Tuesday 23 August 2016

CHINESE LEAGUE SIGNS DEAL WITH SKY SPORTS


Where ONE World Sports starts, the rest of the world follows. OWS has been broadcasting Chinese Super League live games for years. Now, it is becoming even easier to watch the action from one of the fastest growing leagues around wherever you are in the world.
Just last week, UK broadcaster Sky Sports agreed a deal to show games for the next three years and started with Shanghai Shenhua taking on Jiangsu Suning last Saturday. It was an exciting 3-2 win for Shanghai thanks to two goals from former Inter Milan man, Fredy Guarin.
It is a sign of things to come. When you have one of the biggest-spending leagues in the world that is now home to some genuinely big names like Guarin as well as Brazilian internationals Alex Teixeira, Ramires, Paulinho, Hulk, Ricardo Goulart, Renato Augusto and other South American stars such as Ezequiel Lavezzi and Jackson Martinez, then there is going to be interest.
Throw in the fact that only the leagues of England, Spain and Germany can be confident next season of outdoing the average attendance in China, then there really is something to get excited about.
It should end up at over 25,ooo when the season draws to a close in November. The figure is rising by the year and with more and more famous faces arriving then there is no reason why it can't look to break the 30,000 barrier in the near future. It would be quite a milestone.
But just one in a series of many. The decision by Sky Sports to show games confirms that Chinese football, at least club football, can attract a wider audience around the world. It is part of the puzzle.
The news was greeted with happiness in China. It adds to the prestige of the league at home and means this is a big deal. In soccer terms, East Asian nations love nothing more than to read how European media and fans are thinking about their soccer scenes.
The news that the broadcasters that have done so much to make the English Premier League the most popular in the world are now broadcasting Chinese soccer in England, is another feather in the cap of clubs in the Middle Kingdom. It builds the brand at home as much as it does so abroad.
It all helps. In theory at least, more prestige means more fans, more media writing about the local game, more people reading about it, more kids starting to play, more parents thinking that it is OK if they do so and more players coming through the system. And a wider and deeper soccer culture which is essential for China to become a genuine power on the international stage.
The Chinese Super League could become the first Asian league to break into the global picture. It is already by far the most talked about of the continent's competitions and, at the moment, is creating the most global buzz of any outside the usual big five.
Japan's J.League has come close and made plenty of waves as it kicked off in 1993. Big names like Zico were soon joined by Dunga and the crowds and excitement were just as big. The standards continued to rise but as the league approached its 20th birthday, there was a lack of star power to get the more casual fans excited.
Clubs have been unable to compete financially with Chinese rivals in recent years, but that may change soon. In July, the J.League signed a $2 billion, 10-year deal with UK media content company Perform Group to stream its games online in Japan. Some of the money will go to the clubs and, so it is hoped, enable them to bring in some stars of their own.
The standard of play and off the field organization has been better in Japan than China for years, though the gap is closing fast. Japan may be behind in terms of star power and international profile but China has shown that such things can be changed very quickly.
Japanese clubs are unlikely to be splashing the cash with the same speed and level of the busiest in China, but two Asian heavyweights with financial power battling it out for supremacy can only be good for the game on the world's biggest continent.
There is room for both Japan and China at the world's top table of soccer leagues and whatever happens, you can watch both on ONE World Sports.

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