With the bursting of the "golden dollar soccer" bubble, the situation in the Chinese Super League is getting more and more difficult. Clubs are quitting, teams are defaulting on wages, and league sponsorship is scarce... The outside world's confidence in the Chinese Super League is getting lower and lower, but recently there is a sudden news that China has won the rights to the Russian Super League. A few days ago, Russian Super Chairman Araev revealed in a media interview that "someone in China has offered to buy the Russian Super rights, but we haven't accepted the offer yet."
Alayev revealed that the situation in the Russian Premier League is much better at the moment and there are some other movements. "Among other things, some friendly countries have provided some figures. It's not encouraging, but a year ago they had zero interest in this area, so it can be considered a bottoming out and some deals may be made. There are a lot of players from these countries who come to Russia to play soccer superbly, as well as from rich countries in the East. Some of them spend $50-100,000 per season, which is better than nothing, but there are some things that are more important than the offer, such as positioning, highlights, and platform."
Alayev said in an interview that Chinese fans like soccer very much. They don't only like the English Premier League. "I think Chinese players can also play in the Russian Premier League. Some of them have offered to buy broadcasting rights, but we haven't accepted the offer yet because I think it should be a long-term cooperation and China is convincing us."
However, Araev also added: "We told them that, first of all, we don't have enough money. Secondly, how it is distributed is also important for us. At the moment Russian supermarkets are only broadcasting in our neighborhood, but now other countries are gradually becoming interested in us, and we have been approached in Italy. They want to provide statistical data services, and another European equipment manufacturer has expressed interest in cooperation."
According to the reporter's understanding, the Chinese Football Association has given the schedule for the new season of the Chinese Super League to start on March 1 next year. Although the outside world is still waiting for accurate information, such as access to the Chinese Super League, but these are basically known to the industry, there will be no more suspense. Clubs are paying more attention to each other, which is the trend of the new season's investment and operation, because it is the foundation and guarantee of the team's personnel adjustment and comprehensive competitiveness. In terms of specific figures of investment, there are no complete statistics yet. Compared with 2023, it is certain that the investment level of Chinese Super League clubs will further shrink in 2024.
Looking back to a few years ago, the "Golden Dollar Era" of the Chinese Super League, drunken cases are still fresh in our minds. Some industry insiders have revealed that there is a mind-boggling example of investing 12 billion yuan in a single season to guarantee a league title. In that kind of megatrend, an investment of 500 million to 600 million yuan was almost the bottom line for a season of relegation. But the madness was followed by the wreckage of a gradual collapse, whereupon the brakes were put on league investment at breakneck speed, and a significant percentage of clubs operated unsustainably, or even simply collapsed and quit. By the 2022 season, all but a few clubs such as Shanghai Port, Shandong Taishan and Wuhan Sanzhen could invest 100 million to 600 million.
In the 2023 season, the investment of Chinese Super League clubs continues to "de-goldenize". The so-called high investment, the actual figure of the target has dropped to about 400 million yuan. By the 2024 season, it is expected that clubs investing around 300 million RMB will have the confidence to compete for the title. Accordingly, it is estimated that there are more than one or two clubs with season budgets below 100 million dollars. Under these circumstances, the total investment of the 16 Chinese Super League clubs in the 2024 season is expected to be under RMB 3 billion, or perhaps even under RMB 2.5 billion. In difficult times, the test is club management and team management ability.
Although the Chinese Super League is still waiting for the arrival of spring, but this time, the Russian Premier League, the news of China's intention to buy the rights to the league, at least shows that the market has been in the right direction, but the domestic platforms have not yet restored confidence in the domestic league, the spring will eventually come. The only thing that Chinese soccer players can do is to continue to be patient and "survive the winter and wait for the spring" with the help of the FA's new policies.
