, and the 2004 Asian world soccer championships.
(Source: ChinaOnline)
CCTV Challenges the Right of ESPN to Broadcast Chinese Soccer
China's Central Television (CCTV) is challenging the right of ESPN to broadcast live games from the country's premier soccer league to cable stations across China and to millions of viewers in Asia.
It is part of a larger struggle over the opening up of China's enormous sports market, including merchandising and television rights, with soccer clubs complaining that they have not received a fair price for the broadcasting of their games.
China's professional soccer league began in 1994 and has 14 teams, with seven games played each Sunday. This year's season began on March 11. CCTV broadcasts one of the games nationwide and ESPN a second one.
According to CCTV, ESPN live broadcasts were illegal because CCTV had the exclusive contract for such games for three years from 1999 under an agreement signed with the China Soccer Association (CSA).
ESPN claims that they signed a 10-year contract in 1994 with International Management Group, giving it the right to broadcast one game on satellite and cable in Asia. Furthermore, they claim that their broadcasts in no way interfere with CCTV as CCTV has priority as to what game to broadcast in any given week and ESPN gets second pick.
Industry estimates say that CCTV earns at least RMB 30 million (US$3.6 million) a year from the 10 minutes of advertising time it sells during soccer broadcasts.
By 1999, the clubs and the CSA felt that they were not being fairly compensated. Before the 1999 season, the CSA demanded a fee of RMB 150,000 (US$18,000) per match. CCTV refused to pay and the two sides were in deadlock approaching the season.
However, under pressure from the league's sponsors, especially Pepsi-Cola, CCTV and the CSA reached an agreement by which CCTV paid out RMB 10 million (US$1.25 million) for the right to broadcast one game of its choice per week for three years.
All 14 teams in the league have corporate sponsors, among which are Tsingtao beer, Ke Jian mobile phones and Hill of the Red Pagoda tobacco.
(Source: South China Morning Post)
NBA 2001 Draft Standout, China's Yao Ming, Not Allowed Out of China
The NBA draft pool will be even thinner than expected this year. Expected number one draft pick, Yao Ming of China, will not be allowed out of the contract with his Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks. Yao stands seven feet six inches tall and is the star of the Chinese National team as well as the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).
The decision to let Yao out of his contract is largely dependent on forces within the Communist party, as all of China's sports teams are government-owned under the Chinese National Sports Bureau (zhongguo guojia tiyu zongju). The official reason not to let Yao out of his contract is to allow him to compete in the upcoming Asian championships and also to allow the 20-year old to further develop his skills.
The potential representatives of Yao in America anticipate a yearlong battle to get him out of China and onto an NBA roster. A similar battle was fought over current Dallas Maverick forward Wang Zhizhi. Drafted in 1999 by Dallas, Wang was only allowed to join the Mavericks late this season after his team, the Bayi Rockets, finally accepted a buyout from Maverick ownership.
(Source: ESPN.com)
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