Opinion | We won’t die, says LeSports ... but plenty will trying to crack the Chinese sports market
Mainland China’s first major sports forum tests waters of openness but many of the power players seem reluctant to take the plunge
The business of sport is booming in mainland China – predicted to grow to more than three trillion yuan by 2020 and five trillion by 2025 – but to understand it is like a Confucian conundrum.
Two days listening and talking to industry leaders at a LeSports connect conference left most participants even more confused.
Streaming company PPTV, part of the Suning retail giant, shocked the market when it paid a staggering US$700 million for the China broadcast rights to the English Premier League in a three-year deal – 12 times more than the previous deal.
Meanwhile, with LeEco, the parent company of ambitious internet sports company LeSports, facing a cash crunch, chief executive
Jia Yueting sent an SOS to his old buddies as he quickly raised US$600m. That was the big elephant in the room (driving an E-car) as LeSports founder and CEO Lei Zhenjian and then vice-chairman Ma Guoli told the 500-strong crowd . . . not a lot.
“We have had a lot of setbacks in the past two years,” said Lei, posing the question of whether sports is sustainable – rather than answering it.
