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Alibaba Aims To Transform Chinese Sports Market, Help Bring World Cup

Alibaba "transformed China’s e-commerce market in becoming the country’s most well-known company," according to James Porteous of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Now it "aims to do the same with sport" -- and perhaps help deliver the World Cup to President Xi Jinping along the way. The firm launched Alisports in September. CEO Zhang Dazhong said that he "plans to cash in on China's nascent sports market," which has been forecast by the government's state council to grow to 5T yuan ($76B) by '25. The government has "declared sport as the next driver of economic growth and companies are rushing to stake their claim." Meanwhile, football fan Xi has declared that China "must qualify for a World Cup, host one and win one." Dazhong said, "Now of course the government has unleashed entrepreneurs to have this power in the market, I believe more entrepreneurs like Alibaba will make their presence felt. As you know the consumption power in China is huge and gigantic -- the consumption of sport is about to burst in China." Alisports was set up "with Alibaba as majority owner alongside Sina and Yunfeng Capital," an investment firm owned by Alibaba Chair Jack Ma Yun. They "aim to be the go-to provider of web-shops, profile sites, etc. for global sports stars and teams aiming to connect with those millions of consumers." And they said that they will "bring major events to China and set up modern ticketing systems." Zhang also met with football "super-agent" Jorge Mendes and his client Jose Mourinho in Shanghai last month "to discuss partnerships." Perhaps the "first fruit" was seen on Wednesday when Mendes client Jackson Martinez signed for Guangzhou Evergrande -- half-owned by Alibaba -- in a record €42M ($47M) deal. Chinese firms have "recently been buying stakes in European clubs." Zhang said that Alisports would "probably prefer to sponsor or brand a big league as a whole." Zhang: "It's not our direction to buy a club or team, but to create a platform for clubs and teams" (SCMP, 2/4).

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