Sport
is quite a
good way
to enter
the
Chinese
market
“
”
THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 2 2013
|
31
he major platform
for Infront China is
basketball, we are in
charge of the whole
marketing for the
CBALeague. Having
been Head of Sports
at big sports broadcasters in China
makes it a bit easier to negotiate with
the now Head of Sport of CCTV
and the local sports channels. But I
also know that they have similar
limitations as I did in the past. The
budget is not decided by each head.
China’s sports broadcasters donʹt
face the same competitive situation
as in the UK and America for
example – they donʹt have to fight
to get the rights. So if you have
only one buyer who wants the TV
rights you cannot increase the
rights fee much. Normally revenue
from TV rights should account for
50% of total income but in China
for the domestic sports itʹs between
five and 10%. We need to make up
the difference from sponsorship.
Is sponsorship increasing?
For some categories, yes. In 2012 we
brokered a historic 5‐year major
sponsorship deal for the CBA with
the worldʹs third largest sports
apparel company Li Ning. But
across the board sponsorship
increases every year maybe by 5 or
10%. Sponsors need good events as
a platform so itʹs important to
enhance the properties that we own
and at the same time look for new
events to add to our properties.
Do you produce for CCTV?
As a foreign company, Infront
(China) does not have a licence to
do productions. So for example for
the CBA League we own the rights
but we need to sub‐license a local
company to produce the signal. But
Infront (China) write the rulebook
to guarantee the production
standard. Almost 2/3 of all sports
production is now in HD. In the
last season of the CBA League,
CCTV and other TV stations
produced some matches in 3D but
this was only a test.
What about other sports?
Soccer is the number one sport in
China, next to basketball. In the
past, Infront (China) owned the
marketing rights of the Chinese
soccer national team. Because of the
teamʹs poor performance it was
decided to terminate the
relationship. Now we continue to
talk with the football associations to
see what we can do. We are looking
for new things every day.
The sport market in China is not
as varied as in Europe or the US.
There is only one national channel
for sports, CCTV 5, which transmits
to cable operators but the cost for
each subscribing household is
minimal. There is no real
broadcasting competition which
means for quite a number of
sporting events you cannot find the
broadcaster to air them, and that
makes it difficult to find a sponsor.
We have tried to bring famous
sporting personalities to China and
the spectators love it but to get to
break‐even for these events takes
maybe three to five years, too long.
What about local channels?
Compared with CCTV 5 the local
channels only take a very small
share of the market. Mostly they
own the rights with the local club,
for soccer, basketball, also
volleyball and table tennis. As for
international events, they own the
Premier League, part of the Italian
soccer league and the Bundesliga,
thatʹs all.
How successful is sport on digital?
The national broadcaster CCTV
owns two digital sports channels.
Some of the local TV stations do as
well. On the web, on sohu.com for
example and on youku.com, the
YouTube equivalent, you find a
number of sports, also from
overseas. Sport online is more
popular than the digital channels
on TV. But I donʹt believe they have
found a reliable way to get their
investment back. Like on TV, they
show ads before and after the live
coverage but ads on the website are
cheaper whereas they have to pay
more for the rights.
Can you help foreign companies?
Foreign companies need a bridge to
connect with the market in China.
Sport is quite a good way to enter
that market. If we look at
basketball, we have a number of
foreign companies sponsoring the
CBA League, UPS or Konica
Minolta for example. As a company
we are able to do the research on
TV ratings etc and we introduce
their product.
And the outlook?
Later this year CCTV is launching a
second sports channel in HD. But
there are not many who can watch in
HD at present. For digital platforms
in China to take off more content is
needed and a better wifi environment,
but thatʹs happening now.
Mr. Ma, thank you.
Ma Guoli is one of the most
experienced sports broadcasters in
China and a veteran of Olympic
reporting. A journalist at CCTV
since 1982, he served as COO of
Beijing Olympic Broadcasting Co
before joining Infront Sports &
Media (China) in 2009. Swiss-
based Infront is a specialist in the
distribution of media rights to all
broadcast media and fully owns
Host Broadcast Services (HBS).
As CEO and MD of Infront's
Chinese subsidiary, Ma Guoli
works closely with the regional
broadcast channels to enhance the
quality of the CBA League’s TV
product – we spoke to him about
the task and the challenges
MARKETINGSPORT INCHINA
T
www.infrontsports.com
