Scoring on China's Sports fields

The Beijing Olympics are just over two years away, and it is not just athletes and the Chinese public that are building up to a sporting frenzy. Away from the playing fields, swimming pools and sports tracks, teams of highly-trained marketing executives from many of the world's biggest companies are pushing their bodies to the limit in search of the big prize - China's potential 1.3 billion consumers. China's rapid economic growth is also driving up living standards and disposable incomes, particularly in urban areas. The build-up to the Beijing games is seeing China become more sports conscious, with increased television coverage of activities including football, table tennis, badminton, motor racing, volleyball and basketball.

Companies are looking for partnerships with sporting events or competitors - and other ways of getting greater access to a more affluent generation of Chinese sports fans. However, whether it be sporting event organisers, teams or businesses looking to crack the market, there are a number of things for investors to bear in mind to avoid getting a rude awakening. Finding a successful Chinese strategy can be hard, as Manchester United found when it was forced to close some of its sports cafes, or Australia's V8 super car racing discovered when it picked the wrong local partner.

Adapted from BBC Business News - July 2006

chinese translation | japanese translation | korean translation