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”).
In this week’s episode, the WTA pulls out of China. What does this mean for the ATP, the IOC, and the Olympics? (00:48) Formula One’s chief says it’s “100% realistic” for a second China race to be added to the calendar. But when? And where? (5:38), and Mark shares some inside information about the Chinese men’s hockey team ahead of the IIHF’s decision on Olympic participation (9:12).
Our guest this week is Stephanie Hsiao, the Marketing Director for NFL China. We touch on whether the NFL will play a meaningful game in China (17:44), why it’s important to develop football in China at the grassroots level (21:16), the competition with other sports for time and mindshare (26:50), Tom Brady’s Mandarin-language web series and its impact on other NFL players (28:59), amplifying the NFL’s message on Chinese social media (32:21), how ASU’s Jackson He has galvanized the Chinese public (34:20), how fans watch the NFL in China (37:13), developing an 800-word glossary of Chinese football terms (39:45), and plans for bringing NFL players to China post-Covid (43:55).
This week, I also appeared in the following places:
- [The Guardian] China hits back at WTA as IOC says it has spoken again to Peng Shuai
- [The Wall Street Journal] China Protests ‘Politicization of Sports’ After Suspension of Women’s Tennis
- [Bloomberg] Ex-NBA Stars Join Finance Giant to Back Asian Basketball League
- [Quartz] China’s in a Catch-22 over the WTA’s Peng Shuai challenge
- [SportsPro] Podcast | Peng Shuai, Beijing 2022 and the DBU’s Qatar boycott… sport’s complex year ahead
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