Alisports, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s sports arm, yesterday unveiled a revolutionary partnership with the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. This has made immediate headlines within the Chinese sports industry.

At the end of February, Alisports appointed Han Lifeng, former director of Beijing Wukesong Stadium, as Vice President. Reports said that he would also become Managing Director of its venue management department. So the latest announcement has confirmed all previous speculation.

As revealed by Alisports, this move aims to offer bespoke and effective solutions for Chinese cities to improve their stadiums.

"China has about 1.7 million stadiums. The goal for us is to become a sports services provider that can deliver turnkey solutions for each city," said Zhang Dazhong, CEO of Alisports.

Han Lifeng, Alisports’ new vice president, said that for most Chinese stadiums, 80% of their revenue comes from rent and government subsidies. Only a few venues have made sponsorship or advertising their main revenue sources.

In other words, Chinese statiums and venues always face challenges regarding business development, management models and sponsorship solutions. Although some of them get support from local government, they can still make more improvements by embracing advanced technology.

Therefore, Alisports is looking to create a better fan base for a stadium, by integrating their cloud computing and big data technology.

“The aim for the Alibaba Group is to improve the e-business system, payment-system, big data platform Aliyun, intelligent hardware and marketing system. At the same time, the partnership will allow the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube to realize their commercial value.” Zhang added.

To carry through the big plan, Alisports is set to make an RMB10 billion ($1.52 billion) investment in smart venues and management systems. In the short term, 20 cities will be chosen to run pilot projects. As reported, Alisports has reached a partnership with Najing and Shaoxing to activate this plan. In the long term, 100 cities will be covered to upgrade thousands of stadiums and venues.

"China has about 1.7 million stadiums. The goal for us is to become a sports services provider that can deliver turnkey solutions for each city," Zhang explained.

For Zhang Dazhong, Alisports is a startup in the industry, despite the strong support from its parent company Alibaba. At the news conference held yesterday, the sports company also rolled out its overall plan, which features Internet+, intellectual properties, big data, sports infrastructure and memberships.

Proofread by Sean O Diobhilin