After China Sports Media Ltd (CSM) got awarded the rights to produce live video content for the China National Team, and 4 cities were authorized to host the 2018 World Cup Qualification, Chinese Football Association (CFA) launched a call for business partners  of China National Team.

Compared to countries like Japan, CFA offered a relatively low price for the partnership. There are three levels of the partners.

One presenting sponsor, one official sponsor and two official suppliers are needed. The initial price for those three levels are 50 million, 20 million and 10 million CNY respectively. The proposal includes courtside brand exposures -- 18 minutes for presenting sponsors, 9 for official sponsors and 4 and a half for official suppliers. The remaining 54 minutes are shared by 5 partners (Nike, Yanjing Beer, Continental Tires etc.) whose contracts have not expired yet.

The reason that CFA is finding new partners is that the former sponsor was not going to offer more supports for the national teams. CFA signed an agreement in 2012 with Hyundai Motor, the sponsor fee of which was 160 million CNY for 4 years (40 million for one year). However, CFA could just receive as little as 20 million after deducting the agency fee, while Japan Football Association could get 125 million CNY from the their presenting sponsor, Kirin.

“Even though we are far away from Japan in football, we still thought China National Team were more valuable than before. Moreover, we have potentials.”