iQiyi Sports lands Premier League rights, Beijing Olympics venues near completion, BVB concludes another successful virtual China tour, IOC wants spectators in Beijing, Tencent buys Sumo for US$1.3B, and a deep dive into the popular Xiaohongshu. In this week’s From The Top, Grace Li, Head of Communications Asia Pacific at Evonik, talks about partnering with BVB for its China summer virtual tour, standout collaborations in recent years, and taking the partnership beyond football.

Chelsea Football Club has announced Zapp as its official European on-demand convenience and grocery delivery partner.

Endeavor China acquires Mailman Group, Zhou Guanyu makes F1 debut, Suning sells ecommerce stake, NBA and Tencent Music collaborate, China eyes record Olympics attendance, Tencent applies Midnight Patrol, Didi removed from Chinese stores as shares fall 20%. In this week’s From The Top, Zhou Guanyu, Chinese racing driver, spoke to us about his F1 debut, career path, F1’s popularity in China, his own impact in his home country, and handling expectations.

Soccerex is delighted to announce a global partnership with a new Platinum Partner: fan token & fan engagement platform, Socios.com, official partner to 40+ leading global sports organisations including football giants FC Barcelona, Manchester City, París Saint-Germain, Juventus, AC Milan, Atletico de Madrid, AS Roma and Galatasaray, as well as the national teams of Argentina and Portugal, among many others.

Women’s Sports Group (WSG) is delighted to announce that Steph Harries has been appointed Managing Director from September 2021. Harries is currently Controller of Production, BBC Sport. She has 20 years experience working in senior roles at DAZN and the Perform Group as well as Sunset + Vine and North One Television and Sky Sports. She has production, commercial, financial and technical expertise with broad experience of negotiating and building strategic partnerships with broadcasters, federations, Government, rights holders and platforms to extract value and build engagement.

ESC MADRID: THE SPORTS AND EDUCATION COMPLEX IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LALIGA AND THE NBA

Headlines: Beijing Hockey Association and NHL deliver masterclass, Nike remains bullish on China, domestic brands capitalise on home advantage, Endeavor China announces new CEO, CSL confirms return, Didi hails IPO. In this week’s From The Top, Xing He, Deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Ice Hockey Association, talks about collaborating with the NHL, the importance of ball hockey, the Winter Olympics impact, and how to ensure a successful future for the sport.

English Legend Eniola Aluko Brings a Wealth of Professional Experience From Across the Pond Following a Successful Tenure as Director of Women’s Football at Aston Villa FC.

Soccerex team up with Samba Digital’s Sports Translate for the upcoming Soccerex Connected 100 event this summer, who come on board as the Official Language Services Partner. The virtual event, which takes place from 24th May to 31st August 2021, will involve delegates from over 100 countries, feature over 150 expert speakers and provide more than 2400 hours of networking opportunities to connect businesses with football’s key stakeholders.

NHL delivers online Street Hockey Program, the CFA plans China Youth League, Suncan and Harbin Sport University collaborate, Hisense kicks off EURO 2020 campaign, a China digital landscape mega-guide, tech giants bet on electric car market. In this week’s From The Top we spoke with Jason Howarth, VP of Marketing at Panini America, about Panini America’s partnership with the UFC, engaging with the NFL Draft, growing the business in China, and priorities moving forward.