Why Chinese soccer market appeals to the world

Taking the highland of Chinese social media platforms

Chelsea FC, one of the most famous English soccer clubs in the world, recently claimed that they became the second most followed soccer club on Chinese social media platform Douyin, also known as Tik Tok, in the western world. Chelsea also gained attention on Weibo. They soon became the fastest-growing European soccer club in the 2018/19 season, gaining over two million new followers, thus increasing their total followers to 5.3 million.

As the old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Chelsea FC has been dedicated to cultivating a solid fan base here in China. Not only does the soccer club itself have an official Weibo account, so do Chelsea players such as legend Frank Lampard and active captain of the team Azpilicueta.

The screenshot of Chelsea FC’s Douyin Page shows that the clubs has already gained over 1.3 million fans

Chelsea is not the only club that shows their approval of the Chinese market. Manchester City, served by one of China's greatest defenders, Sun Jihai from 2002 to 2008, and also the latest Premier League championship led by renowned coach Pep Guardiola, announced their summer pre-season games in China in July this year.

Manchester City even made a special video featuring German Left winger Leroy Sané to give their best wishes to Chinese students who were about to participate in the annual Gaokao (The National College Entrance Examination).

Screenshot of Leroy Sané's Gaokao pep talk video

Omar Berrada, Manchester City's Chief Operating Officer, commented that they are delighted to return to China thanks to their passionate followers across China.

By reaching out to the Chinese market through social media platforms, European clubs can make contact with generation Z to gain sustainable development, since the majority of today's youth are tightly bound to the social media world.

So why does China appeal to the "big five" leagues in Europe?

Growing purchasing power

The growing Chinese economy naturally led to an increase in consumer purchasing power.

According to research conducted by the EU SME Center, with a total population of 1.4 billion, China is estimated to have as many as 300 million soccer fans, a large number of whom are fans of both Chinese soccer clubs and European soccer clubs.

This is reflected in the high prices paid for broadcasting rights in China, high-profile soccer players and managers, and well-known European soccer clubs themselves.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Manchester City in 2015, China witnessed a dramatic increase in investment in the Chinese Soccer Association Super League, also known as CSL.

Later that year, the Guangzhou Evergrande FC announced signing Brazilian midfielder Paulinho from Tottenham Hotspur F.C. with a 14 million euro contract. He was considered one of the best international players ever transferred to CSL.

The transfer was a win-win situation. Paulinho helped Evergrande win back the AFC championship, and ensured Evergrande's dominant place in the CSL for quite a long time. Paulinho himself regained his position in Brazil's national team and later played for F.C. Barcelona for one year.

The successful model soon swept the league. CSL made itself famous all over the world and attracted talented players and managers such as Hulk, Oscar and World Cup championship coach Marcello Lippi.

In 2015, China Sports Media and CSL agreed on a five year, 8 billion yuan copyright deal, nearly triple the value of the NBA copyright.

The influx of capital is of great importance to the development of China's professional soccer league.

CSL soon became the twelfth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the sixth-highest of any professional association soccer league in the world, behind Bundesliga, Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Liga MX, raising the awareness of this super league around the world and drawing attention from western media and soccer clubs.

Further deployments of pro-growth policies

Pro-growth policies are the cornerstone of a healthy soccer system.

A majority of Chinese netizens have called for a transformation of the current youth training system and talent selection process, which has already improved over recent years.

Moreover, the reform could go even further.

According to Xinhua, the China soccer Association (CFA) might soon welcome its first president from the business world, with Shanghai SIPG chairman Chen Xuyuan preparing to run for election after being named by CFA as head of the preparation team for a CFA election.

"Chen Xuyuan is familiar with the sport's development and is well-known in Chinese soccer," said a CFA spokesperson, according to Xinhua.

If elected, Chen, as a chairman of an open-minded soccer club which recently granted Chinese elite striker Wu Lei's transfer to La Liga, might bring a new perspective when it comes to the pro-growth policies that could better China's soccer environment.

China has made some impressive moves recently, including issuing a revision of their U23 policy and foreign players policy in the CSL, and most importantly, the initiation of naturalizing international players with one or two Chinese parents.

Earlier this year, China welcomed its first naturalized soccer player Li Ke (Nico Yennaris) who came from English Premier League Arsenal's youth academy, and he later debuted as the first naturalized player to play for Chinese national soccer team.

Li Ke’s debut for Chinese national soccer team (photo/Xinhua)

Following Li Ke came Hou Yongyong, Tyias Browning and more foreign players, which will temporarily bring Chinese soccer to a higher level.

However, there is still more that needs to be done.

Just as Xinhua Sports pointed out, the CFA has been working to establish national training teams for different age groups, popularize soccer, cultivate domestic coaches, normalize professional leagues and consolidate youth training systems.

It might take years for younger generation to become the mainstay of Chinese soccer, but we've seen numerous promising youth training schools such as Evergrande with Real Madrid and the Chinese "soccer God Father” Xu Genbao's Genbao Soccer Academy, which are continually bringing good players to national soccer teams.

Although it is controversial, the naturalization of high-profile players, and stronger connections with top clubs, has brought numerous opportunities for China to cooperate and learn from top-notch soccer clubs all over the world. However, we should remain aware that nothing could be better than developing China’s own training system.