Euro 2016 "ignited fund inflows into the sports sector," according to Laura He of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. With Chinese companies on a recent shopping spree for global sports assets, analysts expect to see an "increasing trend of capital rushing into the sector to capture business opportunities and perhaps make political gains." As of the end of last week, the CSI Sport Industry Index, which measures the performance of sporting goods and content distribution-related stocks, had gained 1.5% "over the previous four weeks, outperforming the Shanghai benchmark index." Ping An Securities analyst Lin Juan: "The European Championship has marked the start of a sports feast this summer, followed by the Chinese Super League, the Olympics, and the qualification games for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Asia. We expect the heat to continue rising in the sports sector." Zhong Qi, an analyst for Haitong Securities, also said the sports sector is seeing “accelerated” capital inflows. He said, “Chinese companies are on an acquisition spree in sports assets." The boom in sports investment by Chinese companies "may be due to both business and political reasons." Zhong: “The push for sports investment comes from the top. Beijing is calling on private capital to invest in the sector” (SCMP, 6/21).
