The year 2023 can be considered a stormy one for the Chinese soccer world. A series of frustrating results have not only revealed many problems with the team's technical and tactical skills, but also corruption at the coaching, coaching staff, league managers, FA executives and even higher levels. The poor soccer environment has become an indisputable fact and has become a shackle restricting the progress of the national soccer team.
However, it's not just the fans who are disappointed. The implementation of the neutral name policy has forced investors to pull out in droves, which has hurt teams. According to the 21st Century Business Herald, since professionalization in 1994, at least 95 clubs in China at regional and various levels have announced their dissolution, 44 of which have been gone for nearly five years. Sadly, the implementation of the new policy has led to the exit of at least 25 clubs from the scene, even including the current season's champions.
After the previous team was "swept out", criticism of the new policy became the consensus of the industry. Eventually, Song Kai took over and announced adjustments, and the new policy was released on January 3rd through an official announcement. Ironically, it has been less than two years since the last new policy was released.
The new policy focuses on three major issues: team naming, relocation and foreign aid registration. Of these, team naming has certainly received a lot of attention. In short, the new policy requires that the neutral name policy continues, but companies are allowed to be named. The general format will be "club name + title + team", with corporate and brand name options for the "title". This policy will continue until 2024-2028.
There is no doubt that the new policy stems from financial pressure and its aim is to attract funds. When wage arrears and funding become the key words of the league, the retreat of sponsors and the disinterest of players are inevitable. Theoretically, 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.
However, compared to the $40 million/team level during the Golden Era, the average split for Chinese Super League teams in the 2023 season has dropped to less than $8 million, posing a huge challenge to the survival of clubs. The CFA has specified a bonus of 3 million RMB per CSL win, meaning a split of less than three wins would be pathetic.
The re-entry of sponsors will undoubtedly bring relief. However, the question is, how much relief can we get and when? It is a well-known fact that soccer is an expensive sport. Especially nowadays, when venue costs, labor costs and turnover costs are constantly rising, I am afraid that a "high-priced naming fee" of RMB 100 or 200 million is not very useful. However, it is impossible for companies to offer too high a price, so this cold winter can only be spent with a drop in the bucket; it is estimated that how to survive after the spring is still a problem.
A great game depends not only on the support of sponsors, but also on the team's own operation and ability to pay. Not to mention top leagues like EPL and La Liga, the actual situation of the surrounding J. and K leagues is much better than ours. Spectator support, excellent performance of players, and good results in intercontinental matches all attract high prices from sponsors. The 102nd Japanese high school soccer tournament attracted 10+ top European scouts to watch. Imagine the considerable help even with a 10% success rate!
But this cannot be promoted by a few "policies" alone.
