Spanish football is "battling its English rival for supremacy in China," which has developed a "big-spending appetite" for the world’s most popular sport, according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. The country of almost 1.4 billion people is in the midst of a football "gold rush," and foreign leagues and federations are "striving to tap into the boom in search of new fans and revenue." The "chief target" of the Spanish and English competitions is to be the "second-most watched league in the country behind the local Chinese Super League." There is "probably only enough room for one competitor to the CSL," according to Sergi Torrents, La Liga's representative in China. Torrents said, "Our challenge here is to be No. 2 -- we are all competing to get market share." He added that while there is going to be a second-most popular league, "the third one will have very limited interest, and the fourth one: forget about it." Torrents and La Liga "put down roots" in China with an office in Shanghai. Cracking the Chinese market is not "as easy as just turning up." The Premier League had a "false start" when it sold its TV rights to the highest bidder, as viewers in large parts of the country were not able to watch games. Its current partner, Super Sports Media, agreed to sub-license matches to a "mix of paid-for and free networks, including CCTV 5, the only free, nationwide channel" (BLOOMBERG, 6/26).
