Tag Archives: China Sports Insider Podcast

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:

Continue reading Special Book Offer for Sporting Superpower!

Stunning F1 Debut for Zhou Guanyu Sparks Talk of Shanghai GP Return in 2022

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 something to do with it. I’ve been commentating on motorsports events that he’s put on since 2013, including the 2021 Asian F3 Championship, won by none other than new F1 star Zhou Guanyu.

Zhou’s past, present and future fills much of the show, as well as the compelling argument that his stunning start to his F1 career – in the points on his debut in Bahrain last weekend – lends weight to rescheduling the Shanghai Grand Prix (cancelled in 2020-22 due to COVID-19) for late September this year, now that there is an empty spot on the calendar, due to the removal of the Russian GP. Full show blurb below.

Continue reading Stunning F1 Debut for Zhou Guanyu Sparks Talk of Shanghai GP Return in 2022

Introducing the China Sports Insider Podcast!

Apologies for the lack of posts in recent weeks: a combination of travel (including a LOT of quarantine), plus other work priorities, have kept me from the site. I’ve been working on two other sports projects in particular, the first of which I’m happy to announce below, with a second, much larger one coming later in the year!

I’ve teamed up with Haig Balian, host and producer of The Beijing Sessions podcast series, to put together the China Sports Insider Podcast, which we will release weekly. We had a soft launch a few weeks ago, but we’re now on the SupChina podcast network, so you can find all back issues of the show and subscribe here. It was also great to be on the Sinica stream for the first episode with host Kaiser Kuo and his tens of thousands of listeners.

Continue reading Introducing the China Sports Insider Podcast!