In the United Kingdom and United States, the nations that boast the world's two biggest sporting brands - Manchester United in the English Premier League and New York Yankees in Major League Baseball - sport contributes about 2% of GDP.
In China, the sector contributed about US$20 billion, less than 0.7% of GDP in 2009, said Yi Jiandong, a sports industry expert and professor with the Beijing Sport University, according to China Daily.
Taking into account supporting industries (travel, publishing, media and advertising, MICE, entertainment), the sporting economy is worth a whopping 2 trillion yuan, according Chinese news reports.
Analysts have cautioned that growth in China’s sports sector may slow down after the 2008 Olympics, but its government is determined to see the momentum continue.
An all-encompassing state paper set forth last month laid out clear holistic goals and comprehensive measures to spur the domestic sporting economy.
Directives include plans to grow:
1. Public interest in sports
2. Competitive sporting events and athletic performances
3. Peripheral industries that support the sporting industry such as sports science, infocomms, sports insurance, etc.
4. Global influence of sporting equipment manufacturers
5. Export of services that support sporting activity, such as organization of competitive events, architecture of sporting facilities, and training of sportsmen.
6. Synergies between sports and culture, travel, infocomms, publishing, media, advertising, expositions, showbiz, etc.
Policies that will be implemented include the following:
1. Increase fund raising avenues for the sports sector, ranging from equity markets, M&A to debt and project financing
2. Tax incentives will be liberal, and will include not only eligible businesses but also encourage public contribution to social infrastructure promoting sporting professions.
3. Improve the infrastructure and management of public amenities for sporting activities, making it widely accessible and affordable to people from all walks of life
4. Provide a platform for professional sporting careers
5. Strengthen the laws to protect intellectual property such as names for sports groups, competitions and trademarks, patents for high tech sports equipment, as well as brand strategy for sporting goods
6. Speed up and standardize regulations governing the sporting industry, such as technical rules, service procedures and product quality tests to ensure safety for end consumers.
Bloomberg 6 Apr 2010 |
The large sporting apparel and footwear brands listed in Hong Kong are Li Ning, Anta, Xtep, and 361 Degrees. China Hongxing (Erke) is listed in Singapore.
Here’s a brief description of the business of some of the SGX-listed upstream players in China that supply high performance fabrics to domestic sporting brands or international names like Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, Fila:
* China Taisan - most profitable manufacturer of knitted functional polyester fabric listed in Singapore.
* China Gaoxian - largest production capacity for functional polyester yarn.
* Foreland Fabritech - produces polyester and nylon fabrics.
* Qianfeng - produces fabrics used mainly in the manufacture of sports apparel, shoes and bags.
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