Listen below to the latest edition of the China Sports Insider Podcast. It’s been taking me a little while to get the latest episodes up on here (apologies for that), so if you want to get the new shows as soon as they come out, please subscribe via your preferred podcast player.
Money is often thought of as synonymous with power and influence – in sports as elsewhere – but it’s not often we see such a clear example of a sponsor brazenly attempting to assert their influence as we’ve seen recently in China.
In the latest episode of the China Sports Insider Podcast, we talk to Italian race engineer and team manager turned series promoter Davide de Gobbi, arguably one of the most influential people in Asian motorsports. Chances are that if you attended or watched a China-based racing series over the past 15 years, de Gobbi had … Continue reading Stunning F1 Debut for Zhou Guanyu Sparks Talk of Shanghai GP Return in 2022
China’s Eileen Gu flew into Beijing this week ahead of the Olympics, after travelling from her home in the US. And that last fact – that she still lives in the US despite switching to compete for China in 2019 – made her the subject of a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. Haig … Continue reading Eileen Gu Citizenship Dilemma Throws Up Familiar Questions
Happy New Year to all my readers and thanks for following, listening and reading throughout 2021. The 2022 Beijing Olympics begin exactly one month from today, and the Closed Loop Management System (aka the Olympic bubble) went into operation this morning. This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we spoke to Chinese Olympic sailing … Continue reading Olympic Sailing Star Meets Peng Shuai in Shanghai
After months of negotiations over whether NHL players would be going to the Beijing Olympics, COVID-19 stepped in and made the decision for them: NHL players will not be playing. Despite a provisional agreement last summer between the NHL and the Players’ Association, there was always a get-out clause if the pandemic caused too much … Continue reading NHL Pulls Plug on Olympics & Coach Grignard Talks Tennis in China
This week on the China Sports Insider Podcast we sit down with basketball star Stephon Marbury – arguably the most famous foreigner living in China, where he’s been for more than a decade. It’s a wide ranging chat about his current coaching duties in the CBA bubble, the upcoming Olympics, his career in China, plans … Continue reading Up close with Stephon Marbury, plus NHL’s Olympic scare stories
Episode 11 of the China Sports Insider Podcast features: The latest on the Olympic ice hockey drama – the Chinese men’s team is now confirmed to be in, so what does that mean come February? The US announces a diplomatic boycott (read “boycott”) for the 2022 Games; we discuss what that means in practical terms. And with … Continue reading Olympic “Boycott”, Hockey Showdown & the CSL Returns To Action
Episode 10 of the China Sports Insider Podcast is another packed show, in which we tackle tennis, F1, and ice hockey, plus hear from Steph Hsiao about the NFL in China. This coming Monday, December 6, should see some sort of announcement over the make-up of the Chinese men’s Olympic ice hockey team for Beijing … Continue reading Hockey Drama and Steph Hsiao Talks NFL in China
Erich Swatzerl from The Wall Street Journal wrote a piece this week entitled “2022 Beijing Olympic Games Loom as Test for Corporate Sponsors“, which neatly encapsulates not just the looming headaches for Olympic sponsors, but the current landscape for doing business in China. In fact, while the whole piece is worth a read, the sub-header … Continue reading 50 Weeks To Go: Corporate Conundrums & Olympic Agendas
