On February 5, China Sports Media (CSM) held its annual meeting, where unexpectedly Chairman Li Yidong announced his decision to resign from all his management positions at the company. CSM bought the 5-season (2016-2020) broadcasting rights for the Chinese Super League (CSL) for RMB8 billion in October 2015.
In July 2017, CSM held off paying the second-phase annual payment for the 2017 CSL season, as a response to the negative influence of the CFA’s two new policies on the league’s commercial value.
Read more: Who is responsible for the devaluation of CSL media rights?
In January 2018, CSM finally amended and extended their contract with the CSL through to 2025, with the sports agency paying RMB11 billion for a 10-year period.
According to Wu Dabo taken from Li’s WeChat account ”你好贵司”, Li is expected to retain the title of Honorary Chairman, but hand over all of his management businesses to Zhao Jun, CEO of CSM.
“The decision is not so difficult for me to make. There will be no Little Li Flying Dagger (Li’s nickname) in the sports industry from now on, and I’m back to the life of ordinary people.” Li wrote in a WeChat post.
Source: WeChat ”你好贵司”
Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick