LONDON – 4 Oct. 2016 – Interest in football in China has increased by more than 4% in the last three years, growth which is being driven by strategies developed at national government level and investment in sports properties around the world, a report from Nielsen Sports released today shows.

It is not just the interest in football among the Chinese urban population (31%) which is showing signs of steady growth. Internationally, Chinese investment in football is beginning to play a huge role in the changing economic landscape of the sport, where a very different market entry strategy is unfolding. 

Brands looking to use sport as a catalyst for growth are concentrating less on sponsorship, traditionally used as a means to grow brand awareness and a market foothold, and more on the creation and purchasing of assets and content such as broadcast deals, agencies, players and teams.

Glenn Lovett, Global President of Strategy, Nielsen Sports, said: “The world is looking to China and China, increasingly, is looking to the world. Led by strategies developed at a national government level, Chinese companies and individuals are making their mark on global sport like never before. Football, as the world’s most popular and visible sport, has proved magnetic in its attraction: the list of clubs and agencies under Chinese control has grown substantially over the past two years, while at the same time the domestic Chinese Super League has risen in prominence, with fresh investment fuelling a number of eye-catching transfers from more established domestic leagues.”

When Dutch side, FC Den Haag was the bought by Vansen International Sports Company in 2014, it was the first and only professional football club in Europe to be owned in part or in full by a Chinese company. Since then, just two seasons later, that number has ballooned to 13, including some of the world’s biggest teams such as AC Milan, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and City Football Group, the parent company of Manchester City FC.

The growing interest from China is also something clubs internationally are increasingly buying into as major European football clubs continue to build strategies to increase fan acquisition and retention in the market, from local media partners to distribute club content to regional or market-specific category sponsorships.

With 127 million fans, Real Madrid is the most followed European team in China. It’s partnership with domestic side, Guangzhou Evergrande, a club which in 2015 had an outlay on international transfers twice that of any other club in the Chinese Super League in 2015, was cemented when the two clubs announced the development of a 50-pitch training academy in the country – an initiative which goes some way to achieving the Chinese government’s goal of having one pitch for every 10,000 people by 2030. Inter Milan and AC Milan, both of which are majority or fully owned by Chinese firms, are the second and third most followed clubs, both with 106 million Chinese-based fans.

As clubs look to engage, they will have to consider a very different fan base. Research shows that fandom in China works very differently compared to other international markets. Among Chinese fans, there is a significant degree of overlap in club following.

Using Nielsen Sports’ Fan DNA research program which segments fans based on how and why sponsorship changes their behaviour, the largest category of football fans in China are ‘Connection Fans’, where the social aspects of football drive engagement. In China, 32% of football fans are ‘Connection Fans’ meaning most fans see football as a platform that brings people together. This group responds positively to sponsorship, particularly when messaging and communications are tailored around their drivers of engagement.

These insights suggest that to increase followership in China, creating engaging content that brings fans closer to the game and to one another, is key.

关于尼尔森体育

尼尔森体育是体育行业内首屈一指的分析和洞察力提供商，提供行业内最可靠的独立和全面的市场数据来源，以及对全球消费者趋势和习惯最全面的了解，并已成为为球队、联赛、联合会、品牌、广播公司和代理机构提供量身定制的商业解决方案的全球领导者。尼尔森将从赞助效果到球迷数据能力的解决方案与尼尔森对消费者行为和媒体消费的理解相结合，这意味着尼尔森在通过体育帮助企业发展方面具有独一无二的优势。尼尔森体育的品牌曝光数据和指标被视为全球体育市场的货币。它与赞助商数据和尼尔森的买家意向和购买数据相结合，为 1,700 多家客户提供了独一无二的强大综合解决方案，帮助他们做出更明智的商业决策。

关于尼尔森

尼尔森控股公司（纽约证券交易所股票代码：NLSN）是一家全球绩效管理公司，提供对消费者观看和购买内容的全面了解。尼尔森的 "观看 "业务部门为媒体和广告客户提供跨视频、音频和文本内容消费的所有设备的 "全受众 "测量服务。购买 "板块为消费品包装制造商和零售商提供业内唯一的全球零售业绩测量。通过整合 "观看 "和 "购买 "板块以及其他数据源的信息，尼尔森为客户提供世界一流的测量和分析服务，帮助客户提高业绩。 尼尔森是标准普尔500强企业之一，业务遍及100多个国家，覆盖全球90%以上的人口。欲了解更多信息，请访问www.nielsen.com 。 

联系方式

Tom Scott tom.scott@nielsen.com