*

An all-China Australian Open final? Making history and a case for reform

Thursday, 28th January 2010 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)

Li Na
Li Na
The presence of two Chinese players in the semifinals at the Australian Open isn't just a historic milestone—it's a result that could help make the case for future reform.

Li Na and Zheng Jie were two players who took up the Chinese Tennis Association on an offer in 2008 (after the Olympics) to take greater control of their training and keep more of their prize money. The tradeoff was giving up some of the support and security offered by the CTA. Less than two years after this experiment began, Li Na and Zheng Jie are opening the 2010 tennis season by becoming the first pair of Chinese players to make it to the singles final at a Grand Slam (they were also the first pair to the quarterfinals). Li Na took down Venus Williams in her quarterfinal, and Zheng beat Maria Kirilenko.

These two didn't come out of nowhere, and it's not the first major success for China's female tennis stars. Zheng and her partner Zi Yan won the doubles final at the Australian Open in 2006, and Zheng reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2008. But coming just one season after both players took control of their own careers, it supports Li's argument last year that such freedom should be extended to other sports. "It is very important for us to have the right to choose. I really mean it," she said last spring, according to an AFP report.

Li Na's semi against Serena Williams is live right now, and Zheng Jie's semi against Justine Henin will take place Friday morning. And in keeping the footwear theme in this week's posts, it should be noted that Zheng Jie is wearing Chinese brand Anta shoes and gear. Li Na is still with Nike.

Related: Zhang Shuai and the future of Chinese tennis

Li Na image: Xunying.com

Tags: Anta, Australian Open, Li Na, Nike, state sports system, tennis, Zheng Jie

IMG signs landmark events deal with CCTV

Friday, 1st August 2008 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

*
Hundreds of millions of Chinese enjoy watching sports on some level, but the Chinese sports market is much less organized – and commercialized – as it is in the West, especially the United States.

That appears to be temporary situation, as sports marketing behemoth IMG Worldwide Inc has signed a landmark exclusive 20-year agreement with CCTV that gives US-based IMG rights to develop and market new sports events in mainland China, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

According to the WSJ, financial terms of the deal – which will give IMG an unparalleled competitive advantage in one of the world's fastest-growing television markets - have yet to be disclosed and the deal is expected to be formally announced on August 7.

"The fundamental purpose of the joint venture is to marry what CCTV does in China and what IMG does all over the world," the paper quotes Ted Forstmann, IMG's chairman and chief executive, as saying.

CCTV's daily audience of 680 million people is the world's largest for any network. IMG is expected to focus on developing sports events and other entertainment events around China for broadcast on CCTV.

How big is IMG? As the WSJ puts it:

"Mr Forstmann, a founding partner of buyout firm Forstmann Little & Co, acquired IMG in 2004. The company, one of the world's largest producers and distributors of sports, owns or manages more than 4,000 sporting and entertainment events, from Wimbledon to the Australian Open. It also manages the careers of many athletes, including golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Maria Sharapova."

"If we are successful [in China], there are going to be a whole lot of events that exist that do not exist today," Mr. Forstmann told the WSJ.

The big question is: Will IMG be able to remold China's sports industry, which is essentially a poorly organized state-owned enterprise, into a streamlined moneymaker like that of the United States? The answer is coming to a TV near you.

Tags: Australian Open, CCTV, IMG, sports marketing, Tiger Woods, Wall Street Journal