When the phantom of "Golden Dollar Football" dissipated, the situation of the Chinese Super League became more and more difficult. Many clubs have left the game in disgrace, players' salaries are in arrears, and league sponsorship is scarce... Confidence in the Chinese Super League continues to decline. However, the recent change of the wind clouds, a piece of news shocked the industry: China successfully won the broadcasting rights of the Russian Premier League. Recently, the chairman of the Russian Super League, Mr. Araev, revealed in an interview that "a Chinese party has offered to buy the rights of our league, but we have not yet responded."
Alayev revealed that the current situation in the Russian Premier League has improved and there are some other positive signs. "Some friendly countries have provided some support. Although it is not exciting, a year ago their interest in this field was almost zero, so it can be seen as a bottoming out and hopefully some cooperation will be reached. These countries have a lot of players playing in the Russian Premier League, as well as from wealthy countries in the East. While some are willing to invest $50,000-100,000 per season, which is better than nothing, there are some things that are more important than the offer, such as positioning, highlights, and platform."
In an interview, Alayev said that Chinese fans' love for soccer is self-evident. They are not only obsessed with the Premier League. "I think Chinese players are also capable of playing in the Russian Premier League. Some people have offered to buy the broadcasting rights, but we have not yet accepted the offer because I think it should be a long-term cooperation and China is trying to convince 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 to us. At the moment Russian supermarkets are only broadcasting in our neighborhood, but now other countries are gradually becoming interested in us, and people have come to us in Italy looking for cooperation. They want to provide statistical data services, and another European equipment manufacturer has also expressed interest in cooperation."
It is reported that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has announced that the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season will start on March 1 next year. Although the outside world is still waiting for more accurate information, such as the qualification for admission to the Chinese Super League, these are basically the consensus of the industry, the suspense is no longer. Clubs are more concerned about each other, which is the trend of the new season investment and operation, because this is the team personnel adjustment and comprehensive competitiveness of the foundation and guarantee. In terms of the specific figures of investment, it has not yet been fully counted. Compared with 2023, there is no doubt that the investment level of Chinese Super League clubs in 2024 will further decline.
Looking back a few years ago, the "golden dollar era" of the Chinese Super League, those staggering cases are still fresh in our minds. Some industry insiders revealed that there was once a jaw-dropping example of investing 12 billion yuan in a single season to guarantee the league title. In that general trend, 500 million to 600 million yuan investment is almost the bottom line of the season relegation. However, the madness was followed by a gradual collapse of the wreckage, whereupon the brakes were quickly put on league investment 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 have invested between 100 million and 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 league rights, at least shows that the market has been in the right direction, but the domestic platform of the domestic league's confidence has not yet been restored, the spring will come. For the Chinese soccer players, the only thing they can do now is to continue to patiently "survive the winter and wait for the spring" with the help of various new policies from the FA.
