On February 6, Beijing time, in the women's Asian Cup final, the Chinese women's football team once again took the top spot in Asia after 16 years.
While the clanging roses lifted the championship trophy, the sponsors of the women's football team also sent them to celebrate. Among them, "Alipay 10 billion sponsorship of women's football" was the most eye-catching.
Yicai learned from industry insiders close to the Football Association that from the perspective of sponsors, there are two types of sponsors for the women's national football team. One is the "China Team Partner", including Nike, Mengniu, China There are 10 companies including Ping An; the first category is the "China National Women's Football Team Partner". Currently, there are only two on this list, namely "Renrenche" and "Xiaohongshu". There are only a handful of companies that specialize in sponsoring the Chinese women's football team. number.
A handful of special sponsorships for women's football
Counting the sponsors of women's football in history, there are not many businesses that really appear as "partners of the Chinese national women's football team".
Judging from the thank-you posters of the women's football team, there are currently two, namely the social software "Xiaohongshu" and the used car trading platform "Renrenche".
On July 12, 2021, Xiaohongshu announced that it has become the official partner of the Chinese national women's football team, and all Chinese women's football players will join Xiaohongshu collectively.
On July 13, 2021, Renrenche and the Chinese National Women's Football Team completed the signing ceremony and officially became the official partner.
Renrenche expressed its hope to take this opportunity to bring continuous exposure to the Renrenche brand, enhance the brand's influence and user favorability, achieve differentiated traffic flow, and create a brand image that consumers love.
According to public information, on January 7, 2008, Dubang Insurance announced in Beijing that it would become the official partner of the Chinese women's national football team.
On January 8, 2019, Living Home Flooring also completed the signing ceremony with the Chinese national women's football team and became the official partner.
During the 2019 Women's World Cup, Sophie also launched a #1000000000 support for women's football and other topical activities on Weibo.
However, from the official website of the Chinese Football Association, none of the above brands appear in the latest official partner list.
Alipay, which has been committed to supporting the development of the women's football team for many years, has also become a hot spot of public attention after the women's football team won the championship.
According to the data, the Zhejiang Alipay Public Welfare Foundation was initiated and established by Ant Group in April 2019. It is a non-public foundation approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Civil Affairs.
"Chasing the Wind: Rural Campus Women's Football Support Project" was jointly initiated by Alipay Foundation and China Youth Development Foundation. It donates football equipment, sports insurance and development funds for the development of rural school women's football teams, and supports the growth of coaches and competitions Participate, and help rural girls to obtain diversified development funds together with Alipay sports caring users.
On July 5, 2019, Zhejiang Alipay Public Welfare Foundation, Zhejiang Jack Ma Public Welfare Foundation, and Zhejiang Cai Chongxin Public Welfare Foundation jointly announced that they will invest 1 billion yuan within 10 years to support the long-term development of Chinese women's football.
The 1 billion yuan will be mainly used in four aspects: the improvement of the training level of the women's national football team, the protection of women's football players and their retirement and transformation, the technical development of women's football and the training of coaches, and the promotion and development of youth women's football.
Women's football sponsorship depends on men's results
Looking at the development history of Chinese women's football, the widely praised "Clanging Rose Era" is actually very limited.
After winning the 2006 Asian Cup, the 2007 local World Cup and the 2008 local Olympic Games failed to qualify for the semi-finals, the 2011 World Cup in Germany and the 2012 London Olympics failed to qualify for the finals, the 2015 World Cup in Canada and the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Chinese women's football team He was stuck in the top 8 twice, ranked 14th in the World Cup in France in 2019, and lost to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Although the Chinese women's football team has never missed the semi-finals in the biennial Asian Cup, it only won the championship once in 2006.
The official website of the Chinese Football Association shows that there are 9 sponsors that appear as "China Team Partners", among which Nike and China Ping An are "senior partners", Mengniu and CDFG are "official partners", C'estbon is the "official drinking water partner", IC photo is the "official photo partner", and three companies, including Xiaoqin Sea Cucumber, Lion Run Ruide, and Penglai Pharmaceutical, are the "official suppliers".
In the official thank-you list of the women's football team, the above 9 players have all appeared.
However, the previous signing news shows that the main sponsors of Xiaoqin Sea Cucumber and Lion Run Ruide are the men's football team, but on the official website, only the Hailan House is listed in the list of sponsors of the men's football team.
According to the above-mentioned person, the sponsorship of the "China Team Partner" for the Football Association includes seven teams, namely the Chinese National Men's Football Team, the Chinese National Women's Football Team, the Chinese National Men's U22 Football Team, and the Chinese National Men's U19 Football Team. Team, the Chinese National Men's U16 Football Team, the Chinese National Women's U19 Football Team and the Chinese National Women's U16 Football Team.
"The sponsorship of the Chinese team depends more on the performance of the men's football team, and there are not many splits."
Yicai reviewed the historical data and found that the sponsors of the Chinese team in history also fluctuated with the changes in the world economy and the performance of Chinese football.
Li Feng (pseudonym), a former football insider, told China Business News that over the years, "there are only three main sponsors, namely Siemens-Hyundai-Ford".
Siemens official website shows that on February 11, 2003, Siemens Mobile signed a contract with the "China Team" and became the main sponsor of seven teams in the "China Team" including the Chinese men's football team and the Chinese women's football team.
At the end of September 2006, due to excessive losses, the European division of BenQ Siemens declared bankruptcy, and the main sponsor of the Chinese team was missing.
It was not only Siemens that failed to persist until the end, but the sweet agreement between the successor main sponsor Beijing Hyundai and the Chinese team also failed to finish well.
On May 29, 2012, Beijing Hyundai officially signed a contract with the Chinese Football Association for 4 years and became the main sponsor of the Chinese team. Another company that has decided to sponsor the Chinese team.
During the sponsorship period of Beijing Hyundai, the record of the Chinese national team was at its lowest point. Such support was particularly precious, but the two sides still failed to insist on fulfilling the contract and finally broke up peacefully ahead of schedule.
"This is mainly the influence of the men's football team," said the source.
Taking over from Beijing Hyundai as the main sponsor is still an auto company - Changan Ford.
On August 31, 2015, Changan Ford announced that it has officially become the main sponsor of the Chinese Football Association China Team from 2015 to 2019, including all seven national football teams under the Chinese Football Association China Team.
According to Li Feng, Changan Ford's sponsorship ended by first being reduced to a partner, and then not renewing the contract.
"2018 is over, and now there is no main sponsor."
The sponsorship of sports events is a complex system. In addition to the three major main sponsors, there are also official partners of various levels. The conditions and rights of business are also quite different.
The above-mentioned person close to the Football Association said, "The sponsorship of sports events is divided into different sequences. The sponsorship of the game and the sponsorship of the team are two different things, and the rights and interests of the sponsors are also different." The specific amount and sponsorship content are confidential.
According to incomplete statistics, since 2006, in addition to the renewing veteran sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Konica Minolta, dozens of new sponsors have joined Team China, but the length of the contracts varies.
In 2005, the Chinese Football Association announced the price list of the various sponsors of the Chinese team, showing that the cooperation price of the main sponsor, official sponsor and official supplier at that time should not be lower than 50 million yuan, 20 million yuan and 10 million yuan respectively.
Compared with the attention and commercial sponsorship that men's football has received over the years, the situation for women's football is still relatively difficult.
Chinese women's football still has a long way to go if it wants to enter the forefront of the world stage, and the investment in hardware is indispensable.
The world women's football team has begun to revive, and the Chinese women's football team has also made significant progress. Winning the Asian Cup championship is an important opportunity for the women's football team to regain market attention. The rapid development of the Chinese women's football team is worth looking forward to.
Incomplete list of Chinese team partners and sponsors:
Siemens, Beijing Hyundai, Changan Ford, Coca-Cola, Konica Minolta, Adidas, Dongfeng Yueda-Kia, Konica Minolta, Sedrin Beer, Yanjing Beer, Casio, Sohu.com, CCTV, Continental, Nike, Gionee Mobile, Skyworth, Changan Ford, Vantage, Zegna, TAG Heuer, Heilan Home, Adidas, Nike, Ping An of China, Mengniu, CDFG, C’estbon, IC photo, Xiaoqin Sea Cucumber, Lion Run Ruide, Penglai Pharmaceutical
Incomplete list of official partners of women's football:
Dubang Insurance, China Resources Sanjiu, Sophie, Living Home Flooring, Xiaohongshu, Renrenche