Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande's Asian Football Confederation Champions League victory over the weekend "attracted the largest TV audience for a sporting event in China this year, with an average audience totalling over 30 million watching" as coach Marcello Lippi's side edged out K League Classic FC Seoul, according to XINHUA. The match "drew an average audience of 23.68 million viewers on CCTV-5." In total, the 2013 AFC Champions League "has achieved a combined average rating of 280 million, with a combined reach of 1.37 billion." AFC General Secretary Dato' Alex Soosay said, "The final of the AFC Champions League is the pinnacle of club football in Asia and these record TV audience figures highlight the popularity of the competition and the desire for fans to watch in ever increasing numbers." With the game also reaching a total audience of 68.19 million on CCTV-5, "the total reach for the second leg of the final across all channels was nearly 120 million." Guangdong Satellite, meanwhile, "generated an average reach of 2.11 million, with a total reach of 36 million; while Guangdong Sports drew an average audience of 3.03 million with a total reach of close to 10 million" (XINHUA, 11/13).
