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china-singapore jingwei, september 28 (wang yuling) "i have bought tickets ranging from more than 500 to more than 1,000 yuan. tickets at this price are within my ability to pay, and i don't feel like i spent too much money." on the 26th, one day a spectator expressed to sino-singapore jingwei at the china tennis open (hereinafter referred to as the china open).

the china open has started recently. what are the economic benefits of such a large-scale sports event that attracts a lot of attention?

　　china open has previously achieved profitability

the china open is a comprehensive tennis event approved by the international tennis association and held annually in china since 2004.

in 2003, tom group and beiqing media jointly invested to establish china tennis open sports promotion co., ltd., which was awarded by atp (international men's professional tennis association) and wta (international women's professional tennis association) for the preparation of 10 years of international-level events. rights and promotion rights. so far, the china open has become a comprehensive tennis event that has the right to host events from three major international tennis organizations: wta1000, atp500 and itfj300.

in 2004, the first china open was held in beijing. the total prize money for the women's tournament was us$585,000, and the total prize money for the men's tournament was us$500,000, for a total of us$1.085 million. in 2024, the atp official website shows that the prize money for the men's tournament at the china open will be us$3.7202 million. the wta official website shows that the women’s championship prize money is us$1.1 million.

in 2015, china sports news reported that china open had achieved profitability. the amount of prize money is getting higher and higher. how does china open make money?

from the perspective of operating income sources, public information shows that the economic benefits of china's professional tennis event market development mainly come from corporate sponsorship, ticket sales, licensed product sales, television and other media broadcast rights sales, etc.

according to the above media reports, in 2015,the financial department of the china open organizing committee estimates that the total direct operating income of the event will be around 160 million yuan. at that time, according to industry insiders, china open’s operating costs were around 150 million yuan. taking into account ticket revenue and sponsor income, china open had reached breakeven and achieved a slight profit overall.

the main source of income for the organizers is sponsorship fees. the article stated that according to the sponsorship fee standards for china open sponsors, the chief sponsor must invest at least 30 million yuan a year, the diamond sponsor must invest more than 15 million yuan, and the platinum sponsor must invest more than 8 million yuan. even based on the "minimum threshold" estimate, china open's revenue from sponsors alone reached 139 million yuan in 2015.

the september 2020 issue of the journal "journal of capital institute of physical education" published an article by liu fangzhi, associate professor of the school of physical education of hubei second normal university, and others. the article organized and investigated the sponsor levels and sponsor amounts of the china open.

judging from the amount of sponsors, in 2018, the sponsorship thresholds for china open’s chief sponsor, diamond sponsor, and platinum sponsor were 40 million yuan, 20 million yuan, and 10 million yuan respectively, and the sponsorship amounts for exclusive partners and suppliers were 300 million yuan respectively. ten thousand yuan and 800,000 yuan. china-singapore jingwei estimates based on this "minimum threshold" that china open's revenue from sponsors alone reached 180 million yuan in 2018.

in 2024, china open’s sponsorship model will still continue the pattern of 1 chief + 3 diamonds + 8 platinums. china-singapore jingwei noticed at the scene that sponsors come from clothing and luggage brands, financial institutions, daily food, home decoration, etc. fields. the chief sponsor is beijing benz, the diamond sponsors are china citic bank, rolex (rolex) and the people's insurance company of china, and the platinum sponsors are emirates airlines, harvest fund, kunlun mountain snow mountain mineral water, deluxe, hologic, pif, and temple of heaven. with thinkpad (lenovo).

the sponsors of the china open have a relatively high degree of stability. according to the rolex official account, in 2006, the china open became the first event outside the united states to use the hawkeye system. rolex serves as the sponsor of this hard court tennis tournament. in addition, mercedes-benz and harvest fund have sponsored china open 15 times and 12 times respectively.

zhang qing, a sports marketing expert and founder of key way, said in an interview with sino-singapore jingwei that the relatively high sponsorship cost of tennis matches has its own peculiarities. taking the china open as an example, the wta and atp control players’ playing time through match points.the china open was established on the basis of the four grand slams (us open, australian open, wimbledon, and french open). it requires high licensing fees and high bonuses to attract high-level players, which determines the operating costs of the event. higher; accordingly, as a high-level comprehensive top tennis event, it is relatively scarce and thus has the basis for high pricing.

china open tournament director zhang junhui said in an interview with the media that this year the china open adopts a sponsor model of "1 chief + 3 diamonds + 8 platinum", and there are 10 partners, all of which are currently full.

as for why sponsors are not "the more the better", liu fangzhi mentioned in the above article that the changes in the hierarchical structure of china open's main sponsors have gone through three stages: from 2004 to 2006, a parallel sponsorship structure was adopted, and the sponsors changed greatly; from 2007 onwards switching to a multi-level sponsorship structure, the main sponsors began to gradually stabilize; the number of main sponsors was controlled at around 12. since 2011, the levels of main sponsors (sponsors other than partners and suppliers) have been subdivided again. including chief sponsor, diamond sponsor, platinum sponsor.

it is reported that china open has 10 exclusive partners this year, including fila, beijing tongrentang, leyard, haier, der.1863 flooring, yanjing beer, pinpinxiang, bawang chaji, luckin and china wine. among them, bawang chaji signed a contract in advance before the olympics.zheng qinwenserve as a brand spokesperson. sino-singapore jingwei noticed at the scene that the above-mentioned exclusive partners mostly opened booths outside the venue to display or sell products.

zhang qing told sino-singapore jingwei that there are many reasons why brands choose to sponsor tennis. some sponsors’ global strategies are to sponsor tennis, such as mercedes-benz. there are also some brands whose target users are mid-to-high-end people who pursue healthy and fashionable lifestyles, or the brand takes a high-end route. tennis is more suitable for its target users. in addition, tennis is a highly international and influential event. , and also help the brand take the international route.

　　zhang qing said that almost all large-scale sports events in china are mainly based on sponsorship fees, and the income from consumers is relatively low. however, in recent years, people have also begun to develop the habit and willingness to pay for entertainment activities such as events. in addition, in foreign countries, another important revenue source for sports events is licensing fees for on-demand and broadcasting, but chinese media are less willing to pay for content.

sino-singapore jingwei noticed that china open is also strengthening its event ip operations to diversify its revenue structure. according to the official website of hangzhou fude brand management co., ltd. (hereinafter referred to as hangzhou fude), the officially authorized products of the 2024 china open will be exclusively operated by hangzhou fude in the next three years. this time the two parties reached a cooperation and the contract period will last until 2026. during this period, hangzhou fude enjoys exclusive official authorized product cooperation with china open and plans to launch more than hundreds of authorized products.

　　zheng qinwen drives enthusiasm for china open games

in august, at the paris olympics tennis women's singles final, chinese tennis player zheng qinwen won the first olympic singles gold medal in chinese tennis history.

according to the china open official, zheng qinwen, as the seed player, will enjoy a bye in the first round. the match preview shows that zheng qinwen will play against rahimova at the diamond stadium on the evening of the 28th.

on the 26th, zheng qinwen came to the national tennis center for training, attracting a lot of attention. the emergence of star players has significantly attracted the attention of china open.

as for why she watched the china open, an audience member told sino-singapore jingwei that she came to the china open by chance last year and felt the charm of the tennis match. even if she did not understand the scoring rules, she could feel the atmosphere from the athletes "flying to save the ball" .

"i have been paying attention to the china open for 6 years. i started learning to play tennis after watching a few china open matches. zheng qinwen happens to be at the china open this year, and i hope to go and watch her match live." another spectator said.

many viewers also told china-singapore jingwei that the reason they came to china open was to watch zheng qinwen "on their doorstep". some viewers mentioned that she went to watch the french open in may this year. the atmosphere was super good and she could chase stars with golfers from all over the world. so she came to support the china open this time and also wanted to see the "top player" zheng qinwen.

　　according to media reports, china open launched a "membership preemptive purchase" for members on august 2, which coincides with the paris olympic tennis competition. the event organizing committee revealed that among the orders placed on the day after zheng qinwen won the championship, the women's singles final ranked first in terms of votes.

in addition, china open issued an article on the 26th stating that as of september 26, china open’s ticket sales revenue was twice that of the same period last year.tickets for the men's and women's singles finals are the most sought-after and are currently hard to get. tickets for the lotus stadium on september 28, october 1, and october 2 were also sold out.

sino-singapore jingwei noticed that according to the china open ticketing mini program, diamond stadium tickets during the golden week are divided into grandstand areas (a, b and c) and vip box seats. the matinee prices on october 1 are 780 yuan, 580 yuan, 380 yuan and 2080 yuan. the prices will fluctuate depending on the date and matinee and evening performances.

on the morning of the 28th, when zhongxin jingwei first checked at 9 o'clock, there were still a few remaining votes for the men's final day on october 2 and the women's final day on october 6. when zhongxin jingwei refreshed it again at 10 o'clock, all the men's and women's finals ticket types, including vip box seats, have all been sold out. the matinee vip box seats priced at 2,080 yuan on the 28th will rise to 2,580 yuan for the whole day on the men's final day. the matinee vip box seats on the women's final day on october 6 will be priced at 2,080 yuan. it’s 2080 yuan, and there are currently no remaining votes.

zhang qing said that the emergence of zheng qinwen will be helpful to both the chinese tennis cause and the tennis industry. more young people will be willing to participate in tennis competitions, which has both economic benefits and social value.at the same time, zhang qing believes that zheng qinwen is relatively young and has a professional operations team. her career is very sustainable and will continue to increase her influence and appeal on the chinese tennis industry.

in 2011, li na won the french open and became the first chinese player in history to win a grand slam women's singles championship, igniting tennis fever in china. li na wrote in her autobiography "playing alone" that when she participated in a competition in shenzhen in 2012, she had seen that the stadium was almost full.

　　(the opinions in this article are for reference only and do not constitute investment advice. investment is risky, so be cautious when entering the market.)

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editor in charge: chang tao li zhongyuan