Business Cooperations

Business Cooperations

Football, also called soccer, is one of the most popular sports in the world. Its position as one of the major international sports is not only unchallenged, its dominance is even growing since new markets are being tapped in Asia and North America. In this regard, China is one of the most promising markets. China is not known for its football excellence. However, in recent years, extraordinary developments occurred in Chinese football. For instance, during the transfer periods in 2016, Chinese football clubs have spent in total over $450 million on international transfers compared to $168.3 million in 2015, according to a FIFA subsidiary report. Several star players under contract at European top clubs were transferred to China for breathtaking amounts. Moreover, Chinese investors started to invest heavily into shares of European top-tier clubs or acquired them altogether, such as the emblematic pair of Internazionale Milan and AC Milan, as well as football-related service companies (e.g. Infront Sports & Media AG). It is worth to take a closer look at the activities of some large-scale Chinese investors since they have a considerable impact on the commercialisation of Chinese and world football.