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Soccer fever sweeps across Asia
Kunming, July 30: Asia is rediscovering the `beautiful game` as soccer fever hits the region with big money clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool touring the continent for pre-season friendlies and parading a galaxy of football stars whose massive salary demands are putting pressure on clubs to expand their marketing potential beyond their traditional domestic fanbase.
Kunming, July 30: Asia is rediscovering the "beautiful game" as soccer fever hits the region with big money clubs like Real Madrid and Liverpool touring the continent for pre-season friendlies and parading a galaxy of football stars whose massive salary demands are putting pressure on clubs to expand their marketing potential beyond their traditional domestic fanbase.
It was no surprise that European soccer giants Real Madrid chose to launch their pre-season Asian tour in China, the world's most populous nation. In Kunming, the team was given a fittingly royal welcome, complete with traditional dancers, elephants and hordes of adoring fans.
Television images of screaming Chinese fans were beamed across the world with soccer organisers watching with keen interest. In China and the rest of Asia, successful European soccer teams are guaranteed a good fan base as the "beautiful game" continues to be a hot favourite among sport fans across the region.
A good fan base in turn can spark succesful marketing campaigns with increased sales of replica shirts and club souvenirrs - which can be a bonus to clubs in the high-spending world of European soccer.
In Asia's wealthiest country, Japan, baseball is the most popular sport and it wasn't until last year's World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South Korea and the discovery of David Beckham by Japanese advertising agencies that the popularity of the game spread to people who don't know the rules of the game.
Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo, which obtained the rights to a match between Real Madrid and local team FC Tokyo from another network before Beckham's transfer, is confident that viewer ratings for the match on August 5 will be high.
"We got the broadcasting rights to the Real Madrid game because we thought that any game with Real Madrid was worth broadcasting, but now with David Beckham on the team, it will be an added bonus as more people will watch," said Toshihiko Kako of TV Tokyo's sports programme department.
"There is an uproar just on the news that Beckham is coming, that is the kind of country Japan is, so if he can be seen on TV on our channel, that brings up the reputation of the network -- this is a good thing," he added.
But Beckham-mania aside, Spanish football still has a lot of catching up to do if it is to compete with the English Premier League's dominance on global airtime, merchandising and advertising.
Premier League matches are mostly played on weekend afternoons, allowing the Asian faithful to watch two matches back to back before going to bed. The Spanish league usually takes to the pitch in the evening, much past the bedtime of most soccer followers in Asia.
Real Madrid hopes Beckham's blockbuster move will help them level the playing field. But soccer pundits say they might be overestimating the midfielder's worth. A plan to play the Malaysian national team was cancelled partly because the price of 2.6 million euros (2.94 million U.S. dollars) allegedly demanded by Real Madrid was deemed too high according to local media.
Last week, by contrast, Malaysia hosted the English clubs Newcastle United, Chelsea and Birmingham City at the first Premier League-sanctioned tournament outside England.
A capacity crowd filled the national stadium for the final of the inaugural F.A. Premier League last Sunday (July 27) between Premier League heavyweights Newcastle United and Chelsea. Malaysia, whose team stands 108 in the world rankings, have a large football fan base that has seen a number of top English sides play over the past few years.
Current League Champions Manchester United visited last year while Arsenal were there a few years ago. Asian Soccer Press Union secretary-general George Das said he believes more European soccer sides will play in Asia in the future to tap on the enormous fan base in the region.
"Everybody has seen how the English have marketed themselves. So now the Europeans who have basically been in Europe want to take a share of the market. Real Madrid coming out here is probably the onset of this exodus where European clubs are going to make themselves available in Asia. And I think there will be more teams from Europe coming out here. We are seeing a lot of European soccer so I think it is going to happen. I mean the big names are actually in Europe. So eventually that is what is going to happen," he said.
And for soccer fans in the region, the availability of more soccer matches on television and the chance to see their favourite soccer stars in the flesh is more than welcome news.
English club Liverpool recently toured the soccer mad nation of Thailand much to the delight of its Thai fans, showing again the dominance of English football's hold on the region.
"English football is tough and fast, while Italian football has a more classic style. I think that in Thailand we like to watch English football the most," said one fan.
"English football has been on Thai TV for a long time, and now there is even more available. So Thais have been watching it for a long time, and now they're used to it and favour it," said another fan.
At the cost of more than 40 million baht (965,000 U.S dollars), Liverpool's visit is the biggest sports marketing event ever staged in Thailand, reaffirming Asia's status as the untapped gold mine for European soccer teams.
Bureau Report
Japanese broadcaster TV Tokyo, which obtained the rights to a match between Real Madrid and local team FC Tokyo from another network before Beckham's transfer, is confident that viewer ratings for the match on August 5 will be high.
"We got the broadcasting rights to the Real Madrid game because we thought that any game with Real Madrid was worth broadcasting, but now with David Beckham on the team, it will be an added bonus as more people will watch," said Toshihiko Kako of TV Tokyo's sports programme department.
"There is an uproar just on the news that Beckham is coming, that is the kind of country Japan is, so if he can be seen on TV on our channel, that brings up the reputation of the network -- this is a good thing," he added.
But Beckham-mania aside, Spanish football still has a lot of catching up to do if it is to compete with the English Premier League's dominance on global airtime, merchandising and advertising.
Premier League matches are mostly played on weekend afternoons, allowing the Asian faithful to watch two matches back to back before going to bed. The Spanish league usually takes to the pitch in the evening, much past the bedtime of most soccer followers in Asia.
Real Madrid hopes Beckham's blockbuster move will help them level the playing field. But soccer pundits say they might be overestimating the midfielder's worth. A plan to play the Malaysian national team was cancelled partly because the price of 2.6 million euros (2.94 million U.S. dollars) allegedly demanded by Real Madrid was deemed too high according to local media.
Last week, by contrast, Malaysia hosted the English clubs Newcastle United, Chelsea and Birmingham City at the first Premier League-sanctioned tournament outside England.
A capacity crowd filled the national stadium for the final of the inaugural F.A. Premier League last Sunday (July 27) between Premier League heavyweights Newcastle United and Chelsea. Malaysia, whose team stands 108 in the world rankings, have a large football fan base that has seen a number of top English sides play over the past few years.
Current League Champions Manchester United visited last year while Arsenal were there a few years ago. Asian Soccer Press Union secretary-general George Das said he believes more European soccer sides will play in Asia in the future to tap on the enormous fan base in the region.
"Everybody has seen how the English have marketed themselves. So now the Europeans who have basically been in Europe want to take a share of the market. Real Madrid coming out here is probably the onset of this exodus where European clubs are going to make themselves available in Asia. And I think there will be more teams from Europe coming out here. We are seeing a lot of European soccer so I think it is going to happen. I mean the big names are actually in Europe. So eventually that is what is going to happen," he said.
And for soccer fans in the region, the availability of more soccer matches on television and the chance to see their favourite soccer stars in the flesh is more than welcome news.
English club Liverpool recently toured the soccer mad nation of Thailand much to the delight of its Thai fans, showing again the dominance of English football's hold on the region.
"English football is tough and fast, while Italian football has a more classic style. I think that in Thailand we like to watch English football the most," said one fan.
"English football has been on Thai TV for a long time, and now there is even more available. So Thais have been watching it for a long time, and now they're used to it and favour it," said another fan.
At the cost of more than 40 million baht (965,000 U.S dollars), Liverpool's visit is the biggest sports marketing event ever staged in Thailand, reaffirming Asia's status as the untapped gold mine for European soccer teams.
Bureau Report