?️ Top Industry News

Local Governments to Rescue Struggling Football Teams
Governments at the city or provincial level are reportedly considering taking minority stakes in Chinese Super League teams. Support will vary depending on the specific political and financial situations, which could come in before the end of 2021. Read more on Bloomberg (English) and Tencent (Chinese)

PSG Invites Jay Chou to Parc des Princes
The famous Chinese pop star was invited to PSG’s home for their match against Lyon. The club leveraged this offline activation with a series of digital content including a meet & greet with the players, votes on the most popular Jay Chou song and gifting the celebrity with a home jersey. Read more on Sohu (Chinese)

? Mailman Take: The super celebrity’s presence at the match was successfully leveraged by the club who saw record engagement across all their social channels. PSG was the #1 most engaged on Weibo over the last 7 days with over 60% higher engagement than second place. It goes to show that football has a lot of work to do to catch up with the furor surrounding music & entertainment celebrities.

China’s 14th National Games Takes Centre Stage
China welcomed 12K+ athletes, 4.2K technical officials and 1.5K media representatives to China’s 14th National Games. This year’s event provides athletes and media with a newly built National Games Village that has 56 buildings, 2.9K rooms and 12.1K beds. Over 7K volunteers, medical workers, and security staff from the organising committee help ensure smooth daily operations in the village. Read more on China Daily (English) and People‘s Daily (Chinese)

? Mailman Take: An important opportunity for China to prove it can run a large-scale sports event ahead of the country’s biggest global sporting show since 2008, against the backdrop of COVID-19. So far, the results are promising.

Chinese Business View & MLB First Pitch Opening Ceremony Held In Xi’an

As part of China’s Double Reduction policy, Chinese Business View and MLB jointly launched MLB First Pitch, providing baseball classes and equipment for free to more than 20 primary and secondary schools in Xi’an. Read more on Toutiao (Chinese)

Beijing Winter Olympics Reveals Slogan
The official motto ‘Together for a Shared Future’ was announced at the Capital Museum, coinciding with the 140-day countdown to the opening of the Winter Olympics on February 4. The slogan, which was originally picked from 79 submissions from Chinese universities, was then cut down to 11 options, which were then presented to the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee. Read more on SCMP (English) and Xinhua (Chinese)

2022 Winter Olympic Posters Unveiled
The posters were unveiled at the opening ceremony of Beijing Design Week on September 22. Olympic posters are one of the important visual elements of the Games’ brand and image, which consist of three sets with six images. Read more on China Daily (English) and People’s Daily (Chinese)

Mid-Autumn Celebrations – Creative Highlights

David Beckham – celebrated the festival through David making a handcrafted lantern and speaking in Mandarin.
BVB – and their mascot Emma wished their fans a happy festival.
BWF – silhouettes of key international and Chinese players featured in this celebratory graphic, highlighting the moon and promoting the upcoming Sudirman Cup.
Chelsea – key elements of Chelsea FC were combined with elements of the festival such as the moon, mooncakes and rabbits.
Evil Geniuses – developed a unique illustration and also offered their fans a team jersey.
FIFA – celebrated with their Chinese FIFA Fan Movement members, featuring 60+ members from FIFA’s global football fan community.
Juventus – launched a campaign inviting fans to share stories about going home.
Man Utd – re-live nine classic goal GIFs, each featuring a goal graphic with the ball on screen being turned into a full moon.
MLB – launched the “Mid-Autumn Festival Home Run Derby” to encourage fans to guess which player successfully hit the ball to the moon.
NFL – combined the full moon element with catching a football, whilst inviting fans to share their most incredible catches.
NHL – combined mooncake elements with hockey, including a giant rabbit, which is considered to be the symbol of the moon and Mid-Autumn festival.
Panini – many of the newly drafted NBA rookies wished a Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to followers in China.
PSG – unique animation video around the story of the festival as well as a video from the players in Chinese.
Sevilla – celebrated the festival with their Chinese fans through a series of Mid-Autumn riddles and a key visual.
Tottenham Hotspur – celebrated the festival with their first team player Tang Jiali who wished the fans a happy holiday in Chinese.
US Open – replaced the key element of the moon with a tennis ball outline, with two rabbits featured in front.
WTT – table tennis elements were incorporated into the image through a table tennis bat, merged alongside key elements of the festival, the moon and the rabbit.

? Esports

How China’s New Regulations will Impact the Esports Industry
New strict gaming regulations are set to have a noticeable impact across esports, globally. Mailman esports consultant Eddie Chen explores the potential impact, both good and bad. Read the blog here (English)

? Opinion

China Keeps COVID-19 at Bay at High Cost Ahead of Olympics
The Associated Press has done a deep dive into the measures China is taking to ensure COVID-19 cases remain minimal ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Read more on AP (English)

With Kris Wu & Other Idols Tainted, What’s Luxury’s Next China Strategy?
Considering that the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games are around the corner, and with the government promoting sports and exercise, selecting party-approved celebrity athletes is a smart strategic move. Jing Daily explores more (English)

?️ Other News

Douyin Limits Under-14s to 40 Minutes Per Day
The ByteDance-owned short video platform has followed in the footsteps of the gaming industry by dramatically limiting the time allowed on the app to just 40 minutes per day for children under the age of 14. The app’s ‘youth mode’ keeps it in line with the Chinese government’s new restrictions on access to video games for younger children. Teens under 14 will be able to access Douyin between 6am and 10pm. Read more on BBC (English) and People’s Daily (Chinese)

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Headquartered in Shanghai, China, Mailman is a global sports digital consultancy and agency. We help the world’s leading sports organisations serve their audiences and build their businesses. With over 200 experts across China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the US, we specialise in digital strategy, transformation, social media, content production and eCommerce. Mailman is part of 160/90, an Endeavor company. Learn more about our story here.