China companies help European Cup revenue of 2 billion euros, leveraging the marketing of sports products

From event operations, commercial sponsorship, event broadcasting to derivative development and sales, and ticketing... off-site "competitions" have long been quietly unfolding in many fields. From the perspective of merchants, the sports industry represented by football is connected to an entire industrial chain, and every link in this industrial chain contains business opportunities.

Original title: The European Cup in summer has become popular "fan economy"

On June 12, Zhejiang Shaoxing Xiangying Textile Factory displayed the national flag sewn by workers. Data shows that at the opening of the European Cup, Alibaba International conducted more than 10,000 searches on European Cup related products, and more than 7000 inquiries. A large number of European Cup accessory products were exported from Zhejiang, Guangzhou, Fujian and other provinces to all parts of the world.

Once every four years, with the European Cup kicking off, this world's second-largest football event, which is claimed to be second only to the World Cup, not only attracted the attention of fans, but also affected the nerves of businesses and capital markets. It was accompanied by a gradually warming up "football economy".

The "China element" in the European Cup

has more participating teams, more events and hosting cities, making the 2016 French European Cup the largest European Cup in history. For UEFA, this also means a rise in revenue. According to the agency, this competition will generate revenue of 2 billion euros, 40% more than the European Cup hosted by Poland and Ukraine four years ago.

Behind the significant increase in revenue, the "China Corps" has contributed significantly. Careful fans can find that at this European Cup, China company Hisense appeared on the venue as a sponsor of the European Cup. Their Chinese and English billboards kept flashing as the game progressed, replacing the position of Japanese electronics consumer companies such as Sony in the past.

This is the first time in 56 years that the European Cup has welcomed a China sponsor. Hisense's European Cup sponsorship rights will last until 2018.

In addition to Hisense, the income from football derivatives in the middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain is also unwilling to be left behind. Alto Electronics provides LED display services on the sidelines of the European Cup matches, while Hangzhou Fude from Xiaoshan has the global development rights, pricing rights and sales rights of various derivative products of this European Cup mascot "Super Victor".

In addition, Shengli Sports also cooperated with UEFA as the acting partner of the China region of the 2016 European Cup Official Event Hospitality Program.

Opening the Chinese official website of this year's European Cup, more "China elements" come to you: European Cup superstars such as Buffon, Bell, Gletzman, Pique, Modric and Rosicky not only expressed their greetings to China fans by recording Chinese videos, but also sent autographed European Cup balls and other awards to lucky fans through online activities on the official website, inviting China fans to pay attention to the latest developments of themselves and their team through the Chinese official website of the European Cup.

The core of "China elements" is "swiping" at the European Cup. The core of this is that the European Cup has a high degree of attention in China.

According to data released by UEFA, as of the end of the group stage on June 23, a total of 958 million people in 230 countries and regions around the world watched the European Cup on TV. In China, the European Cup is only five days after the start of the European Cup, and the average audience rating for CCTV's live broadcast of the European Cup is 1.49%, which means that there are at least more than 35 million targeted audiences.

In addition to CCTV, major Internet platforms have also launched side-attacks to find alternative ways to make money through the attention economy. The "Huang Family European Cup" launched by Sina Weibo features famous mouth Huang Jianxiang focusing on the teams, topics, and events of the European Cup, bringing sharp and interesting evaluation programs to fans; Youku launched "Big Talk about the European Cup" during the European Cup, and LeSports launched "The Journey of Xi-Goddess European Cup" hosted by Liu Yuxi. It is estimated that more than 1.2 billion people will watch the European Cup in China alone.

Although sports product marketing

is thousands of miles away, during this period, many China fans adjusted their work and rest time zone from "Beijing time" to "European time."

"Although the European Cup is far away from China, it is very close to fans." Zhang Qing, a domestic sports industry expert, previously said in an interview with the media that China has a large fan base, which can allow high-level events such as the European Cup to generate many business opportunities in China.

A research report by Industrial Securities, a well-known domestic securities firm, pointed out that football in my country has a strong atmosphere and a broad mass base. In 2015, the total number of sports enthusiasts in my country reached 238 million, of which 141 million were football enthusiasts. Football watching tours, football stadium tours and football experience tours have become the new favorites of personalized tourism products. Benefiting from the European Cup effect, sports tourism is expected to achieve new breakthroughs in 2016.

In fact, fanatical China fans have long become a "cash machine" in the eyes of merchants. Not only has the French Embassy in China launched convenient visas for watching the game, but many domestic travel agencies have taken advantage of the combination of summer and European Cup elements to launch "French sightseeing and watching clubs" with group fees of tens of thousands of yuan, and travel to Europe has ushered in the summer peak season ahead of schedule.

Among them, the price for the European Cup semi-finals on Tuniu website is 24,000 yuan. The itinerary includes watching the European Cup matches on site and a local scenery tour in France; the price for travel products on Ctrip online is 69,000 yuan.

On the Internet, as the season gradually unfolds, the craze for consumers to buy jerseys has gradually spread to online shopping for football shoes, team souvenirs, European Cup car cushions, star figures, etc., with prices ranging from tens of yuan to several thousand yuan. Star style home football uniforms have become a "hit" with the advancement of the event and are sought after by fans.

Online stores are busy, but physical businesses are not willing to be outdone. The reporter visited a number of large department stores in Beijing and found that major sports brands launched team uniforms, polo shirts, football shoes and other products during the European Cup.

Late night take-out "light the midnight light"

beer, crayfish, stewed vegetables, kebabs... stay up late to watch the ball game, eat and drink first. Thanks to the glory of the "European Cup", sales of major brands of beer and casual snacks known as the "Zuoqiu Economy" have increased significantly, so that many couriers have gradually increased late-night errands.

Open the delivery APP, place an order, pay, and wait for the delicious food while watching the ball. The convenience brought by the Internet to fans is particularly obvious during this year's European Cup. Major takeout platforms, including Baidu Takeout, Meituan, and Enmeima, have launched packages and promotions for the European Cup, and have made timely adjustments to the meal delivery time and enter the "European Cup Time".

"After the opening of the European Cup, more and more people ordered takeout meals. Basically, they stayed up late at home to watch the game. They could deliver 20 orders a night." A delivery staff member of Meituan Takeout told reporters.

According to statistics, during the European Cup, Baidu's orders for snacks after 8 p.m. increased by 20% month-on-month. Among them, the top three best-selling dishes were crayfish, barbecue and stewed me.

Zhang Lei, person in charge of the European Cup event project, also said that during the European Cup, sales of crayfish, barbecues and beer increased significantly and were relatively popular. Orders for night snacks increased by 33%, and from 10 pm to 1 am was the peak period for ordering.

Also testing the test of the "ball economy" is Tmall Supermarket. Starting from June 25, Tmall Supermarket launched late-night fast delivery in the Main City of Shanghai and Beijing. Users who place orders between 20:00 and 24:00 can receive delicious snacks within 2 hours. If the time limit is exceeded, Tmall Supermarket will waive the order for consumers.

In addition to takeout ordering, this year's Good Products Shop, Qiaqia Melon Seeds, etc. also took advantage of the European Cup to launch various marketing forms on e-commerce platforms. Take the snack sales platform Good Goods Shop as an example. Since the opening match of this year's European Cup, it has launched a 24-hour service to provide fans with various snack services. Snacks such as popcorn and duck neck have continued to sell well during the European Cup.

Industry insiders pointed out that although compared with the vision of the entire industry chain development, China's sports industry is facing value reconstruction, including entering the high-end fields of sports services such as event operations, event management, and stadium operations. However, the "fan economy" ignited by the European Cup allows us to further feel the potential and charm of the sports industry, which will help accelerate the development of the sports industry.

Editor: Nancy