The engine of sports events roars, and the consumption "carriage" is racing

Text: Liu Wang

Yu Haixia In April 2023, Chinese chess player Ding Liren defeated Russian chess player Nepomniachtchi and became the world chess king. It's easy to say, but looking back, I found that there were thorns along the way. Ding Liren's qualification was made up, and in the series, he fell behind many times and equalized many times, and after more than 20 days of fierce battles, he finally won with difficulty. Some media commented that Ding Liren "showed an iron will".

"Iron will" is a common attribute of Chinese athletes. Under this attribute, in 2023, Chinese sports have once again achieved proud results. Especially in many large-scale events, Chinese athletes have left us with too much shock.

Sporting events, especially large-scale events, are driving the growth of consumption. Whether it is marathons in various places, or Guizhou's "village super" and "village BA", they have become one of the engines driving the growth of local consumption. Not only that, the vigorous development of sports has also led to the increase in income of surrounding industries. Taking sports equipment as an example, the sports atmosphere driven by events and sports stars has made the trend of national sports more prosperous and stimulated the development of related industries.

All kinds of cases show that whether it is the results of competitive sports, or the spread of sportsmanship, or the development of related industries and the promotion of consumption growth, sports have brought great surprises to people.

Competitive sports continue to benefit the masses

The Hangzhou Asian Games and the Chengdu Universiade, the two largest international events to be held in China in 2023, the Chinese sports delegation lived up to expectations and delivered a perfect answer.

Not only that, in 2023, the Chinese women's basketball team will win the Asian Cup championship again after 12 years, the Chinese team will win 5 championships at the World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese team will successfully defend the title at the Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championships, and the Chinese team will rank first in the gold medal list with 20 gold medals at the World Swimming Championships......

In a series of outstanding achievements, some historic breakthroughs are even more moving. In August 2023, in the collective individual final of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, the Chinese team won the gold medal in 5 laps with 36.550 points, winning the world championship for the first time, and Chinese chess player Ding Liren became the world chess king after more than 20 days of fierce battles.

There is no doubt that among the various sports events in 2023, Chinese sports athletes have achieved a double harvest of sports achievements and spiritual civilization, which not only infects the audience in sportsmanship, but also effectively plays a leading role in the development of mass sports.

In addition, the world champion effect is obvious, such as Ding Liren's perseverance and calm spirit, which has gradually heated up chess, a niche youth quality education category, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which "brought 300 million people to participate in ice and snow sports", and this boom continues to this day.

The most obvious is the increase in the commercial value of sports events and IP. Previously, the Chinese women's football team and the luxury brand PRADA attracted widespread attention, and this to a certain extent shows that the Chinese women's football team relies on hard work and enterprising, and its commercial value is constantly improving.

After the Chinese women's football team won the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, it has more than 20 sponsors at all levels. Previously, the Chinese women's football team only had a brief cooperation with some brands, but now it has an independent sponsorship system. Not only that, many athletes of the Chinese women's football team have signed contracts with brands such as Yili and Pure Water Music, ushering in the improvement of commercial value at the individual level.

Of course, this is inseparable from the aggressiveness and perseverance of the Chinese women's football team. In the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team won the Asian Cup for the 9th time in history after 16 years.

In addition to the achievements of the national team, the passion of Chinese brands for sports is also reflected in the love of sports superstars. In June 2023, the men's football team of the Argentine team led by Messi appeared in the "New Gongti" and played a friendly match with the Australian football national team, which once caused the "Messi traffic competition".

There are 23 official sponsors of the Football Invitational Tournament, and many brands have not been able to become official sponsors, so they seek to be exposed in the broadcast screen. There are also live broadcast platforms that have come down to participate. On June 12, 2023, as soon as the news that Messi will appear in the live broadcast room of "Yuanwang Android" was issued, Yuanwang Technology (002291. SZ) rose rapidly at the end of the session, up 5.13% as of the close, closing at 16.40 yuan per share.

The ecological effect of "sports +" is remarkable

On the one hand, it has driven the vigorous development of mass sports, and on the other hand, event sports have also played an important role as an engine in stimulating consumption.

Taking the Wuxi Marathon as an example, more than 70% of the out-of-town spectators poured into Wuxi in advance, and the Harbin Marathon turned the race into a "flowing water seat", and the runners ate while running, successfully promoting the food culture of Harbin.

The effect of major events is even more pronounced. The Chengdu ITTF Mixed Team World Cup, which ended in December 2023, achieved a box office of about 28 million yuan, and the output value of the sports industry, accommodation industry, catering industry and other industries reached 260 million yuan.

Of course, event merchandise is also a major consumer driver. According to the Chengdu Universiade Executive Committee Propaganda Department (opening and closing ceremonies department) member of the party group, full-time deputy minister Miao Yuyuan revealed, Chengdu Universiade hand in hand with Sichuan Sports Lottery, China Post and other units, derived from the development of the Universiade Rongbao series of lottery, Rongbao theme stamp products and other explosive licensed goods, Universiade Rongbao series of lottery also created a sales record of Sichuan instant lottery tickets, sales revenue exceeded 300 million yuan.

Large-scale events have a natural and strong commercial appeal, and through their own brand influence and joint promotion of sponsors, the promotion of regional consumption is more like a matter of course. However, in recent years, some events that do not rely on commercialization have also successfully driven the development of the surrounding economy, which is the "village" prefix event.

At present, the "village BA" and "village super" do not accept commercial sponsorship, do not charge tickets, do not pull sponsorship, and the villagers themselves are the main body of the competition, and cooperate with relevant local organizations. Although no commercial sponsorship is accepted, it is still possible to see the driving effect of mass sports events on local consumption. During the "Village BA" event from March 25 to 26, 2023, the popularity of tourism searches in southeast Guizhou increased by 276% compared with the previous weekend, and the number of orders for local scenic spots and cars also increased significantly compared with the previous weekend, of which the scenic spots increased by 143%, and the number of cars increased by more than 30%.

In addition, Taipan Village, Taijiang County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, vigorously promotes industrial development around "sports +". For example, seize the opportunity of "Village BA" to promote Taijiang "carp kiss fragrant rice", rice fish, sturgeon, tomato juice and other agricultural products, aiming at the development of basketball, and driving the sales of basketball-related products.

Zhang Qing, founder of Beijing Key Road Sports Consulting Co., Ltd., also believes that for rural sports, some events can be capitalized, but some cannot. "Once capital is involved, it considers the issue of input and output. As a non-spectator event, it depends on the scale to attract sponsorship, which will affect the purity of the event over time. However, while not affecting the purity of the event, investment can be considered around the event, such as tourism, peripheral products, etc. ”

As Zhang Qing said, although the event itself has no commercial operation, in the periphery, the "village" prefix league has driven the development of the regional economy, and has embarked on a development path of "using the game as a medium to drive commerce".

Obviously, in 2023, whether it is a large-scale event or a rural event, they have explored a "sports +" ecology that is suitable for their own development and can effectively stimulate consumption.

The industry is becoming more and more segmented and booming

The sports-related consumer industry is also rapidly expanding, and a clear trend is that with the rise of various sports, the related sports equipment market has become more and more detailed and specialized.

At a time when time is becoming more and more fragmented, people will use scattered time to exercise, so running, walking and other sports with fewer venue restrictions, low exercise threshold, and flexible exercise time have become popular sports.

This also led to sales growth in related categories. Among them, cycling-related categories have performed particularly well in the past six months, and the online sales of cycling pants, cycling glasses, road bicycles and other tracks have increased by more than 40% in the past six months.

Not only that, the ice and snow equipment driven by ice and snow sports has also become a fast-growing sports equipment track. iiMedia Consulting predicts that the market size driven by ice and snow sports in mainland China will reach 829.75 billion yuan in 2023, exceed one trillion yuan in 2025, and the compound annual growth rate from 2023 to 2025 will reach 18.8%.

In addition, the development of women's professional sports has also led to a larger market segment. According to statistics from Statista, Germany, in 2021, the global women's sportswear market was worth about $178 billion. The market is expected to grow by more than $90 billion to reach $269 billion by 2029.

In the domestic market, this trend is also confirmed. JD.com has released a report showing that the number of goods purchased by women in swimming, ice sports, skiing and other aspects continues to grow, among which the fastest-growing product categories include Felix sticks, grip machines, tension bands, etc. The most intuitive impact of market segmentation is that sports brands are working in the same direction. The reporter of "China Business Daily" noticed that at present, many brands, including Nike, Li Ning, and 361°, have developed some exclusive sports equipment for women.

Sun Wei, senior consultant of brand marketing at Tsinghua University, believes that in recent years, women have paid more and more attention to fitness, which has enhanced women's purchasing power in sports and fitness, and the women's sports industry has become a fast-growing track.

In 2024, the Paris Olympics will open, and at the same time, the Asian Cup, European Cup, and Copa America will also be held, and the World Table Tennis Team Championships and the Badminton Asian Championships will also attract a lot of attention.

In addition, the Four Continents World Figure Skating Championships, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix, the China Tennis Tour and many other events will land in China, especially in the fourth quarter of 2024, more than 10 events will be held in China, which will bring more imagination to promote local consumption, brand marketing, and create a better sports atmosphere. In 2024, the engine of sports events will inevitably pull the surrounding industries forward faster.