Chinese video streaming service PPTV will pay $700M for the right to broadcast English Premier League football in China, according to Simon Chadwick of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Yet it is PPTV's part-owner, the Suning Commerce Group that is "of particular interest, both for the way in which it has rapidly become an influential player in football and for the way in which it characterises the importance of corporate China in the country's pursuit of its vision for sport." Listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in '04, SCG is now not only "one of China's biggest" companies, it is also recognized by Forbes magazine as being "amongst the biggest companies in the world:" SCG's market capitalization is $12.6B, has sales of $21.5B, and employs 25,000 people. Rumors have also circulated this year that "SCG has considered a bid for Stellar, the football agency business whose clients include Gareth Bale." In addition, the company paid $407M for the right to broadcast La Liga games in China for five seasons. The global mega-corporation that SCG is becoming is "probably what President Xi had in mind when he launched China's vision for sport" at the end of '14. SCG's rise "from sporting anonymity to global football influencer" has taken place at "breathtaking speed." Yet such rapid growth "should not be a surprise," as the experiences of other industrial sectors have demonstrated over the last two decades. Typically, a state edict in China serves as a "rallying call to private industry that it should engage in activities consistent with the national interest." China's "drive towards becoming a football superpower" is reminiscent too of its desire to build integrated industrial supply chains, which enables the country and its businesses to exert control at all levels of production. As football and the world of business in general ponder such matters, "it is important to remember that SCG is not alone in its pursuit of broader commercial and political goals through football." Another Chinese business, Wanda Corp., is a further example of this, its portfolio characterized by a "relentless pursuit of investment properties" that align the organization's involvement in the sports and entertainment industries (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 11/21).
