How the World Cup turned mobile in China - Andy Mok

Andy Mok

The past World Cup not only gathered a massive audience in China but also marked a switch from classic TV to mobile, says China analyst Andy Mok at CGTN. Content creation has become a major industry in this traditional sport.

CGTN:

Andy Mok, a digital economy observer, said the large World Cup viewership on China's mobile Internet was game-changing, and was made possible by technology, its user base and content creation. 

"The smart phone revolution totally reinvented the viewing content participation experience. It used to be many people around one screen, passively absorbing content. Today, it's a multi-screen experience and this is the way, especially the young people, consuming, creating and distributing digital content," Mok told CGTN.

More in CGTN.

Andy Mok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on China's digital transformation? Do check out this list.  

Why soccer in China will fail - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

China´s soccer clubs have been spending unprecedented amounts of capital in buying foreign players and improving high-profile stadiums and other infrastructure, hoping to win the World Cup. But the basis is wrong, so the efforts will fail, says Beijing-based soccer expert Rowan Simons to AFP,

AFP:

The world's most populous nation has 25 times more people than England, but lags far behind its 37,000 football clubs, says Rowan Simons, a football author and founder of a private football club in the capital. 

Without grassroots teams and a deep pool of players, he said, "It's irrelevant how much money the government puts into it -- football can never flourish unless people love it."

"In Chinese there's just no history of civic society, that's really at the heart of it," Simons told AFP. "That's why top-down national funding will never work."

More at AFP.

Rowan Simons is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you looking for more strategy experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out our list here.  

China´s soccer target is more than winning the World Cup - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons

President Xi Jinping still wants China to win the World Cup by 2050, but fortunately, his 50-point soccer plans is about much more, tells soccer expert Rowan Simons to WorldCrunch."China's soccer leaders will be millions of people participating in the game because they enjoy it."

WorldCrunch:

Since the president announced his 50-point plan last year, there’s been a lot of talk about China looking to dominate world soccer — maybe even compete for the prized World Cup by 2050.

But Rowan Simons, Chairman of China Club Soccer, says the policy is much more than just that: "The 20,000 schools, host the World Cup. Win the World Cup. That's easy, isn't it? No," he quips. "I hope people can get that in to their heads that this is a historic epoch-making policy change in China that throws Soviet ideology on its head.... (it) frees a single sport from government control and says the people and experts should take control of it and build it." 

Indeed, the plan does call for separating the Chinese Soccer Association from the government. But contrary to popular belief, it isn't a blueprint for China to win the World Cup by 2050. 

Yet it does mention bidding to host the men's World Cup and for the men's team to become globally competitive. But Rowan says that is still not the main purpose. 

"It has always been the problem before that China wants to win the World Cup and it has to win the next World Cup in 4 years or 6 years or 8 years," Simons explains. "This is the first plan that says no we have a long-term 30-year journey toward even thinking about that as a result. And actually that wouldn't be the result we're looking for." 

Instead the "definition of success" for China's soccer leaders will be millions of people participating in the game because they enjoy it, Simons states.

More at WorldCrunch.

Rowan Simons is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.

Are you interested in more experts on political change at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Why China is not at the World Cup - Rowan Simons

Image via Wikipedia

China's soccer expert Rowan Simons explains in the New York Times why China is not present at the current World Cup in South Africa:

Let’s talk politics. The Chinese Football Association is an illegal organization under Article 17 of FIFA’s constitution which demands independence from government. Yet government control of the C.F.A. is clearly laid out in China’s 1994 Sports Law. These mutually exclusive regulations pose significant concerns.

Soccer needs a bottom-up approach from the grassroots in the urban neighborhoods, an approach that does not fit the country's bureaucratic culture:

Chinese sport still follows a Soviet model, placing children in elite schools (at their own expense!). Football is a mass participation sport in which the best players may not emerge until their later teens. The simple truth is that China needs a system of community-based clubs that are run by the people for the people.

Commercial
Rowan Simons is the chairman of China ClubFootball FC, the first amateur football network in China with foreign investors, and the author of “Bamboo Goalposts. He is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Soccer: corruption at every level - Rowan Simons (chinaherald.net)