So far this season, the average number of viewers per game in the Chinese Super League has exceeded 20,000; When the home stadiums of many teams show a fiery atmosphere, when familiar melodies such as "Guoan Guoan, Beijing Guoan", "Specializing in all kinds of disobedience", and "Song of the Stands" (Shenhua) resound in various stadiums, the Chinese Super League has returned to our lives.
The return of the hot ball market has not only driven the box office, but also the sales points of peripheral products set up on the sidelines of the stadium on the match days of many clubs. When big fans poured into the stadium from all directions, it may be related to the "retaliation" of watching the game triggered by the resumption of home and away games after three years; But we should also see that after three years of unconventional circumstances, this year's Chinese Super League is returning to purity.
【Super League, back on track】
During the Golden Yuan football period, we saw a lot of big-name foreign aid and foreign coaches coming to our league; Stimulated by huge investment, the level and popularity of these big-name foreign aid and foreign coaches in the Chinese Super League at that time were the top level in Asia. Nowadays, many practitioners miss the good times of those years.
But in the Golden Yuan football period, driven by the temptation of interests, there were also many people who took risks. At present, some of the people involved in the case have been taken away, and some of the secrets left during the Golden Yuan football period will surface in the near future.
In the post-Jin Yuan era, the gender-neutral name policy was introduced. As for the pros and cons of neutral names, it is difficult for all parties to reach a consensus of opinion; However, no one denies that the introduction of neutral names increases the geographical attributes of the team, prompts each club to strengthen the stickiness with fans, and seeks more support in the local area, which is the only way for many clubs to transform their operations.
However, in the past two or three years, many teams have not played in front of their hometown fathers and elders for a long time, which has invisibly created a "distance" between various clubs and local fans. Coupled with the large-scale salary arrears of professional leagues in the past two or three years, this has led to many clubs that have chosen to lie flat in the past two or three years, and there are too many players who clock in and go to work, which also gives those who are not in the right mind more opportunities.
In the new season, when the existential crisis of the clubs has not been resolved, the resumption of home and away games has brought the league back to life; When some unhealthy people have walked into the wall, it has served as a warning for the whole environment, and practitioners have begun to take every game seriously. Even if the viewing and intensity of the Chinese Super League today is difficult to compare with the Golden Yuan football period; However, after three consecutive years of unconventional leagues and two consecutive years of low-intensity and slow-paced leagues, the intensity, rhythm, and competitive level of this year's league have shown obvious signs of rebound.
Without Hulk and other super foreign aides, Stanciu, these affordable players, also played the core style. There are not even big names to rely on, and domestic players have more responsibility.
When there are only two foreign aides, under the leadership of young coach Chen Tao, they can force the favorite Shanghai Hong Kong into a corner; When the match between Yatai and Dalian was absolutely rehabilitated; When 4 major foreign aid + naturalized players appeared in Chengdu at the same time, Dalian was helpless in the face of single foreign aid; The current four rounds of the league have seen a lot of scorching matches, all teams are giving their best, and few teams can easily win the game, even if it is difficult to equate the current Chinese Super League with the wonderful; But now the Chinese Super League is a league where the gap between strength and weakness is narrowing, most of the matches are full of suspense, and gradually attracting more attention from all parties.
When 16-year-old Xiahizati immaturely says his dream, fans will feel that whether to set a record or not is sometimes not so important, this age to play in the Chinese Super League and achieve something, isn't this hope.
If the most surprising team in the previous rounds, it is Shenhua.
The 00-back central defender combination Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Shenglong on the defensive line kept a clean sheet in the first three rounds, and fans commented on Jiang Shenglong in 192: I used to only think that he had a smart and clever face, but now I see him playing football quite a general's demeanor, and he has indeed improved a lot in recent years.
There is also Xu Haoyang, who has 1 goal and 2 assists in the first 3 rounds, a young man born in 99, who confidently chose the No. 7 shirt after finally returning to Shenhua on loan.
Whether Shenhua fans want to admit it or not, in the past 10 years, the hottest No. 7 in Shanghai must belong to Wu Lei. Xu Haoyang, these young people, have this kind of energy. We don't know if his coquettish heel assist impressed national football coach Jankovic.
What we can know is that even during the National Olympics, Xu Haoyang is not Yankovic's dish, but Xu Haoyang, who can attack and defend well and has data witnesses, will definitely pay Jankovic's attention this year, and the midfield of the national football team needs this kind of fresh blood with characteristics.
However, with the sheer and fiercest on the pitch, many home stadiums are not fully prepared. In the first home stadium of Chengdu, the irrational behavior of extreme fans led to the smashing of Cangzhou player Sun Qinhan. Nantong's first home stadium, fans who bought 9,000 yuan super VIP did not have seats. SIPG's new home stadium will be limited in the first 5 games due to the "stress test". When there was no "diversion" measure around the Pudong football stadium, when Shanghai Metro Line 14 became almost the only way for fans to leave the stadium; When an hour after the game, the subway station was still surrounded by fans, which is the main reason why the number of individual tickets available for the match between SIPG and Shenzhen is less than 1,000, and the much-watched Shanghai derby can only have less than 13,000 fans... And as summer approaches, the turf of some courses has already sounded the alarm.
And not being prepared can also be reflected in the chest advertisements of the teams.
Compared to the chests of many teams at the beginning of the season, only Qingdao and Meizhou are still bare in the Chinese Super League shirts. But we can also see that many teams such as Shenzhen, Nantong, Taishan, Jinmen Tigers and so on, their chest advertisements are not sold, but branded with the club name or cheering slogan. In addition, the chest advertisements of many clubs are still left for investors to fill, and there are also those such as SAIC (SIPG) and Northeast Bank (Yatai) who have left hand to right hand; Even if it has caused heated discussions about JD.com's sponsorship of Guoan, it is not an independent investment promotion behavior of the Guoan Club; This year's 16 teams' chest advertisements were mainly recruited by the club's own efforts, except for Panasonic, which sponsors the Zhejiang team all year round, and only the Bank of Communications sponsored Shenhua.
Of the 16 clubs, only two can be handled by independent investment promotion, which not only reflects that the investment level of each club needs to be improved, but also is a microcosm of the general environment.
Not only is it difficult for various clubs to attract investment, but also for this year's Chinese Super League, and the sponsorship scale and sponsorship number of this year's Chinese Super League have a clear downward trend compared with the 2022 season. Last year, the Chinese Super League paid only 8 million dividends, and this year's dividends are less than last year, which has become the consensus of all clubs.
The Chinese Super League is only a microcosm of the Chinese Football Professional League, and the so-called investment promotion of the following Central A, China B, and Zhongguan is often symbolically sponsored by the friends of the boss. In the lower leagues, some companies that appear on the sideline advertising board have not paid at all.
Affected by various negative rumors and the general recession, not only led to more rational investment by investors, but also encountered unprecedented challenges in the operation of various clubs.
I have previously contacted the Chinese Super League company/Chinese Football Federation, and have the strength to sponsor the Chinese Super League enterprises, and the staff who participated in the negotiations clearly told the author: "I don't know who will be arrested next, and then see the situation (decide whether to sponsor) when all the arrests are completed!" ”
A league that has suffered multiple blows cannot be achieved overnight. But it's also an opportunity not to be missed.
Although the results are not satisfactory, the commercial development of the Zhejiang team is at the forefront of the Chinese Super League
There is always an end to the gambling campaign, and at least in terms of attendance in previous rounds, the Chinese Super League has slowly recovered to a 2019 average.
Some clubs with blank chest ads already have teams approaching sponsors eager to fill their shirts with advertisements during the summer window.
While recovering, moving forward is an inevitable choice for Chinese football. The restored league is like a seed of Chinese football, and in time, the clear environment, the non-tossing of the football association, the support of fans, and the efforts of players will inevitably become the foundation for the future development of Chinese football that squeezes out the bubble.
In professional sports in Europe and the United States, it is not uncommon for fans to feed clubs; But during the Golden Yuan football period, the staff of a wealthy club once told the author that the annual box office + peripherals are not enough for the salary of a foreign aid!
When the annual box office + peripherals are not enough to support a foreign aid, this determines to some extent that the attitude of various clubs towards fans was not positive before; It can even be said that many clubs did not want to make money from fans before, and did not take the box office and peripheral products seriously!
But now, as the commercial value of the Chinese Super League has fallen to the freezing point, when the "old order" is broken, and various clubs begin to rebuild the "new order", the "throttling" work of each club has been effective, and then it is necessary to make great efforts in "open source".
The hot box office and peripheral product sales have been regarded as an important income by many clubs. When the club began to attach importance to the fans, the Chinese Super League used pure matches to attract fans back to the stadium, and when the fans were willing to spend money on the stadium to watch the ball, the popularity has become the biggest driving force of Chinese football in the transformation.