Here are the top China Sports Business news stories you need to know from this week:

MORE Sports Lands in China
Sports lifestyle media platform, MORE Sports, has officially entered the Chinese market with a grand launch event featuring basketball star Kevin Garnett and many local celebrities. MORE Sports is tailored for Chinese sports fans and the app showcases lifestyle and behind-the-scenes stories of popular NBA and CBA stars, ranging from cooking to fashion, music and more. Read more on Sina (Chinese)

• Mailman Take: MORE Sports plans to bridge the gap between popular sports figures and their Chinese fans by establishing an emotional connection. The app hosts a variety of short off-court lifestyle videos with high-quality content enhanced with Hollywood-style delivery, allowing fans for the first time to see their favorite stars in their own homes. Subscription prices range from RMB 40 a month to RMB 348 a year, giving users access to all content which is exclusive only to China.

NHL Launches on Douyin & Toutiao
The National Hockey League (NHL) has officially launched on digital platforms Douyin and Jinri Toutiao – both owned by Chinese internet technology company ByteDance – to deliver more news and entertainment to its growing fan base in China. The NHL has experienced an impressive 12 months on social in China growing over 500,000 followers on popular microblogging platform Weibo, marking it the fastest-growing US sports league after the NBA. Read more on SportsPro (English) and Lanxiong Sports (Chinese)

• Mailman Take: With the mission of having 300 million people in China enjoying snow and ice sports before the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics – China has been heavily promoting Winter sports, especially hockey. The younger generation is key to success with 86% of the currently registered youth hockey players now under the age of 12. It’s important for the NHL to create high quality and entertaining hockey content tailored to specific social platforms to target younger age groups and inspire them to participate in the sport.

Anta Sports to Complete Amer Sports Purchase
A consortium led by China’s Anta Sports Products Ltd., the country’s largest sportswear company, is set to complete the purchase of Finnish firm Amer Sports for $5.15 billion. Anta Sports, estimated to be worth $12.5 billion, has been stepping up efforts to acquire foreign brands. The deal makes Anta the owner of a portfolio of well-known sports brands, including Wilson tennis rackets, Salomon ski boots, and Arc’teryx outdoor gear. Read more on CGTN (English) and Sports.cn (Chinese)

Jiangsu Suning Opts for New Name
Chinese Super League (CSL) side Jiangsu Suning has applied to change its name to Jiangsu International. According to the requirements of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), all Chinese professional league teams will be “neutralised” before the 2022 season. Furthermore, the club’s new name may not use similar or similar pronunciations or Chinese characters of the club’s shareholders, actual controllers or related parties. Read more on Sportsmoney (Chinese)

In Other News:

China Cup 2019
The 2019 Gree China Cup International Football Championship, the third edition of the annual competition, will be played next week from 18-26 March in Nanning, Guangxi Province. The four nations competing in this year’s competition are China, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Uruguay. Read more on People.cn (Chinese)

China’s Running Industry Still Booming
The industry has seen a seven percent increase to reach RMB 74.6 billion ($11.10 billion), according to data released by the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA). According to the “China’s annual marathon report” a total of 1,581 road running and cross-country events were held in China last year, a 43.46% increase compared to the 1,102 events in 2017. The total number of participants rose by 17.07 percent to 5.83 million, while the participants in marathon and half-marathon races rose to 1.91 million. Read more on Xinhua (English) and Xinhua (Chinese)

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