Global Courant 2023-04-30 02:00:00
After the pandemic, a series of international sporting events will return to China, but the entities behind them are cautious and trying new ways to protect themselves against a more unpredictable business environment due to geopolitical tensions.
Others are taking a wait-and-see approach.
The World Snooker Tour has announced it will be returning to China after a four-year hiatus, starting with a tournament in Shanghai in September. It will hold two other events in Wuhan and a third in a Chinese city yet to be determined.
The Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) league Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), meanwhile, is gearing up to resume live events later in 2023 after a three-year break.
But its return comes with a new partnership – with the Chinese government – to promote the latter’s Healthier China initiative, which encourages healthier living.
UFC hosts and funds family-friendly roadshows and other fitness and lifestyle events, a departure from the league’s MMA-focused events in other markets.
“These are a little bit more unique to China than they are in the other parts of the world,” said UFC senior vice president and head of Asia Kevin Chang.
The hope is that the efforts will help the Las Vegas-headquartered UFC build goodwill as they confront political sensitivities in China. These have always been an essential part of operating in the world’s largest consumer market, but uncertainties have increased in tandem with growing animosity between China and the United States.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in China released its 2023 White Paper report on Wednesday, identifying deteriorating bilateral relations as a key challenge in 2023. About 87 percent of respondents to a flash survey said they are at least somewhat pessimistic about US-China ties. – 14 percentage points higher than in the chamber’s previous poll at the end of 2022.
Sporting events are not immune to the malaise.
The Shanghai Grand Prix, which was supposed to take place in April, has been canceled for the fourth year in a row. While the first three cases were due to the pandemic, the fourth was apparently due to scheduling conflicts. The cancellation has left a four-week gap in the 2023 racing calendar and speculation that car racing, wary of potential pitfalls, is beginning to cool in the Chinese market. The organisers, the Formula 1 World Championships, declined to comment.
This follows a series of sporting events influenced by politics.
In March 2022, Chinese broadcasters withdrew broadcasts of English Premier League (EPL) matches due to the planned show of solidarity with Ukraine before the clubs’ kick-off.
National Basketball Association (NBA) games were taken off the air on terrestrial broadcaster CCTV in 2019 after then-Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of protesters in Hong Kong.
