Alibaba to develop rugby in China through TV deal
Rebecca Hawkes
| 12 April 2016
E-commerce and entertainment giant Alibaba has reached a ten-year pact with World Rugby to broadcast and develop rugby union in China.
The multi-million dollar agreement between Alibaba’s Alisports division and the sport’s governing body was announced during the Hong Kong Sevens tournament.
Alisports’ over-the-top (OTT) sports platform will be the exclusive Chinese broadcaster of World Rugby content, including the World Cup – held every four years – and the annual Sevens World Series and the Women’s Sevens Series.
In return, Alisports will support World Rugby and the China Rugby Football Association (CRFA) in developing a mass participation, training and education programme, with the aim of having a million participants in China over the next decade. Currently there are an estimated 7.7 million rugby union players worldwide.
“Rugby is such an exciting game with much teamwork and we’ve recognised its exceptionally positive character-building values,” said Zhang Dazhong, CEO, Alisports.
Alisports and World Rugby said they will work together to host or attract major rugby events to China within the next ten years.
“Rugby continues to experience record global participation and profile growth and this exciting deal with one of China’s biggest entertainment and e-commerce giants is a reflection of the strong appetite for the sport in emerging rugby markets,” said Bernard Lapasset, chairman, World Rugby.
Alisports, which was formed in September 2015, has received minority investments from Sina, a Chinese online media company and Yunfeng Capital, a private investment vehicle controlled by Alibaba chief Jack Ma. The sports platform already owns a 38% stake in Evergrande Taobao Football Club in Guangzhou.
The deal follows a spate of international sports and Chinese entertainment tie-ups earlier this year. Dalian Wanda has recently teamed up with football’s world governing body FIFA, in a sponsorship deal which brings with it the Chinese broadcasting rights for the next four World Cup tournaments. Meanwhile NBA and ESPN have tied up with Tencent, and Major League Baseball has signed a three year video streaming and development deal with LeEco (formerly LeTV).
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