How Alibaba aims to transform China’s sports market – and help bring the World Cup to the country
The giant Chinese company sees the world of sports as the next massive untapped gold mine and has set up an offshoot, Alisports, to cash in
Alibaba transformed China’s e-commerce market in becoming the country’s most well-known company. Now it aims to do the same with sport – and perhaps help deliver the World Cup to president Xi Jinping along the way.
The firm launched an offshoot in September last year, Alisports. In an exclusive interview its CEO, Zhang Dazhong, told the South China Morning Post of plans to cash in on China’s nascent sports market, which has been forecast by the government’s state council to grow to 5 trillion yuan by 2025.
The government has declared sport as the next driver of economic growth and companies are rushing to stake their claim; meanwhile, football fan Xi has declared that China must qualify for a World Cup, host one and win one.
“Therefore I believe the [2025 financial] target set by the Chinese government is very easy to be reached.
“Now of course the government has unleashed entrepreneurs to have this power in the market, I believe more entrepreneurs like Alibaba will make their presence felt.