Text: Sports Industry Ecosystem, Liu Jintao.The Chinese women's basketball team, in this Lunar New Year holiday, brought the first exciting news to fans.Edit the source.
On February 11, Beijing time, the Chinese women's basketball team ended its games in the China Division of the Paris Olympics Women's Basketball Qualifying Tournament. In the three games, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the New Zealand team 94-47, the French team 50-82, and the Puerto Rico team 105-69 respectively, and successfully won the ticket to the Paris Olympic Games.
After completing the set goals, the girls of the women's basketball team can finally have a good year with peace of mind. However, looking back on the whole game, especially the second game against the strong opponent France, still sounded the alarm bell for the team's preparation for the next stage.
The Chinese women's basketball team successfully entered Paris, but the challenge cannot be ignored The qualification of the Chinese women's basketball team to the Paris Olympics has actually been determined on February 10 - when the Chinese team and the Puerto Rico team defeated New Zealand in the first two rounds, the two teams have actually joined hands with the host French team to qualify from the Xi'an region, and the direct dialogue in the final game has little impact on the overall goal.
Although the final result went well, the overall process of the race was a rollercoaster ride. After winning the first game by 47 points, the Chinese women's basketball team suffered a blow in the game against the French team on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and swallowed a defeat of more than 30 points again after many years, which also made fans sweat.
The French women's basketball team is ranked fourth in the latest FIBA world rankings and have never fallen out of the top four in the last three Olympic competitions – the French team is not only the host of the Paris Olympics, but also a world powerhouse for many years. In the face of such a strong team, the fiasco is undoubtedly a warning for the Chinese women's basketball team, which aims to achieve better results, and it also provides ideas for the team's next preparations.
Last year we were mostly playing Asian teams, so we didn't get used to the intensity of the world's best teams. Especially in the beginning, the other side disrupted all the continuity of our cooperation. So I think at that time we may have had some changes in our thinking, and the offense and defense could not be carried out normally, Zheng Wei, the head coach of the Chinese women's basketball team, said at the post-game press conference, We must start from the next step, we must communicate more with the international community, play more games, especially against the world's strongest teams, so as to better adapt. 」
In addition to the selection of opponents in international competitions, the disconnect between the Chinese women's national basketball team and the league is also a long-standing problem.
Although the two new teams have increased the total number of teams in the league to 19, a record high, the overall competition pattern is still dominated by the top three teams in Sichuan, Guangdong and Inner Mongolia.
After losing to the French team, Huang Sijing, a member of the Chinese women's basketball team, said: We returned from the league to the window to prepare for the game, we have been for too long, almost more than a year, and it is extremely uncomfortable for us to play without this kind of intensity. 」
I think that's something we need to learn from in the future. In fact, everyone has also seen that the French team has also returned to the game from the league, but their intensity of the game and their adaptation to the game have not weakened at all. The level of our league is still relatively low, which makes it difficult for us to play international games in reserve, so we still need to adapt a little bit more. 」
Now that I have successfully obtained the Olympic ticket, it can be regarded as a phased success. But for the girls in the women's basketball team, the next preparation and Olympic journey may be the real test, and we have every reason to believe them.
In the past 2023, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated the old rival Japan team in the Asian Cup, regaining the women's basketball Asian Cup championship after 12 years, and also ending the 6-game losing streak against the Japanese women's basketball team in the Asian Cup. Subsequently, in the women's basketball competition of the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese women's basketball team once again reached the final and won the Japanese team, won the gold medal of the Asian Games, and reached the top of Asia for the second time in a year.
In October 2022, the Chinese women's basketball team won the runner-up in the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, achieving the best result in the World Series in 28 years. During the game, the Chinese women's basketball team ranked among the best in terms of points per game (second), shooting and three-point shooting percentage (second), rebounds (third), steals (fourth) and efficiency value (second).
It is true that the defeat to Japan in the finals of the Asian Cup for two consecutive years, and the regrettable loss to Serbia in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics have made us realize that this young women's basketball team is still experiencing growing pains. But it is undeniable that this five-year run-in squad has accumulated a lot of experience in the tournament and found its own way to win.
The women's basketball team, which is at its peak, is hailed as the new ** generation, and not only is the fans looking forward to their performance, but the women's basketball team is also realizing its business potential.
With the rise of the women's market, can the Chinese women's basketball team become the marketing darling of the Olympic year? In the past two years, the Chinese women's basketball team has gradually grown into a banner of Chinese basketball with its excellent competition results, with many endorsements and commercial sponsorships, and idol players such as Han Xu, Yang Shuyu, and Li Meng have been born, driving the attention of fans and the whole people.
Today, the Chinese women's basketball team has set up a five-level sponsorship system and signed a total of 14 partners, more than double the number during the last Women's Basketball World Cup.
Source: Chinese basketball team.
The rise of strength is an important reason why the girls of the women's basketball team have gained market recognition. This can't help but remind us of the previous sponsorship of the Chinese women's volleyball team.
In contrast, before the Tokyo Olympics, the sponsorship matrix of the Chinese women's volleyball team included three levels of business partners, including official partners, official sponsors and official merchants, with a total of 23. Among them are many Internet upstarts, insurance companies, car brands, as well as dairy companies, sports brands and drinking water, and many other established sports marketing categories, if you add Tencent and film partners with business development cooperation, the list will be even longer.
Especially at the record level, the women's volleyball team is a traditional powerhouse of China's three major balls, and has been dominant in the world for many years, whether it is the five consecutive championships, or the reversal of the 2016 Olympic Games to win the gold, and the fifth World Cup championship in 2019, they have played the role of the pillar of national sportsmanship, and the sense of national identity brought by the women's volleyball team is unique among all sports teams.
In addition, whether it is the spirit of women's volleyball represented by the women's volleyball team, or the sonorous rose synonymous with women's football, from the character to the brand to the historical heritage, the Chinese women's basketball team has not yet reached such a height.
But now is the era of women's basketball.
On the one hand, compared with traditional sports such as volleyball, diving, table tennis and track and field, women's basketball players have a larger market space and a broader fan base. Especially for the rising female sports market, this group of good-looking, accomplished, and funny female basketball players are constantly becoming a new benchmark on the sports field.
On the other hand, Yang Liwei, Yang Shuyu, Li Meng, Han Xu, Zhang Ru, Wang Siyu and other women's basketball stars who are becoming popular are becoming popular, and in the process of their self-expression, it is easier to shape the women's basketball idols of the current era, release the beauty of women's basketball and women's sports with their personal charm, and enhance the appeal of women's basketball.
According to the "Chinese Women's Basketball 2023 Influence Report" released by the Chinese Basketball Association, the peak of the influence of the Chinese women's basketball team in 2023 occurred during the Asian Cup and Asian Games, with more than 8.5 billion and 7.9 billion views of related articles on the whole network, respectively, with 12.3 billion TV viewers witnessed the Chinese women's basketball team win the Asian Cup.
In addition, 2023 Chinese women's basketball-related topics received 98.5 billion+ views; Topics related to the Chinese women's basketball team have been on the hot search 133 times throughout the year; More than ninety percent of the respondents have watched the Chinese women's basketball game, and more than seventy percent have watched at least two games; 84.17% of the respondents were impressed by the advertisements endorsed by the Chinese women's basketball team.
Source: 2023 China Women's Basketball Influence Report.
In this day and age, the market for women's sports is rapidly emerging. Recently, Deloitte released a report**: by 2024, the total global revenue of women's professional sports will reach 12$800 million (about 91.)600 million RMB) – This is the first time that women's annual sports earnings have exceeded the US$1 billion mark, at least 300% higher than Deloitte's three years ago.
The Chinese women's basketball team has become an important scene in the marketing of women's sports, and it is also a choice that cannot be ignored in the marketing of the Paris Olympic cycle. Especially in the current difficult cycle of the Chinese men's basketball team, the moment when Chinese basketball once again makes the Chinese people feel excited, may be more pinned on this group of girls who are at their peak.
The girls of the women's basketball team in Paris are now about to embark on a new journey.
The national team's record has always been an important driving force for the domestic basketball environment to continue to move forward, and we also hope that this valuable strength can continue to be transmitted through the Chinese women's basketball team.