European football teams continued to grow their presence online in China with several landmark events from the 2014-15 season. We took a look at some of the biggest below:
July 2014
Bundesliga Launch on Weibo, WeChat and Youku
Bundesliga became the third European league to launch on Weibo and reached over 1 million followers within 6 months.
World Cup 2014: Germany Take Home the Hardware
The Germany national team won their fourth World Cup in Brazil last year, as 100 million people in China watched the Final.
Liverpool Launch on Weishi
Liverpool FC has always been a pioneer on Chinese social media. Keeping in line with this, they were the first football club to have presence on Weishi. So far, Liverpool’s most popular Weishi video has over 330,000 views.
August 2014
PSG vs. Guingamp Play Trophée des Champions in Beijing
This is the first time that the French Super Cup came to Asia with nearly 40,000 people in attendance at the match.
September 2014
Sina Sports Release App
In partnership with 11 official football teams on Weibo, Sina Sports began their campaign to promote their Sina Sports App. Promoted by Sina Sports, the launch hashtag reached over 74.5 million reads and over 50,000 discussions.
October 2014
Arsenal Launch Tmall Store
The Gunners launched their Tmall store, giving them a presence on the biggest online B2C market in China.
January 2015
VfL Wolfsburg Sign Zhang Xizhe
Zhang’s transfer hashtag #张稀哲在德甲# was viewed over 190 million times on Weibo, whilst VfL Wolfsburg announced a new partnership with Shandong Lingling Tires. Bundesliga also sold the broadcasting rights for the second half of the season to Netease.
Chelsea Launch Official WeChat
The Blues became the 5th Premier League team on WeChat.
February 2015
Tottenham Hotspur Launch Chinese Website
Tottenham Hotspur partnered with Netease Sports to launch their Chinese website.
Liverpool Partner with PPTV
Liverpool partnered with PPTV to have their video channel on one of the most popular Chinese video platforms.
Tottenham Hotspur Launch Tmall Store
Tottenham Hotspur launched their Tmall store for Chinese fans to purchase official merchandise, becoming the second football team to launch an official store on this platform.
March 2015
Liverpool Launch Tmall Store
Liverpool became one of the top Premier League football clubs to have presence on Tmall store, the 7th most visited website in China.
April 2015
Manchester United launch WeChat account
Manchester United launched their WeChat account, along with several legends touring throughout China.
International Champions Cup China Announce Teams For 2015
In partnership with LETV, the International Champions Cup announced three fixtures in China featuring European giants Real Madrid CF, A.C. Milan, and Inter Milan.
May 2015
#ThanksStevie Campaign
Liverpool marked the retirement of Steven Gerrard by launching a WeChat app with over 76,000 users.
Bayern Munich Launch Tmall Store and Announc their China Tour
The Bavarians became the fourth team on Tmall, and announced three fixtures in China, including the Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande.