The Bundesliga has strengthened its relationship with media partner PP Sports and parent company Suning Group following a Strategic Cooperation Summit Forum held in Nanjing, China last week.
One of the major initiatives to come out of the two-day event was the launch of the PP Sports German Football Culture Month. This began with a Bundesliga Legends Tour featuring 1990 World Cup winner Jürgen Klinsmann in Beijing at the weekend which saw him undertake a number of activities, supporting grassroots football, visiting a Chinese Super League match and attending a Fan Festival.
The Summit saw the largest delegation of Bundesliga and German club representatives visiting China ever. They were focused on knowledge sharing and discussions about further cooperation with PP Sports, whilst plans to utilise the full potential of their parent company were also developed.
It was agreed that Suning Group will use their rich online and offline resources to help the promotion of German clubs in China as it bids to help the Bundesliga become the most popular foreign league.
In addition, comprehensive cooperation in the fields of youth training, eFootball, sports retail, international trade, sports marketing and technological innovation will also take place as the Suning Group strengthens its position as the home for the Bundesliga in China.
Speaking about this event, Bundesliga CEO Robert Klein said: “We are extremely happy with the first year of our relationship with PP Sports. All Bundesliga games are available to our Chinese fans, which has not been the case previously. Our partnership will go well beyond in the coming seasons as we look forward to revealing projects in the areas of eFootball, eCommerce and football development projects as well as exciting plans related to innovation – which we will be announcing in due course.”
He continued: “Six of our clubs – FC Bayern, Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Schalke 04, VfL Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt now have offices in China which is fantastic. This allows the league and club brands to have a constant and meaningful conversation with Chinese sports fans.” “After two intensive and efficient days, Suning, the Bundesliga and the clubs agreed to further increase our cooperation. As one of the top football leagues in the world and more than 50 years of history, the Bundesliga now has the highest average attendance among all football leagues in the world. Furthermore, the Bundesliga has always been known for its healthy operation and high technology focus. Suning, with its professional media operation capabilities, owns a wealth of online and offline resources, ranking first in China’s retail brand value. PP Sports and Suning are aiming to make the Bundesliga accessible for Chinese fans, and to accelerate Bundesliga’s influence in China through integrating its resources in retail, marketing fan engagement and youth training” said Wang Dong, Executive Vice President of Suning Sports Group.
