Nov. 8 (NBD) -- China's sports market will hit 7 trillion yuan (1.1 trillion U.S. dollars) by 2025, said a report on China's sports industry in 2017 released at the Digital Sport Global Summit held on Tuesday.

Chen Juhong, vice president of Tencent Holdings, noted at the summit that netizens have shifted their focus from the number of gold medals to sports culture and pan-sports innovation. Chen regarded the changes as the core to motivate the rise of pan-sports culture and creativity.

According the report, China's sports market will enter a new growth cycle characterized by athletics and business innovation and the total market scale of the sports industry will reach 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2025. Unlike previous development, this new growth cycle will be powered by diversified engines and entail expansion of the entire industry.

NBD learned from the summit that in an era when the sports industry undergoes continuous changes and reform, youngsters who love entertainment start to hold more initiative, ushering in entertainment elements to the sports circle. Young people tend to adore athletes just like they look up to idols in the entertainment circle.

Gong Yi, vice-president of Nielsen China, a data and information company, shared his observations on sports involvement of the young generation born between 1998 and 2002. Trends and characteristics are as follows: 

1. previously less popular sports like cycling, skiing, racing, and wrestling are gaining popularity among young people;

2. this group of people has the greatest potential for online sports consumption;

3. young people tend to associate with friends and colleagues when working out;

4. e-sports shows a rapid growth just like traditional athletic sport. The year of 2016, for example, witnessed 90 percent of these young people playing video games.

5. these young people prefer getting access to sports information using mobile apps and social media.

Photo/VCG

The sports brokerage industry, as the lubricant between the sports system and IP commercialization, needs to rise to challenges coming along with opportunities.

The above-mentioned report also indicated that China's sports brokerage is to enter an era of specialization and digitalization.

Chen Juhong commented that the sports brokerage will play a more significant role in China's sports industry. The brokers will not only promote professionalization for athletes and sports event, but also assist Chinese athletes in gaining more independent development space. The brokerage industry will greatly enhance the vitality of China's sports industry, Chen added.

CEC Capital estimated that the market scale of China's sports stars brokerage amounted to 1 billion yuan (150.9 million U.S. dollars) in 2016. And Zhongtai Securities Company Limited predicted that China's sports brokerage market will reach 250 billion yuan (37.7 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025.

When asked about the changes happening in the sports brokerage, Lang Ping, the Chinese women volleyball team's head coach, replied that sports and commercial sports should adjust accordingly as the digital network improves continuously. She explained that the more attention a team draws, the more valuable the players become. As long as athletes devote themselves to their career, it's acceptable that they participate in commercial activities which conform to their images.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn