How to make more people fall in love with football? This topic is so big that an article can't give a comprehensive enough answer, but this huge problem is something that the entire industry must face, think about and work hard to solve, and this article is intended to lead the way and trigger more thinking.
There are thousands of roads, and happiness is the first. Perhaps in the final analysis, the essence of football is happiness. And making more people feel happy through football is the best way for us to make more people fall in love with football.
Text / Guo Yang
Football, the undisputed world's number one sport, is not the case at home.
In the 80s, the national team coach was also a national star who could be on the Spring Festival Gala to sell his hair, and the national football team impact on the World Cup was also a hot topic of discussion among the whole people, but until now, on the same stage, the name of "Chinese football" can only be heard in the spitting session.
To borrow Mr. Guo Degang's half-sentence - "After the unremitting efforts of our generation", football has become the laughing stock of the whole people. No matter what the occasion, ridiculing Chinese football has almost become the safest and most resonant joke.
Sadly and indignantly, almost every year, Chinese football can break some news that refreshes the lower limit.
In 2021, a neutral name policy that seems to be "merit in the contemporary industry" has finally become the last straw that crushed Jinyuan football, from the Chinese Super League champion Jiangsu team to the Jinmen Tigers, a number of well-established professional teams have come to the end, and the copyright prices of head events such as the Chinese Super League, the Premier League, and Serie A are also waiting to be revalued.
For a time, football, which had been touted by capital in recent years, was once again stepped into the bottom.
Whose fault is it? In the past, the gunfire was often aimed at the FA, but with the "suspension" of many local teams, there have also been many reflective voices. Whether it is on social media or in the message area of sports forums, a common voice is that Chinese football fans are too hard to cut the door, they are all "white prostitutes" teams.
Peripheral equipment is not bought, live watching the ball with a free ticket, watching the ball to spend money simply looking for pirates, the biggest cost may be the football lottery... All this eventually led to the entire Chinese football industry having no money to earn, and the league was left with only the value of "billboards". After the value of advertising was weakened by the policy, the bursting of the bubble was expected.
"Chinese football famous scene" "face is gone"
In response to the topic of "fans do not spend money", the author has previously made an appointment with Teacher Zhong Fangliang to discuss the "" in detail, and give some feasible methodologies.
Of course, we should not blindly accuse fans of "cutting". The latest national data is that the annual per capita GDP is 72447 yuan, and the average disposable income of residents in the country is 32189 yuan - the Chinese people are not short of money, but if you can't provide enough high-quality products suitable for the people, you can't complain that consumers vote with banknotes.
If the football industry is reduced to a formula, in addition to the variable that makes a single fan spend more money, another important variable is how to attract more fans.
In the past few years, how to attract more fans has always been the most concerned thing of each head media platform, which has directly caused cross-border "out of the circle" to take advantage of entertainment and become the mainstream playing method of each company.
Lu Han, the "Manchester United Ambassador" in the commentary seat
Of course, the media platform that has spent real money to work hard is on the one hand, IP owners and even sports practitioners also need to think of ways to attract more fresh blood for football.
Here, the author tried to list some ways to "make more people fall in love with football", some of which may be a little operational, and some of which require the joint efforts of the entire football industry system. Throw bricks and jade, hoping to inspire practitioners to find more ways to refer to.
Method one: a stronger national team
Competitive sports, "food is the original sin". No matter when the national team produces results, it is the most direct and effective way to make more people fall in love with football.
Some people say that in the chat, Manchester United fans call "I devil", Manchester City fans call "my city", Chelsea fans call "my car", Arsenal fans call "my factory", but there is only one team that can make everyone say "we" together - that is the Chinese national team.
In 1999, when the Chinese women's football team slashed all the way to kill the enemy and rushed into the final of the Women's World Cup, the streets and alleys were talking about the voice of women's football, Sun Wen and other names were well known, and the name of "sonorous rose" resounded throughout Shenzhou, and was also included in the Spring Festival Gala cross-talk segment.
In 2001, when the Chinese men's football team finally rushed into the World Cup, the five big characters of "We are out of the line" on the TV kept flashing, and the cheers and salutes resounded throughout the country, from Shenyang to Beijing, from south to north from east to west, countless fans flocked to the streets to celebrate the victory, it was a glorious moment of universal celebration of Chinese football, and countless children, from this moment, they firmly believed in their football dreams - of course, later basically shattered to the ground.
But even so, the national team's performance in the competition is still the best way to drive more people to fall in love with football, and perhaps there is no one.
Of course, this road is full of thorns, and the biggest difficulty is our hard power. The 2022 Qatar World Cup, which will be played in the winter, still maintains 32 seats, even if there are many "naturalized players", but the Chinese team wants to break through, it is still very difficult. At present, the goal of "reaching the top 12 matches" seems to be more stable, which may also be a rare life-saving straw for Chinese football at present.
Fortunately, looking forward to 2026, the expanded World Cup will have 48 seats, of which Asia has as many as 8.5 seats, while the Chinese team is currently ranked 75th in the world and 9th in Asia – it seems that the dream is not so far away. But the question is again, "Tsinghua Peking University has expanded enrollment", will you be able to pass the examination?
Of course, dreams still have to be had...
Method two: better Super League
The national team competition is held every four years, even if it is added to the Asian Cup and the Olympic Games, the frequency is still limited, and the results are very accidental. Then, the daily league has become an element that must be paid attention to.
Not to mention, the national team's performance itself is closely related to the league, and if you want to truly become a football power, the league is definitely a foundation that cannot be ignored. This is the fertile ground for the growth of players and the cradle of fans.
In the past, in order to make the Chinese Super League look better, the Football Association and team owners thought of various methods, and also shouted the slogan of "building the sixth largest league" openly and secretly.
Seeing him rise from the skyscrapers, seeing him feast on guests, the Golden Yuan era followed - the bosses have made efforts to bring the top players to the Chinese Super League. But as the gold dollar bubble burst, seeing his building collapse, some top stars even took the money and did not try to pretend to be injured, but went to Disney... In addition, the Football Association is also constantly working hard to improve the "net play time" of each game, but this still has little effect.
It must be pointed out that building a complete league system, striving to develop youth training, and making the Chinese league really look good is hard work, slow work, and it is also a road that cannot be bypassed. This requires the joint efforts of the Football Association, the Chinese Super League companies, teams, sponsors, broadcasters, media and even fans, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and other countries have made advanced demonstrations for us, and Japan, a neighbor with us to develop a professional league, has also given us a useful reference.
"He is the jade of the mountain, he can attack the stone", imitating, learning, learning, and constantly making our league level higher, is the road that must be traveled. How many tricks have been taken before, and now we have to double how much tuition.
However, it is not a shortcut at all, and we can also try to make the Chinese Super League more fun.
In this regard, Japan also gives some examples, such as the "assist manager" model. The manual reads: "The League's Special Public Relations Department is a department that hopes to let more people feel the charm of the J-League and football, and the members of this department are everyone!" Let's heat up the atmosphere in the J-League and Japanese football."
The previous two generations of J-League managers
As an important attempt by this department, using female artists as "support managers", Adachi Ewha completed visits to the home stadiums of all 40 clubs in her three years in office.
Have a smile like a little sun, take the audience to learn football knowledge, visit the stadium and try local cuisine... After experiencing the question of "not knowing the ball", the reinforcement manager was finally popular with the fan community. As a result, this small event, which was originally intended to be held for only one year, has gradually become a symbol of Japanese football.
Back in China, since major sports platforms have begun to take advantage of entertainment, can the Chinese Super League, which is the main body of IP, hold a talent show similar to "China Super League 101"? Then use the draft culture that young people love to select "image ambassadors" for the league or each team, and rely on these outstanding male and female artists to make more short videos and variety shows to further attract more young people.
It feels like a feeling when you think about it.
Method three: force the campus
"Sports must start with dolls" – the words of the leaders are still in the ears.
Developing sports from the bottom up, the scene is nothing more than the community and the campus. In the absence of community culture, the campus has become a fertile sports ground where we can develop. Whether it is the "dual-track system" of Japanese football (professional leagues and campuses cultivate talents simultaneously) or the campus sports system at all levels in the United States, these are all methods that we can refer to and learn from.
Zhang's comment that "football should start with blind kicking" is very shocking, and the goal of building 30,000 characteristic football schools is ambitious enough, but after the goals and methods are determined, it is necessary to further improve the supporting coaching system, event system, venue system, and talent transportation system. Truly make all aspects of football education worry-free.
"Would you like to let your kids play football?" If you seriously develop school football, this classic question will have another answer. Give a good enough environment, give a training system without worries, give a better way out, let the child have a positive and healthy hobby, reduce the myopia rate, and achieve higher sports scores, so that parents will naturally give more support.
The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago, followed by now. From this moment on, the development of campus football began, and tens of millions of seeds were planted early. Stick to it and in time, Chinese football culture will one day become a forest.
Where is the road? The road is actually always under your feet.
Method 4: Leverage culture
If the above three moves are "positive", then with the help of various cultural carriers, it is a "strange move" that can be referenced.
From soccer esports to soccer tournaments
"Soccer Boy", "Slam Dunk Master", "The Prince of Tennis", sports in neighboring comics, inspired children around the world to fall in love with sports. In addition to the comics that have been verified, football variety shows, football movies, football short video accounts, football podcasts, football TV series, and even football games and football e-sports are all high-quality carriers that can be implanted.
There is no doubt that culture can infiltrate all levels of society with half the effort and will be an excellent starting point for cultivating football enthusiasts. However, it should be noted that only developing the surrounding culture and not engaging in football itself is like only practicing tricks without practicing internal skills, and may eventually fall into the evil path of fire and magic. Therefore, borrowing culture can only be regarded as a miracle, not the right way of Shaolin.
Method five: Do it! big! contest!
The competition performance industry will always be the core of the sports industry. A big game at the doorstep will definitely give Chinese football a qualitative leap.
Soon, the 2023 Asian Cup, the reformed and postponed new Club World Cup are just around the corner, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shenyang, Jinan, Hangzhou, Dalian, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Qingdao, Xiamen, Suzhou... In this way, 15 cities are fully prepared and waiting for the competition to come to their homes.
More professional stadiums, higher level teams, with the big game at home, the pull effect for new fans is self-evident.
Of course, with so many professional venues, the Asian Cup and the large Club World Cup training and talent training, our goal is not only this.
Hosting a World Cup at home is our "sea of stars" and the ultimate battle that makes Chinese people boil over football.
2030、2034、2038...... When will this day come? Better hardware is already in place, and better software is needed to keep up – better national team results and more fans are still the first problems we need to solve.
The World Cup on our doorstep, we've been waiting.
Of course, in the final analysis, the essence of football is happiness. All of the above methods are "Tao", and happiness is "skill", so that more people feel happy through football, and there is a chance to make more people fall in love with football.
But then again, modern sports, especially football, are the products of modern industry and need to be viewed from a broad and long-term perspective, and are by no means an overnight short-term task.
If you want to really have more fans, the upgrade of the tactical "Tao" is on the one hand, but more importantly, the strategic upgrade. Shortcuts can overtake in the short term, but if you want to get more football population in the long run, only by innovating the entire system and forming a bottom-up power can Chinese football really turn over and return to its due track.
How to make more people fall in love with football? The method given here is a leak, but if it can play a role in throwing bricks and leading jade, it is not a waste of your traffic.
Finally, some people may ask: why does it have to be football?
Leaving aside the economic figures, we may wish to quote a passage by Yu Ze, a kryptonian columnist, recalling the "2001 Top Ten" article:
"This [national celebration] is the unique charm of football and the unique excitement brought by football in New China in the past 70 years. Chinese football has been sneaking in the dark for many years, and even if it qualifies again in the future, it is likely that it will not be able to reproduce the fanatical atmosphere of that year because of the change of times.
The high school student of that year has now become the father of a child. We still haven't made it to the World Cup for the second time, but I believe there will always be a day when we will once again "rush out of Asia and go global". On that day, I will definitely tell my children the story of that year, and what Yu Genwei's goal and that 1-0 victory mean to Chinese fans like Dad.
I am extremely fortunate to have experienced that era firsthand.
I am also full of hope that there will be better times in the future."
Regardless of whether Chinese football has fallen to the bottom now, as long as we still want to develop sports, then making more people fall in love with football will be our eternal goal.
Let us be hopeful and let us move on.