中国企业正在满世界收购足球俱乐部和体育资产，这样做的目的是什么？举办一场世界杯对中国球迷来说似乎仍是难以企及的梦想，但是中国投资者已经设法购买世界上最好的足球俱乐部。

8月初，一家中国公司以8.25亿美元收购意大利AC米兰俱乐部99.93%的股份，距离中国零售巨头苏宁收购它的竞争对手国际米兰近两个月。

交易变得越来越频繁。自2015年以来，中国企业已经收购了14家海外足球俱乐部，这其中包括英国的曼城俱乐部和阿斯顿维拉俱乐部、西班牙的马德里竞技俱乐部和澳大利亚的纽卡斯尔喷气机俱乐部。

14家俱乐部的总交易额高达20亿美元，中国投资者对海外体育资产有着强烈的兴趣。除了俱乐部，他们也会收购体育营销公司以及赛事转播版权类公司。

这些投资背后有着不同的理由。一些投资者认为欧洲经济处于低谷，好些世界级的体育资产价值被低估了，现在是很好的投资时机。正如国际米兰的Gandini所说，为了获得竞争力，你的钱包里得有钱。

根据Fininvest报道，AC米兰的债务高达2.2亿欧元，中国投资者为俱乐部带来了急需的现金。

但是对于中国买家来说，政治和经济因素都在起作用。

在中国这样一个经济发展与政府政策紧密相关的国家，很容易理解这些投资会给投资者带来怎样的潜在政治红利。

中国国家主席习近平并没有掩藏他对足球的热爱和对国家队槽糕表现的失望。他希望中国有朝一日能够举办世界杯并且国家队能够入围世界杯甚至最终赢取世界杯。

眼下，中国队的全球排名为78。

习近平对足球的希望代表了很大一部分中国民众的心声，也符合一些评论所期许的，振兴足球能够发展体育市场，从而促进经济增长。

2016年5月出台的中国十三五规划中提到，到2020年，体育产业的规模要达到3万亿人民币，从目前占GDP总量的0.6%上升到1%。“这个数字在美国是2%”，北京大学国家发展研究院的体育产业专家易建东说道。

“随着GDP增速的放缓，中国需要进行结构性改革，企业应该更多在服务和娱乐业寻找机会”，易建东说。
“但国内体育资产变得不可预知和价格高攀时，热钱就会流向海外以分散风险”，易建东补充道。

英国考文垂大学商学院的体育战略与营销教授Simon Chadwick说，中国公司认为公开支持国家政策是聪明的做法。

“购买一家足球俱乐部并不会在产生明显的投资回报。尽管体育产业尤其是足球的收入是客观的，但是成本也是巨大的，特别是球员转会费和薪酬成本”， Chadwick说道。

实际上，大部分中国买家在收购世界级足球俱乐部后，都迫不及待地对外宣称，收购能够帮助中国球队更好地学习世界先进经验以及能够让中国青少年球员去欧洲接受训练，从而能够提升中国足球的整体实力。

苏宁集团董事长张近东说，收购国际米兰之后，国际米兰的青训体系能够帮助中国青少年足球运动员。中国首富万达集团董事长王健林在收购马德里竞技俱乐部后说了同样的话，即要江中国球员送到欧洲俱乐部训练。

不仅仅是俱乐部。当万达2015年以11.9亿美元收购瑞士赢方体育传媒时，王健林认为该笔交易能够帮助中国申办大型体育赛事。

王健林在2016年1月的一次讲话中提到，收购瑞士盈方能够帮助中国主办2022年冬奥会，因为盈方与冬奥会中包括冰球、溜冰和滑雪在内的7个赛事签署了媒体协议。

“万达将专注于收购类似盈方这样拥有转播版权和媒体营销权利的公司，这有助于中国在国际体育舞台上拥有更大话语权。”王健林继续说道。

他还提到在国际足联的年终大会上自己被安排在前排座位，“我在第一排中间，其他国家的足协主席都坐在我后面”。盈方是国际足联的主要合作伙伴，如果不是收购盈方，我们根本没有资格参加国际足联大会，也不会获得如此规格的礼遇。

品牌

“除了政治红利外，投资海外体育产业能直接产生的回报将便于中国公司进入海外市场”，Chadwick补充道。

“购买俱乐部和投资顶级体育品牌还能产生其他品牌效应”，咨询公司Interel北京办公室负责人Mark Pinner说，“购买俱乐部意味着购买了生产品牌产品的权利，以及其他跟俱乐部相关的市场机会”

“通过体育进行品牌推广是中国公司快速被国际市场熟知的一条捷径”，在白色家电制造商海信斥资5000万欧元赞助2016年欧洲杯之后，中国知名体育营销公司盛开体育副总裁丁明昊说。

盛开体育帮助海信谈成了这笔交易并与其一起进行欧洲杯相关的推广活动。

“海信通过在如此大的体育赛事上进行品牌推广至少为其国际化进程节省了五到八年时间”，丁明昊说。同样的逻辑也适用于清洁能源厂商英利赞助2014世界杯，英利正瞄准美国和欧洲市场。

变化趋势

“眼下大部分体育资产的收购都是足球俱乐部，因为许多优质俱乐部都在出售所以比较容易购买”，专注于跨境并购服务的互联网投行易界网CEO冯林说，“然而购买俱乐部并不是获取财务回报的最佳方式，投资者其实很清楚这一点，但是他们仍然出于战略目的进行收购并以此作为进入体育市场的入口。”

“未来，中国公司会对包括赛事组织和媒体版权在内的其他体育资产更感兴趣。因为无论达成什么交易，最终都是想和中国市场嫁接。但是许多没有体育行业经验的公司很难发现这些资产”，冯林补充道。

对于俱乐部来说，嫁接中国市场的方式包括人才培训项目、球员交换以及扩大中国球迷基数。

盈利的方式之一是购买一家二线球队，然后在其成长为一线球队时卖出。但是，这是非常难的。

在复星投资英国二线俱乐部狼队后，复星交易负责人施瑜声称，复星将带领狼队重回英超联赛。狼队上一次进入英超联赛是在2012年4月。

“我们投资狼队的逻辑非常简单——我们需要找到增长的空间”， 施瑜说，而且狼队已经拥有非常好的体育馆、研究中心、年轻球员和历史。“我们唯一需要做的就是把钱投给俱乐部以吸引更优秀的球员”，他告诉媒体Express & Star。

收购阿斯顿维拉的夏建统作出了同样的表述。但是最近刚刚上任的阿斯顿维拉执行总裁Keith Wyness坦承，进入英超“无疑是最大的挑战之一”，金融时报最近如是报道。

报道还援引咨询公司Blackbridge Cross Borders负责人Alexander Jarvis的话，称许多中国中小企业有点冲动行事，尽管他们“没有足球行业经验”，而且“俱乐部和中国投资者都有被骗的风险”。

投资俱乐部之外，另一条路是通过投资体育营销公司来参与到体育赛事中来。

作为海外投资的先行者，万达王健林告诉路透社，相比亏钱的俱乐部，万达更愿意投资有盈利的体育赛事。这是因为体育赛事本身会比俱乐部更好地与中国市场形成嫁接，冯林说。

最近，世界铁人公司(WTC)在北京开设了一家铁人训练营。万达是背后的金主，2015年万达以6.5亿美元收购WTC。

王健林笃定，作为世界上最艰难的比赛，铁人三项会在中国流行起来。

万达正全力以赴在各个城市进行宣传推广—举办真人秀、组织更多赛事、建立训练营等等。“万达的目标是将铁人三项业余参赛者数量从现在的100增加到20万”，王健林说。

像万达这样的公司能否成为中国体育市场的风向标还很难说，但毋庸置疑，他们在战略上建立了先发优势，Chadwick说。“真正关键的是他们保持这个位置的能力，不管是通过产品创新还是并购”，他补充道。

与赛事体育公司建立伙伴关系也是一条路。

阿里体育，背靠电子商务巨头阿里巴巴，与美国职业橄榄球大联盟（NFL）签订了合作协议。另外还与国际拳联签订了合作协议。与万达举办铁人三项赛事类似，阿里体育看到了在中国市场推广美式足球和拳击运动的商机。

腾讯已经购买了NBA在中国大陆的独家直播权。考虑到篮球在中国的受欢迎程度，这笔交易将很快产生现金流。腾讯还与体育媒体巨头ESPN合作，将ESPN的节目本地化后投放到腾讯的数字平台上。据ESPN透露，双方已达成协议，致力于将腾讯庞大的用户基础与ESPN专业的体育内容制作有机结合。

“互联网公司有大量的用户，所以他们很擅长内容分销并将观众与赛事进行匹配”，冯林说。

由于并购交易仍然比较活跃并且整个市场仍在在增长，值得一提的是，市场不仅仅只是中国买家。“海外企业也在紧盯中国市场，当他们要出售公司时，很可能并不会100%出售”，冯林说。

冯林自己的公司易界网帮助暴风科技收购了MP&Silva.65%的股权。“他们保留35%股权是因为对中国市场有较高的预期并希望同中国伙伴一同开发这个市场”

Chinese companies are buying up clubs and sports assets over the globe, but to what end?

Hosting a World Cup remains an elusive dream for Chinese football fans, but Chinese investors have managed to purchase some of the world’s best soccer clubs.

In early August, a Chinese company bought a 99.93% stake in Italian club AC Milan at a price of $825.8 million, two months after its rival Inter Milan was acquired by Chinese retail giant Suning.

The purchases have been coming thick and fast. Since 2015, Chinese companies have purchased 14 clubs including English stalwarts Manchester City and Aston Villa, Spanish club Atletico de Madrid and in Australia the Newcastle Jets.

Together the 14 club investments are valued at over $2 billion, demonstrating the strong Chinese interest in foreign sports assets. Aside from clubs, they’re also snapping up stakes in sports marketing companies and those with broadcasting and organization rights for tournaments.

There are many reasons behind these investments. Some investors think it’s a good opportunity to invest in the world-class sports assets when many of them are undervalued and cash-thirsty amid sluggish economic growth in Europe. As Gandini of Inter Milan put it: “in order to compete within this European scenario, you need to have big pockets.”

According to Fininvest, a private holding company owned by the family of Italian media tycoon and former President Silvio Berlusconi (the previous owner of AC Milan) the club has a debt of 220 million euros and the deal with the Chinese investor could lead to a “badly-needed” cash injection.

But for Chinese buyers, there are both political and economic factors at play.

In a country like China where economic development is closely related to government policies, it’s easy to envisage the political leverage these investments could potentially bring to buyers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hasn’t hidden his love for football games or his disappointment with the national football team’s performance. He hopes that China could host a World Cup someday and that the Chinese team could qualify to attend and eventually win a World Cup.

Currently, China is ranked 78th worldwide.

Xi’s soccer hopes represent a chunk of the Chinese populace and commentariat who hope the sports market will develop and that sports can play a bigger role in boosting economic growth.

One goal in China’s 13th five-year plan, released in May 2016, specifies: the total scale of the sports industry should amount to over RMB 3 trillion by 2020 and it should comprise 1% of GDP, up from 0.6% now. This number in developed countries like the US is around 2%, says Yi Jiandong, a sports industry analyst with the National School of Development at Peking University.

With slowing GDP growth, China needs to go through economic restructuring and firms should seek opportunities in service and entertainment industries, Yi says.

And when domestic sports assets become unpredictable and prices go up, hot money will be invested offshore to mitigate risk, he adds.

Professor Simon Chadwick, the Chair in Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University Business School, says that Chinese companies find it wise to be publicly seen supporting state policy.

“Buying a football club will not yield a significant direct return on investment. Although revenue streams in sports, particularly football, can be strong, the cost is a significant burden—most notably the player transfer fees and salary costs,” says Chadwick.

In fact, most club buyers were keen to tell the public that after buying those world-class clubs, there would be better chances for Chinese teams to learn and for young talent to be trained in Europe, thus helping Chinese football to improve.

These include Suning’s Chairman Zhang Jindong, who said, after announcing the Inter Milan acquisition, that Inter Milan’s talent academy would help young Chinese players. Dalian Wanda’s chairman Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, after acquiring Atletico de Madrid, said the same thing: Chinese players will be able to be trained in European clubs.

And it’s more than clubs. When Wanda bought Swiss Sports Group Infront Sports & Media at a cost of $1.19 billion in 2015, Wang deemed the acquisition to be a move that could help China bid to host big sports events.

Wang said, while delivering a speech in January 2016, Wanda’s acquisition of Infront could help China host the Winter Olympics in 2022 because Infront has media agreements with seven events at the Winter Olympics including ice hockey, ice-skating and skiing.

He continued by saying that Wanda would focus on buying sports companies like Infront, which has broadcasting rights and media marketing rights, so that “China will have a bigger say on the international stage of sports.”

He also mentioned that he was given a front row seat at FIFA’s year-end meeting—“I was in the middle of the first row, the presidents of football associations in other continents all sat behind me. Infront is a major partner of FIFA. Had we not acquired Infront, we would not able to attend the FIFA meeting or receive their respect.”

Branding

Aside from political leverage, sizable returns on such investments will also come indirectly through the access overseas to new markets and business opportunities that investment in sports can facilitate, Chadwick adds.

Buying clubs and investing in top sporting brands can help boost other branding efforts, says Mark Pinner, Managing Director of Interel Consulting Group’s Beijing bureau.

He says that buying a club means buying the rights to produce branded products and many more market opportunities affiliated with the club.

“Branding through sports is a shortcut for Chinese companies to become known internationally,” said Ding Minghao, vice-president of Shankai Sports International, a leading sports marketing company in China, after white goods and electronics manufacturer Hisense allegedly spent 50 million euros to become a sponsor of the UEFA European Championship 2016.

Shankai Sports has helped Hisense broker this deal and worked together with it on UEFA’s related promotion campaign.

“Hisense saved five to eight years times in terms or popularization in overseas markets by branding itself at such a big sports events,” Ding says. Similar logic applies to clean energy company Yingli’s sponsorship of FIFA 2014: the company is targeting American and European markets.

Changing trend “Currently most of the acquired sports assets are soccer clubs, which are relatively easier to buy because many good clubs are on sale,” says Feng Lin, CEO of Deal Globe, a London-based firm specializing in providing M&A related services in Europe.

“But buying clubs is not the best way to generate financial returns. The investors are aware of that, but many of them are doing it for strategic purposes and are using the clubs as leverage to enter the sports market,” he says.

“In the future, Chinese companies will be more interested in other properties: game organizations and media rights. Because no matter what deals they make, they want to connect with the Chinese market. But now many companies with no experience in the sports market can’t find these assets,” he adds.

For clubs, the ways to connect with Chinese market include talent training programs, player exchanges and expanding their Chinese fans.

One of the ways to make profit is to buy a second-tier club and sell it after elevating it to the first-tier camp. However, it can be even more difficult than it sounds.

After Fosun invested in the Wolverhampton Wanderers, a second-tier English club, Jeff Shi, the Fosun executive leading the deal, said they would take the Wolves back to the premier league, which houses the UK’s 20 best clubs. The last time the Wolves played in the Premier League was April 2012.

“Our reason for investing in the Wolves is very simple—we needed to find space for growth,” Shi said, adding the Wolves already have a good stadium, academy, young players and a good history. “The only thing we need to do is put money into the club for better players,” he told the Wolverhampton media Express & Star.

Tony Xia, who purchased Aston Villa, also made similar statement. However, Keith Wyness, the recently installed chief executive of Aston Villa, admits that getting into the Premier League is “without doubt one of the hardest football challenges,” the Financial Times recently reported.

The report also quoted Alexander Jarvis, owner of Blackbridge Cross Borders, a consultancy which has provided advice on several football deals involving Chinese investors, as saying that that many smaller Chinese companies appear to be acting on impulse even though they “have no experience of football” and “there’s a risk of the clubs and the Chinese investors getting duped.”

Aside from investing in clubs, another route has been to invest in sports marketing companies in order to get involved with tournaments.

As a pioneer in overseas investments, Wanda’s Wang Jianlin told Reuters that Wanda would prefer to invest in profitable sports events rather than money-losing clubs.

This is because working with sports bodies rather than clubs can generate more innovative means of connecting with the Chinese market, says Feng.

Recently, the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) started an Ironman training camp in Beijing. Wanda is the financial backer behind the scenes, having spent $650 million acquiring the WTC, which owns the “Ironman” franchise.

Wang has indicated that as a “the world’s toughest race” triathlons could become a popular game in China.

The company is going all out—holding reality shows, organizing more races, setting up training camps—across Chinese cities to promote the game. “Wanda’s goal is to increase the number of amateur triathletes to 200,000 in China, up from the current 100,” Wang said.

It’s hard to say whether the likes of Wanda will become gatekeepers of the Chinese sports market, but they will establish a strategic “first mover” advantage, says Chadwick. “What will be crucial for these businesses though, is their ability to protect this position through, for example, product innovation, mergers and acquisitions,” he adds.

Building partnerships with tournaments and sports companies is another way.

Alisports, a sports arm under the e-commerce giant Alibaba, has signed a partnership with The National Football League, a professional American football league in North America. It has also inked an agreement with the International Boxing Association. Similar to Wanda’s approach to the Ironman events, Alisports sees a chance to promote and popularize American football and boxing and building on their already existing footprint in the Chinese market.

Tencent has bought the exclusive broadcasting rights of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in China and thus has become the only company that can run a NBA Chinese website. Given the sport’s massive popularity in China, this allowed it to quickly generate a cash flow. It also works with sports media giant ESPN, localizing ESPN’s content on Tencent’s digital platform. According to ESPN, the two sides have reached an agreement which states that they will combine “Tencent’s vast user base across the globe and ESPN’s expertise in sports content creation.”

“Tech companies have large amounts of users and so they’re good at distributing content and matching audiences to games,” says Feng.

As the buying spree goes on and the market keeps growing, it’s worth mentioning there won’t be only Chinese players. “Foreign entrepreneurs are also eyeing the Chinese market and so when they’re selling, they would not sell 100% of the company or the club,” says Feng.

Feng’s company Deal Globe has helped China tech company Baofeng to acquire 65% equity in MP&Silva. “The reason they held 35% is because they have high expectations in the Chinese market and hope to exploit it with its Chinese partner.”

Impact on domestic sports industry?

Despite the promises Chinese CEOs have made to train young Chinese talent at top soccer clubs, Zhang Daqi, a freelance football coach based in Beijing, says it will take a long time before young Chinese players to benefit from the acquisition of those clubs. “Most of the club players are busy with different games and their owners or investors will spend money signing more expensive players, while training young talent is hardly a priority. And for some clubs in which Chinese companies only have a small stake, it’s not easy to get their players to come to China to coach the young players,” Zhang adds.

Zhong Qi, an analyst with Haitong Securities, says that with so much capital flowing though the market, Chinese consumer demand will be prompted with reliable supply. This will consist of access to different kinds of games, sports-related products and innovative ways to watch and participate in the games. There will be more tournaments and more people participating in mass sports activities. Zhong thinks that once there is growing demand, there is a greater chance for the industry to prosper.

“Overseas investments can be a catalyzer for the Chinese sports market, but whether it could help the national team’s performance or help to train better players remains unknown,” says Zhang.

By Liu Sha

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