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European Clubs See Opportunity To Win Favor With Sponsors, Fans In China

Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu is "out to impress" China President Xi Jinping as Barcelona "joins a lengthening list of European football clubs investing in China" to help fulfill Xi's "ambitious plans for a sporting revolution," according to Ben Bland of the FINANCIAL TIMES. On a recent trip to China to open a €4M ($4.3M) complex featuring a football school, Barcelona shop and fan zone in Hainan, Bartomeu said, "One of his big projects is to expand football in China. This is our little help to this big project." Xi wants to turn the world’s most populous nation into a "football power." By supporting his aims, European football clubs "hope to win favour with sponsors and fans in China, helping them boost long-term revenues as intense competition for the best players pushes wage bills ever higher." Other clubs expanding in China in recent months include Bundesliga sides Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Man City and ManU. Chinese marketing agency Mailman Group Senior Client Manager Tom Elsden said, "Clubs have realized that they need to be out here in China, not just on social media and e-commerce platforms. We're in the middle of the football revolution, so expect the top European clubs to be more aggressive than ever." Wolfsburg Managing Dir Thomas Röttgermann said that 16% of the club's sponsorship revenues already come from outside Germany, "the bulk of that from China." City Football Group CCO Tom Glick spends one week a month in China "leveraging" Chinese media tycoon Li Ruigang’s connections to win more sponsors. He is targeting Chinese companies that "want to go global." CFG will also consider acquiring a club in the "fast-growing" Chinese Super League. Glick said, "There is nothing imminent but in the medium or long term, this is something that is very interesting to us" (FT, 4/22).

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