2022, 23 years is an eventful year for Chinese soccer. The poor results have exposed not only many technical and tactical problems, but also corruption among coaches, coaching teams, league managers, FA leaders and even higher-level figures. The poor green environment is an indisputable fact and a constraint on the progress of the national soccer team.
Of course, it's not just the fans who are disappointed. Investors have been forced to divest due to the restrictive neutral name policy, which has also hurt teams. According to the 21st Century Business Herald, since professionalization in 1994, at least 95 clubs at all levels and regions in China have disbanded, 44 of which have been gone for nearly five years. Unfortunately, the introduction of the new policy has led to the exit of at least 25 clubs from the jungle, even including the current season's champions.
After the previous team was "swept off the stage", criticism of the New Deal became the consensus of most practitioners. Finally, after Song Kai took office, he said he would make adjustments, and the "New Deal" was officially released on January 3rd through an official announcement. Ironically, it has been less than two years since the last New Deal was released.
This "new policy" focuses on three major issues: team naming, relocation and foreign aid registration. Compared to the latter two, team names will naturally receive a lot of attention. In short, the "new policy" requires that the neutral name policy still exists, but companies can be allowed to name. The general format will be "club name + title + team", with corporate and brand names as options for the "title". This policy lasts from 2024-2028.
There is no doubt that the "new deal" was introduced because there was no money, and the effect of the "new deal" was to attract money. When wage arrears and money arrears become the main keywords of the league, it is inevitable that sponsors will retreat and players will have no intention to fight. In theory, this reform does help solve the problem. According to the National Business Daily, LeEco named the Beijing team for 100 million yuan in 2016, and Swift Auto named the Chongqing team for 200 million yuan over three years in 2018, a sizable overall value.
It is important to realize that compared to the 40 million/team level during the Golden Dollar era, the average split for a Chinese Super League team in the 2023 season drops to less than 8 million, which is a huge challenge to the club's survival. And the CFA clearly states that the prize money for each Super League victory is 3 million RMB, meaning that a split of less than three victories would be pathetic.
The re-entry of sponsors will certainly bring relief. However, the question is, how much relief can we get and when? It is a well-known fact that soccer is a very expensive sport. Especially nowadays, when venue costs, labor costs and turnover costs are getting higher and higher, I am afraid that a "high-priced naming fee" of RMB 100 million or RMB 200 million is not very useful. However, it is impossible for companies to offer too high a price, so this cold winter can be spent with a drop in the bucket; it is estimated that how to survive after the spring is still a problem.
A good game depends on the support of sponsors and even more on his own operation and payment. Not to mention the top like EPL and La Liga, the actual situation in the surrounding J. and K leagues is much better than ours. Crowd support, players' brilliance, and good results in intercontinental matches are all rewarded with high prices from sponsors. The 102nd Japanese high school soccer tournament attracted 10+ of Europe's top scouts to watch. Imagine the considerable help even with a 10% success rate!
However, this is not driven by a few "policies".
