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CHINA SPORTS BUSINESS WEEKLY: TENCENT & CSL AGREE MEDIA RIGHTS DEAL

Making headlines this week: Tencent acquires domestic rights for the CSL, MediaPro Asia to land CSL global rights distribution tender, China’s women’s national football team qualifies for Tokyo Olympics, Beijing 2022 test events celebrate 300-day countdown, Bilibili signs exclusive partnership with Activision Blizzard & nets broadcast rights to Overwatch League, and Alibaba accepts record US$2.8B fine.

Tencent Agrees to Three-Year Media Rights Deal with the CSL
The non-exclusive deal will see the Chinese Super League (CSL) broadcast across all Tencent’s digital platforms, including Tencent Sports and Tencent Video. SportsMoney has reported the deal to be worth around US$36.7M for the three years, a notable decrease from the previous deal with PP Sports which was reportedly US$146M per season. Read more on SportBusiness (English) and SportsMoney (Chinese)

Mailman Take: No longer simply the home of U.S. sports in China, Tencent has started investing in football properties and taking advantage of the mess left by PP Sports. It also signifies a positive step for the CSL following months of negative news and financial problems. The CSL’s previous two digital media rights partnerships in China with LeSports and PP Sports ended on bad terms, we expect this one to fare better.

MediaPro Asia to Land International CSL Media Rights Distribution Deal
The deal is reportedly being finalised for the Chinese Super League (CSL) international media rights for the three seasons from 2021 to 2023. The deal will cover exclusive media rights for the football league in all territories outside China and Macau. Read more on SportBusiness (English) and Dongqiudi (Chinese)

Mailman Take: A tough task awaits MediaPro Asia to market the league’s media rights globally, with the glitz and glamour of the CSL having faded following an exodus of international stars and heavy salary caps implemented, not to mention reigning champions Jiangsu F.C. now ceasing to exist.

China’s Women’s National Football Team Reaches the Tokyo Olympics
The Steel Roses qualified for the Tokyo Olympics following a close-fought victory against South Korea. Former PSG striker and Wuhan native Wang Shuang scored the extra-time winner, leading to an outpouring of joy and emotion from Chinese netizens on social media. Read more on Yahoo! (English) and Xinhua (Chinese)

Mailman Take: A historic and very important moment for Chinese football which will bring hundreds of millions to follow the women’s national football team in Tokyo this summer. Social media was awash with praise, with the hashtag #ChinaQualifiedForTokyo2020# generating 780M impressions and 209K discussions on Weibo, becoming the #1 trending topic on the platform that night.

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