Here are top sports business news stories that you need to know from this week:
PGA Partners with Sina to Create Dedicated Digital Presence in China
The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) has signed a multi-year partnership with Sina Sports. The PGA will provide Sina with videos, featured articles and tournament-related content from the PGA Championship, Women’s PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup. In return, Sina Sports will develop a new featured website and promote the PGA through its popular social media platform, Weibo. This new agreement also increases Sina Sports’ portfolio of golf rights, which already includes the PGA Tour, the European Tour and The Masters. Read more on SportsPro (English)
AliSports Launches “Sports Bank” on Alipay
On 8th of August, AliSports launched new service, “Sports Bank”, on Alibaba’s mobile payment platform Alipay. Sports Bank collects users’ excise data and converts consumed calories into online credit which can be used on AliSports’ online store for fitness classes, tickets, and facility reservation. Read more on Lanxiong (Chinese)
Xiaomi Surpasses Fitbit and Apple to Become No. 1 Wearable Brand
Chinese technology company Xiaomi, which makes the Mi Band, surpassed both Apple and Fitbit in the second quarter to become the world’s leading wearable tech vendor. The total global wearables shipments reached 22 million units last quarter, an 8 percent increase from 21.6 million a year earlier. Xiaomi shipped 3.7 million wearables worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 23%, boosting its share of the market to 17 percent. Apple shipped 2.8 million devices, bringing its share to 13 percent from 9 percent in the previous year and Fitbit saw its share half to 16 percent, while shipments fell to 3.4 million devices from 5.7 million last year. Read more on SportTechie (English)
PEAK to Sponsor Chinese Volleyball Association
Chinese sporting goods brand PEAK announced that it has become the official sponsor of the Chinese Volleyball Association. According to media, the deal is worth over RMB 10 million annually. PEAK CEO, Xu Zhihua, has stated that volleyball will become the third core business for the brand besides basketball and running. Read more on Lanxiong (Chinese)
From The Bench Partners with Chinese Gaming Company Crazy Sports
Spain-based video game developer From The Bench (FTB) recently signed a five-year partnership deal with Chinese gaming company Crazy Sports. FTB has developed several mobile games for world leading sports organisations, such as Real Madrid, AC Milan and Liverpool FC. The deal provides Crazy sports with the exclusive rights to localise FTB games in China. Crazy Sports also signed a partnership deal with English gaming firm Football Manager in July. Read more on Lanxiong (Chinese)
Tottenham Hotspur Leads Youth Football Clinic in China
Tottenham Hotspur is to hold youth football clinics in Nanjing and Shenzhen this month. In partnership with AIA insurance, the clinics are designed to find talented players (age 14-16) to attend the elite clinic hosted in Thailand in February 2018. Read more on EcoSports (Chinese)
Fitness Box Sharing Emerging in Beijing
Following in the footsteps of bikes, umbrellas and basketballs, it is now possible to hire a workout space on the go. The 5-square-meter spaces are located in several premier residential areas in Beijing. Users can pay via App or WeChat to use the fitness box, which charges 0.2 Yuan per minute. Fitness boxes are equipped with treadmills, spinning bikes, rowing machines, air conditioners, TV, wifi and other basic facilities. Read more on Lanxiong (Chinese)
Mailman is a sports digital consultancy and marketing platform and a leader in the China Sports Marketing industry. We help global rights holders, athletes, and leagues to build a successful business in China.
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