Friday, June 20, 2008

Sports Management in the Middle Kingdom

Like many sports in China, Golf is stopping this Summer for the Olympic Games. The Omega China Tour is enjoying a nice three month break before it starts back up in September.

The question in many sports managers mind for China is what will companies do with funding for sports after the Olympic Games? Will Olympic advertising go to other sports for sponsorships or will it be pushed to other areas of society. Many other people are wondering what will happen with the event facilities. They have made spectacular events and many will be used over and over as many are on collage campuses. However, there are a few that will need to be managed.

The NBA China was formed this year as the NBA USA is very popular in China. NBA USA is a key partner in this. This shows the interest in sports in China. It will be interesting to see how the sports management industry develops in China. Here is an article regarding NBA China: http://www.nba.com/news/nba_china_080114.html

Regarding Golf Course management... China has seen a lot of players trying to get into this market. Many of the large companies like ClubCorp and Troon have tried the Chinese market. Many of the big organizations stay for 2-3 years and fizzle. Many local Chinese management groups have started up but there hasn't been a hybrid of a management company started between foreign and locals. I will write more about this in a future article.

Here in Beijing, things are changing daily. The last few pieces of infrastructure for the Olympics are finishing up. From what locals tell me, many construction sites will be stopping soon as the last push to make Beijing cleaner starts. Beijing is becoming a beautiful city and should be even nicer when the Games finish.

Asian Golf Monthly

For those who want to keep up more with golf in Asia, here is a good website with on-line magazine: http://www.asiangolfmonthly.com/