Australian sports marketing and consulting firm Gemba will boost its presence in the fast-growing Chinese sports business sector after winning a key deal with global footwear and sports apparel giant Adidas.

Gemba will hire several new staff and management for its Shanghai office and invest in expanding its China sports and entertainment research division.

The firm has been appointed by Adidas to develop a customized marketing strategy for Shanghai as part of the global company's City Attack marketing program which will focus on six cities around the world: Shanghai, Tokyo, London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles. 

Gemba chief executive Rob Mills said the growing interest in sport in China, which has been given a further boost by president Xi Jinping decreeing greater participation in sports, including football.

"As income there is going up there is a far greater propensity for people to be engaged in sport, so the growing middle class there presents a big opportunity for the sports and entertainment industry," said Mills.

"Through our research we've seen that basketball is particularly popular among the younger people in China, while more traditional sports like badminton and table tennis are popular with old people. Olympic sports get a big boost every four years, but we think football will be a big mover in China in the next few years."

Taken from Financial Review