On July 28, Chengdu will officially kick off the 2021 FISU World University Games. This is the first comprehensive international sports event held in the western region of China, where university students from 170 countries and regions will gather to participate in this grand youth event and sports feast.

As this ancient yet trendy city welcomes the Universiade, the atmosphere of sports has already reached its peak. Especially this year, going to Fenghuang Mountain Sports Park to watch games has become a way of life and a hot topic among the people of Chengdu. The city of Universiade is embracing vitality and the youthful spirit in both directions.

Fenghuang Mountain Sports Park Photo/Xinhua

This year, Chengdu Rongcheng has reached the third place in the Chinese Super League standings, surpassing many traditional powerhouses.

The players on the field are desperately trying to score goals, while the fans outside the stadium are desperately trying to get tickets. Since the first home game of this season, the tickets for Chengdu Rongcheng's home games have become the most sought-after commodities in the city.

In the game against Changchun Yatai, 100,000 people online scrambled for tickets and the battle was over in eight minutes. Every fan who successfully got a ticket is a chosen one.

Chengdu Rongcheng's head coach Xu Zhengyuan also sighed that, whether as a player or as a head coach, he has never experienced such an atmosphere in his long football career.

After all, the average attendance in the Premier League this season is around 40,000, while the attendance at Chengdu Rongcheng's home games is 39,000. This figure is still achieved by saving some seats due to safety considerations.

Fenghuang Mountain Sports Park Photo/Xinhua

From London to Los Angeles, from Milan to Tokyo. Whether sports can be popular, it all comes down to whether there is enough fuel and enough wind. The economic foundation and consumption level are the fuel, and the vitality of the city is the wind.

The "Golden Medal Football City" cannot be achieved without years of investment and cultivation. It has a certain dynamic and symbiotic relationship with the maturity of the sports industry in a city, the level of development of the tertiary industry, and whether the city is in an "upward cycle".

Now Chengdu is at such a cycle node. Chengdu's football market is now entering a boom period, which is inevitable in the logic of urban evolution and industrial development logic.

From the popularity of the World Table Tennis Team Championships to the "Golden Medal Football City" becoming popular, and the upcoming Universiade, the number of popular events in Chengdu is increasing at a visible rate.

This is also due to the fact that Chengdu has built and renovated a large number of sports venues in recent years, and the scale of the sports industry has exceeded 100 billion yuan, laying a solid foundation for the prosperity of Chengdu's sports market.

Chengdu, ready to welcome the 2021 FISU World University Games Photo/Xinhua

In 2022, the average per capita sports consumption in Chengdu exceeded 2,700 yuan, and the per capita sports field area in the city exceeded 2.4 square meters, ranking first in the country.

Ordinary people may not be very sensitive to this set of statistical data, but if you open the WeChat Moments of Chengdu people, you will find that many people around you are doing two things - either showing the live video of watching the game, or showing their own sports and fitness records.

At present, Chengdu has become a "natural stadium" with a population of 20 million. The athletes on the field are running, and the spectators on the sidelines are cheering.

At the critical moment when the economy of this city enters a new upward cycle, the booming football market and the lively events not only bring back memories to the "golden age" on the green fields of A League, but also let people see the supporting power behind sports, as well as a picture of the future of the city full of vitality.