Tag Archives: NFL

Special Book Offer for Sporting Superpower!

As long-time readers and subscribers of China Sports Insider, I wanted to tell you about a special offer for Sporting Superpower, running on Amazon all this week. But let me back up a little…

The first few months of the year were pretty busy. In addition to recording two podcasts a week and working about four jobs over the Olympic period, I did more than 100 media interviews and appearances to promote my book “Sporting Superpower: An Insider View on China’s Quest to Be the Best”now a #1 Amazon bestseller!

It was a lot of fun – but not as fun as I had writing it over the course of the past year. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, it’s packed full of personal anecdotes – such as the time I interviewed David Beckham live on Chinese state television or filmed a Nike commercial alongside tennis star Li Na; there’s also plenty of analysis drawn from my 15 years covering the sports industry here – such as a look at the NBA‘s disastrous missteps and where China goes next in the wake of the Peng Shuai debacle. Then there’s the story of how Aaron Rodgers nearly blew up the NFL‘s business in China, an inside look at the Chinese owners of European football clubs including Aston Villa, Southampton and West Brom, the time Donald Trump used three basketball players in Hangzhou as negotiating chips, some barely credible tales from the world of Chinese ice hockey, plus much more besides.

But, in summary, it’s about China.

The growing pains of the sports industry here – both the highs and the lows – speak so much about the country as a whole. It’s been a fascinating ride and, as with many other industries, the Chinese sports industry – despite its many deficiencies – still has a fighting chance to end up on top of the world.

Here’s what a few people had to say about Sporting Superpower:

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Hockey Drama and Steph Hsiao Talks NFL in China

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 2022 – as well as a final decision on whether or not China will get kicked out and replaced by Norway. After literally years of wrangling over the citizenship issue – i.e. how to recruit foreign-born players for Team China – sources from inside the camp indicate that this decision is coming right down to the wire. Simply put, some players are more comfortable signing away their existing citizenship in exchange for a Chinese passport than others – but the exact make-up of the roster could dramatically affect how China fares against the NHL’s best next February. Listen to the show directly on the player below or go to our landing page on SupChina here. It’s also available on all the usual podcast sites (search “China Sports Insider Podcast”).

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Xi to stay on, Wanda to get out, Tmall turns to F1 and more Milan misery

Here’s a summary of what you can find in my weekly China Digest for SportBusiness:

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10 questions on the Chinese sports industry

US-based sports marketing guru Joe Favorito reached out and asked me to do a Q&A for his site on various aspects of the Chinese sports industry. Given that his weekly industry newsletter is distributed to well over 30,000 people, I was more than happy to oblige. Joe published the results in two parts – here and here – which are reprinted below. 

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Is La Liga really coming to China?

Real Madrid and Barcelona now appear to be closer than ever before to playing regular La Liga games in China – but just how soon could that become a reality, what obstacles still lie in the way and what sort of impact would that have on global sport? 

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Ni Hao Super Bowl!

The following is a guest post written by Jo Hoopes, who accompanied Chinese media on their trip to Super Bowl XLIX last week.

While Chinese media covering American football may once have seemed like an anomaly, this year correspondents and commentators from PPTV, LeTV, CCTV, Shanghai’s G-Sports, Guangdong TV (GDTV), Sina.com and Hupu.com all turned up bright eyed and bushy tailed for Super Bowl week, taking in the larger-than-life fan events and Media Day frenzy with enthusiasm.

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China Sports Insider Ep. 5 – Jerry Rice

NFL legend Jerry Rice, ranked by NFL Films as the greatest player in history, visited China last month as part of the NFL’s continued efforts to promote the game overseas, and China Sports Insider was there to see him. Rice talks about the success the NFL has had in London, how the approach in China is different – plus why a Super Bowl in China would “fantastic”.

For previous episodes of the China Sports Insider video series, see Ep 1 (motor racing), Ep 2 (NFL), Ep 3 (golf) and Ep 4 (Beijing’s Olympic bid).

The Skins get Huawei’d, and Jerry shows the AFL how it’s done

Two recent stories of interest to NFL fans here. First, Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, which has blitzed Europe and elsewhere with its sporting sponsorships, has finally broken into the US market, despite lawmakers doing their best to blacklist the firm due to spying concerns. Unsurprisingly it’s come in Washington where its highly-paid lobbyists have been based, and it’s a partnership with the Redskins – also unsurprising since the Redskins have drawn an equal amount of negative press converage in recent months. As they say, birds of a feather flock together…

Washington Redskins Huawei

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