China

Chinese retail giant Suning Commerce Group is reportedly close to two major deals in the football market through investments in Italian Serie A club Inter Milan and UK-based athlete representation agency Stellar Group.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has awarded hosting rights for this year’s edition of showpiece Asian club competition the Champions Cup to the Beijing Atlas Sports and Cultural Development company, while Fiba Europe has stated that the threat of exclusion from its events is set to be avoided for those national federations affiliated with Euroleague Basketball.

Granada is poised to become the latest Spanish Liga football club to receive Chinese investment after a takeover deal was confirmed, while Atletico Madrid is set to acquire a 35 per cent stake in French Ligue 2 team Lens.

Four Chinese investor groups are believed to be involved in a bidding war for Stellar Group, the UK-based athlete representation agency that has been the subject of takeover speculation in recent weeks.

Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) is planning to add a team in China which would be based on a part-time basis in the city of Gold Coast in Queensland.

Chinese businessman Tony Xia has secured an agreement to acquire English football club Aston Villa for £60m (€78/$88m).

North American basketball league the NBA has unveiled its latest effort to tap into the Chinese market by announcing that Shanghai will be the destination for its first NBA Playzone venture.

Le Sports, which is operated by Chinese internet company LeEco, has established an online sports ticketing company after agreeing a partnership with the YL Entertainment & Sports firm.

Chinese online retailer and internet company JD.com has entered into a partnership with English Premier League football club Liverpool.

IndyCar chief executive Mark Miles has confirmed that the North American motor-racing series is in talks to stage a non-championship event in Beijing in October.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has announced that Shanghai has replaced Suzhou as one of eight host cities for its 2019 World Cup in China, while the global governing body has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese conglomerate Beijing Enterprises Group (BEG) to set up a basketball academy in the country.

Mark Dreyer looks at how Chinese companies are adapting their approach to the global sports sponsorship sector.

A Chinese consortium in talks over a potential takeover of Italian Serie A football club AC Milan is hoping to finalise the deal by June this year, according to Bloomberg.

The Australian Football League (AFL) Aussie rules competition is set to stage a regular-season game in China after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with a view to holding a match in the country.

US college sports conference the Pac-12 has announced plans to stage a volleyball tour in China as part of its wider ‘Globalisation Initiative’ programme.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that China, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea have all expressed an interest in hosting the 2023 edition of its showpiece Asian Cup national team tournament.