Li Tao: I had the honor of joining the sports world after graduating from college in 2008
media job and had been in the sports industry for a while by 2014. Coincidentally, Sports Business was also founded in 2014. Not long after its founding, the "No. 46 Document" was released, and SportsBusiness grew up with the new development of China's sports industry.
Zhang Wen: Your experience is typical. 2008 hosted the Beijing Olympic Games.
In the world of sports
Represented by the weekly newspaper, there were many excellent journalists active in the traditional media at that time. Later they each took the road of entrepreneurship.
Ranfeng Luo: I was already considered a part of the sports industry back in 2014 as well. That year was a transition year for me personally, going from being a specialized author to covering more programs.
Zhang Wen: I personally think that the biggest breakthrough of the "No. 46" is the abolition of the approval of commercial and mass sports events, which has led to the rapid development of the sports events market. The most typical example is marathon, after the liberalization of the approval authority, running events have mushroomed, from dozens of events a year to thousands of events a year. In addition to the marathon what other programs have changed the development pattern because of this document.
Marathon becomes a symbolic area for the development of the sports industry
Luo Ranfeng: In the past ten years, I think there are two types of programs besides marathon that have changed dramatically and upwardly. One is the so-called emerging program, represented by e-sports. Over the past ten years, the market's perception of e-sports has been improving, from the past prejudice of "pure game playing" to exploring how to make e-game events absorb the essence of the concept of operation and management from traditional sports, and now more and more people are exploring the future shape of e-sports, focusing on the combination of virtual digital forms and the human body function display of traditional sports, and the direction of combining them. to the future shape of e-sports and the direction of combining virtual and digital forms with the display of human functions in traditional sports. This is a very profound process of ideological transformation.
The other category is the two traditional sports loved by the nation - table tennis and badminton
. Table tennis, in particular, focused on the new trend of niche development that was emphasized by the hosts several times in last year's program, forming a large number of hardcore fans. In retrospect, the first time table tennis hardcore fans focused on unleashing their influence was at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
. Rio Olympics
It happens to be the first Olympics since the release of "Document 46".
, from which a vein of interaction between program development and policy impacts can be seen. Badminton
After the issuance of "Circular 46", more Chinese forces have been involved in the global development of the program.
Li Tao: In this decade, the biggest change in the pattern of China's sports industry is that sports have really entered the lives of the public. After the introduction of the policy, first of all, sports industry practitioners were inspired by it and actively engaged in the development of the entire sports industry. Then more talents entered the industry, so that no matter whether it is sports events, sports brokers, sports marketing, the vitality of all categories of the sports industry surged, and then continuously reached the final consumer side, thus ultimately realizing the entry of sports into the life of the general public and influencing the consumption of the general public on a macro level.
"Chinese Super League
The double-edged sword of capital behind "8 billion bubble
Zhang Wen: Looking back to 2023, many consumer products related to fitness and daily sports have performed well, reflecting the trend of mass sports consumption mentioned by Mr. Li. At the same time, new competitions have emerged over the past decade, and new competitions have bred new stars, alternately stimulating the development of the sports economy. In addition, we still remember the influx of funds in the sports broadcasting market shortly after the release of "Document No. 46", the Chinese Super League (CSL), the Chinese Football League (CFL), the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the Chinese Football Association (CFA).
The rights were sold for an astronomical price of 8 billion dollars. But the astronomical price of the rights soon became a thing of the past, and isn't that sad in retrospect?
Li Tao: Indeed, for me, the most profound impact of this decade is precisely the introduction of the policy of capital into the industry at an incredible speed. In fact, most of the old sports people in the beginning, the operation of capital and financial level do not understand deeply. The original intention of everyone doing sports is relatively simple, is to like sports this thing, do this thing well, after doing a good job there are natural development opportunities.
However, between 2015 and 2017, capital entered the sports industry not only quickly, but also covered a wide range of areas, reaching out to every industry sector. At that time, there were a number of companies that received financing for sports event companies, sports brokerage companies, sports technology companies that made online appointments and booked games, and also sports content startups in the field that Sports Big Business is in. But capital comes in fast and retreats fast, and there have been a lot of capital retreats since the beginning of 2018. It comes and goes in a hurry, which is unexpected.
In retrospect, the rapid influx and withdrawal of capital once brought hope to the development of the sports industry, but in the end it left a lot of regret. Some good enterprises and good projects, because of the injection of large amounts of money, but lost the original good development rhythm, blind expansion, the pursuit of scale effect, but the level of operation and governance is far from the corresponding standard, the capital is brought into the development of not quite adapt to the rhythm of chaos. Now we realize that capital has its own characteristics of operation, requiring returns and exit mechanisms, and the sports industry was not prepared for the entry of a large number of capital. If another wave of capital enters the sports industry now, I believe that sports practitioners will be able to meet it with a better posture and mentality, and will be able to make the combination of company development and capital better, so that the sports industry can go farther.
The entry of capital has made sports attractive to the eye, but it has also brought disturbances
Zhang Wen: Not knowing how to spend money or how to handle the relationship with capital was once a big confusion for sports people. These capital was supposed to help me do something, but in practice it seems to hold me back from doing something, and many people didn't expect this situation. I personally have a deep impression that in 2015 there was a new company that entered the field of copyright, which would bring a team of 100 people to broadcast the Chinese Super League
Match. And then that company dropped out, and another company came in, and probably a lot of people from the 100-person team joined this new company directly. The operators of the rights are moving, the personnel are moving, but in the process, the broadcasting technology of Chinese sports is still on the rise. This can also be said to be a microcosm of the help and constraints of capital.
Luo Ranfeng: The more time passes, the clearer sports people realize the double-edged sword role of capital intervention. Like the host mentioned the sports rights and production of large companies, its legacy to the sports industry is not only a large number of sports broadcasting talent. For consumers, its entry has also brought about huge changes, most typically the breakthrough improvement in the quality of network broadcast images.
Zhang Wen: I graduated from graduate school in 2012, and the topic of my dissertation was to compare the pay-per-view broadcasting systems in China and the UK. At that time, we were still discussing why Chinese people were not willing to pay to watch broadcasts, but after the departure of the broadcasting platforms that came in under the "No. 46 Document," the Chinese market has finally created a demand for paying to watch high-quality broadcasts. This is indeed another major change in the sports industry in the past decade with the involvement of capital.
Li Tao: After the baptism of the "first wave" of capital in China's sports industry, it has gradually returned to a more down-to-earth and grounded state. In the past, we used to sit down and talk about the millions and tens of millions of investment and financing, but now we talk more about how to survive as a sports company. Entrepreneurs in the sports industry will explore their own niche areas, or focus on their own areas of expertise, in which they continue to innovate and provide quality services. The eight immortals to show their skills to improve the future level of business revenue is now the focus of attention.
Sports manufacturing carries $5 trillion burden Fine-tuning deeper into the big business of manufacturing
Zhang Wen: We all feel that sports practitioners have become pragmatic again. For example, the Chinese Super League
The club has gone from relying on blood transfusions from large corporations to being a serious business in 2023, absorbing box office revenues and club spin-off revenues that may have previously been "unappreciated".
Luo Ranfeng: Pragmatism is also reflected in the fact that we are looking farther ahead. When people are only concerned about capital, they may overlook some major development directions. Whether it is related to national strategies, such as the "Belt and Road", or with cutting-edge concepts, such as artificial intelligence, energy saving and low carbon, now everyone's attention to the awareness of a lot more.
Zhang Wen: For the development goal of the sports industry, besides the figurative figure of "5 trillion", there is another very important description - the sports industry will become a pillar industry of the national economy. Pillar industry not only means large volume, but also plays the role of absorbing employment, driving the development of related industries and economic transformation and upgrading. How is the development of sports industry in absorbing employment and driving the development of related industries?
Li Tao: At present, the dominant category of the sports industry is still the sports manufacturing industry. Over the past decade, China's sports manufacturing industry has blossomed in many ways, from the scale expansion and brand upgrading of sports equipment enterprises to the exploration of specialization and specialization in the intelligent and environmentally friendly construction of stadiums, driving the sports manufacturing industry onto a path of high-quality development. The expansion of production by enterprises and the wave of stadium construction spreading across the country have helped to absorb employment, including the supply of a large number of middle- and high-end labor positions in scientific research, publicity, and corporate/project management.
With science and innovation in command, the sports manufacturing industry continues to attract middle- and high-end talents
Mr. Luo Ranfeng: In terms of boosting related industries, a more representative area is sports training. The outstanding contribution of sports training in absorbing employment lies in the fact that sports talents from the professional system have a clearer way out. For example, athletes who have retired from professional teams and sports students trained by sports colleges now have the opportunity to pursue careers outside of the traditional competitive sports arena, and to engage in sports training for a grassroots level and a wider audience. As the road to quality education and campus sports continues to be paved, sports training has become a market of common concern for both the education and sports industries.
However, I think there are still many important areas that are not yet too prominent in terms of driving related industries. For example, sports practitioners are actually very concerned about industry data, and some mathematics majors and modeling talents are very valuable to the sports industry. However, at present, the sports industry does not have a certain number of related talents to join, and there is no sports research report brand that can be consistently and stably released and recognized by the whole industry. It can be seen that the combination of sports and consulting, data analysis and other industries has not yet reached an ideal state.
Zhang Wen: The sports industry, including the attraction of talents, has yet to be guided by more standards. For example, event security, the daily Chinese Super League
China A
What should be the size of the security staff? Is the current security team size saturated or is there a gap? Solving these problems will not only improve our event management capability, but also increase the number of employed people. All in all, the State's consideration of targeting such an important strategic document on the sports industry is very in-depth. Like mass health is also a core concern. What are the outstanding features of the development of mass sports in this decade?
Li Tao: As I mentioned just now, sports have entered the life of the masses, which is the most important point. Then if we look at the industry chain, the development of mass sports actually stimulates the development of more links in the industry chain. The industry chain has become more refined, and valuable segments can be extracted from each project. For example, in the case of soccer events, from security and turf to ballooning needles for a match ball, a huge number of industries are covered behind the scenes. Another example is e-sports, from conventional hardware and peripherals to the emergence of e-sports chairs and e-sports hotels in recent years, behind which is the trend of cross-development of other industries driven by the sports industry as mentioned by the host.
Therefore, in the context of the development of mass sports, the sports industry has become more refined and specialized, which has become the most prominent performance over the years, and at the same time, it will continue to be the trend of the industry's development in the future. Deeply rooted in each segment, there are opportunities to tap into the big business of sports.
The next decade, technology changes the future
Zhang Wen: According to the usual practice of Community programs, after reviewing, it is always necessary to look ahead. However, today's topic is a ten-year review, so to look forward to such a long time span seems to be too heavy for this program. Why don't you two start with your personal thoughts and talk about what areas you will focus on as the new decade of China's sports industry begins?
Tao Li: I am concerned about what other technological products will emerge in the new sports consumer space that will help our sports experience or industry development. How will new technologies empower the sports industry? How can it help the sports industry participate more in the national strategy of Healthy China? How can national health benefit from new sports technology? These are the directions I will always be looking forward to.
Zhang Wen: I think very similar to you. Now there are people doing exercise prescription, and the next ten years is there more technical means, can realize the scientific fine management of exercise and health, can help everyone get better physical skills exercise management program, this is my very concerned area.
Science and technology are the first productive forces
Luo Ranfeng: As the saying goes, "Technology is the first productive force", we all share the same idea of focusing on the change of technology on sports. Therefore, I would like to emphasize the point that I mentioned in the previous programs: the development of science and technology will definitely change the shape of sports at some point. Whether that point of departure is in the next decade, we'll see. If I were to be more practical, I would also focus on the cross-regional development of the sports industry, especially in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, where I am based, and I think it is an attractive topic how the 2025 Fifteen-Year Games will lead to the interaction of the sports resources of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as other kinds of political, economic and cultural resources.
Zhang Wen: Looking back at the data of that year, in 2014, the total size of China's sports industry was 1.3 trillion dollars. The latest figures show that the total size of China's sports industry in 2022 has increased to 3.3 trillion. This is a leapfrog development, showing that sports is indeed continuing to realize its potential. Dear sports industry practitioners, we always believe that tomorrow will be better. In the next decade, China's sports industry and Chinese sports people continue to cheer. Thank you both for joining us at the first edition of Community 2024, and we'll see you again next time!
