In the face of the National Football Association and the CFF Preparatory Group issued the salon wage arrears settlement and penalties, the National Football League in the clubs are facing a major challenge: how to ensure that the daily operation of the premise, to pay off the debt accumulated in 2022? This issue is like a boulder in the heart of the unpaid clubs. Despite the clamor for equity reform, even Cangzhou Lions and Henan Songshan Longmen, which have already completed the reform, are still not progressing as well as expected. In this context, the clubs are eager to seek new ways of income in the business field, at least do not repeat the losses in 2021.
In the past, Chinese Super League clubs relied heavily on end-of-season dividends for their income. In its heyday, the rights to the Chinese Super League were sold at a sky-high price of 8 billion dollars over five years, and the clubs' annual dividends could once reach 60 or 70 million dollars. Although this figure seemed insignificant at the time, but now has become a life-saving straw. However, for 2020, the average seasonal dividend allocated to clubs by Chinese Super League companies is only 7 million, only one-tenth of the previous year. And last season, the figure dropped even further to a small few million. The sharp decline in the main source of income, so that some small and medium-sized clubs can only rely on the parent company blood transfusion to maintain operations, a variety of salary arrears phenomenon is endless.
One of the main reasons for the continued shrinkage of the Super League dividend in 2021 is the frequent schedule changes. Inevitably, sponsors' enthusiasm has been dampened by the fact that only 22 of the original 30 rounds of the Super League have been played in order to make way for the Top 12 tournament. For the clubs, the reduction from 30 rounds to 22 rounds meant that sponsors lost the exposure of 8 matches. As we all know, the Chinese Super League has adopted the match system in the past two years, which makes it difficult for clubs to organize offline business, fan and charity activities, and even public training has become a luxury. As a result, the exposure opportunities for club sponsors are mainly focused on the stadium billboards, and the original plan to reduce the number of exposures by 8, which will undoubtedly affect the enthusiasm of sponsors to invest, and even lead them to no longer consider the cooperation in 2022, which is undoubtedly a disaster for many small and medium-sized clubs. Therefore, the new season of the Chinese Super League organization, according to the reporter, the call to play a full 34 rounds is even stronger than the restoration of home and away.
Another reason for the demand to play a full double round robin and the firm resistance to a single round robin lies in the distribution of billboards at the stadium. Even with the adoption of the match system in the last two years, the distribution of billboards for a single match in the Chinese Super League is still categorized by the home team, the visiting team, and the league official. Comparatively speaking, the official sponsors of the Chinese Super League are in a better position, scrolling on the LED display for a longer period of time, followed by the home team, while the visiting team is at the end. However, if the double round-robin system cannot be completed, the clubs as the away team will lose a lot. Of course, in the view of some small and medium-sized clubs, the biggest exposure pathway for club sponsors is still television broadcasting, especially CCTV. Although online video platforms and sports apps have joined the battle for rights in recent years, their appeal to local sponsors is really limited. "Many corporate bosses still only recognize CCTV, but if the league shrinks and fails to play a full round, the number of live broadcasts will naturally drop, advertising output will be impossible to talk about, and the club's open source for the coming year will also be greatly affected." A northern club executives told reporters.
Of course, in the view of the National Football Association and the preparatory group of the Chinese Football League, how to increase the value of copyright is a key area in the fight for salvation. 2021, the video rights of the Chinese Super League completed the distribution, from one to two. And according to the relevant person in charge of the new season, the sale of copyright is expected to increase another 1-2, while increasing cooperation on content output. It is understood that this week, the Chinese Super League company will also allocate a few million copyright dividends, "although it may be just a drop in the bucket, but for the daily operation of some clubs, it can still play a certain degree of help."
In addition to the two points mentioned above, there is a rescue plan to restore home and away games. Since the tournament system, many clubs' offline business and fan events have ceased to exist, and this, coupled with the zeroing out of ticket revenues, has had a huge impact on their own marketing. Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chengdu, on the other hand, have already begun building new stadiums for the 2023 Asian Cup, and deserve a booming market. On this issue, some smaller clubs envy Wuhan and Hangzhou, which may host the first stage of the new season, "If they can host it at home, they have the opportunity to try offline, and they are in a position to fight for open source. What about us? This year's business development how to do? I'm afraid we still have to rely on the parent company blood transfusion to maintain the most basic operations ......"
