Guo Guangchang has joined the "growing ranks of Chinese billionaires making major investments in sports," according to Doug Young of EJ INSIGHT. In this case, Guo is teaming up with Portuguese "super broker" Gestifute, which is led by football agent Jorge Mendes. Gestifute's main business is "engineering the deals" that allow European players to move from one football club to another. This particular deal is "just the latest by some of China’s richest men and biggest private companies, which have suddenly discovered a huge appetite for all things sports." Previous investors in the growing trend include Alibaba Founder Jack Ma and Wanda Group Chair Wang Jianlin, "two of the country’s wealthiest individuals." They also have been joined by a "growing number" of entertainment-related companies such as online video firm LeTV and electronics retailer Suning, which also owns a major online video site. Two things are "driving this recent move into sports, one economic and the other more political." On the economic front, investors like Ma, Wang and LeTV are "searching for exclusive content to put on their online video sites which are vying with one another" for China’s growing audience that watches "most of their video" on the Internet. On the political front, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said publicly that he "wants to build a stronger sports culture in China to improve the country’s national teams" in sports like football. According to the latest reports, Guo has signed a deal with Gestifute to "set up a sports brokerage for the trading of athletes between sports clubs in China." Guo "undoubtedly sees a business opportunity in helping to broker the movement of players between teams," which is a "hugely lucrative business" in big markets like the U.S. and Europe (EJ INSIGHT, 1/19).
