Developing a Successful NFL Strategy for the Chinese Market

This report analyzes the potential for NFL expansion in China, emphasizing the country's vast population and growing interest in sports. It highlights the importance of understanding cultural differences, particularly the distinction between 'football' and 'soccer', and suggests leveraging social media to educate the Chinese audience about the rules and regulations of American football. The report recommends strategic initiatives such as broadcasting games on platforms like Tencent, inviting NFL celebrities for commentary, and establishing virtual fan clubs. It also suggests increasing the number of American football training centers and encouraging investment from both Chinese and American corporations. Furthermore, the report discusses the need to adjust broadcast timings and potentially involve teams from Hong Kong to cater to the diverse market. Ultimately, the report concludes that the NFL should prioritize the Chinese market and tailor its strategies accordingly to maximize its success.

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Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Realistic strategy for NFL in China
NFL is one of the major and grandest leagues that take place in the United States. For
many years, China is looked as one of the frontiers in Olympic Sports. Its overall performance in
the Asian Games and Olympic Games is something to be praised without any doubt. This is why
the experts believe that there are bright prospects of arranging for the NFL championships in
China. In today’s world, United States is trying its very best efforts to expand into the markets of
Asia through their premium sporting activities. Money has been a huge problem as seen before in
case of basketball (Flannery 2019). The payment of all the top level stars in the Chinese
basketball is around $500k. NBA pays minimum payment of $500k to their players. Similarly,
top rated players in NBA get up to $4-5M (Chadwick, Gibson and Jiang 2019).
It can therefore be recommended that the players in the China should be provided with
more money so they can be encouraged to participate in NFL (Malott 2015). The administrators
of NFL have labeled China as their priority market because of the large number of population
over there. It has been found that there is only professional American football league that runs in
China. Its name is China Arena Football League. The per capita GDP of China is $8,800. The
overall population of the country is around 1.4 billion (Flannery 2019). Therefore,
communicating with the target audiences in China through social media would definitely help to
increase the popularity and the interest of the Chinese people into this sporting event.
There are several people in China who like football. Still, they are not acquainted with
the type of football being played in NFL. The difference lies in terms of ‘football’ and ‘soccer’.
What football is to the Chinese, it is soccer to the Americans. Football’s definition is something
different to the Americans and it us reflected through the playing styles of the NFL (Flannery
2019). The condition of NFL is significantly judged as the most loved and speculated sports

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event in the United States. The brand identity has to be recreated among the people of China and
experts of the game may use the social media to make the Chinese understand the rules and
regulations of the game (Cowser 2017). After expanding into China and creating an influence on
the people of the country, there still be some untapped audiences in the region. The authorities
can also invite teams from Hong Kong because of cultural assimilation between these two
countries. The sports infrastructure of China should be used in this cause to nurture the best
talents and give them appropriate facilities. This will also cater to the community participation in
the game.
The young people should be made as the premium targets of NFL in China. Previously
many professional wrestling events had been arranged in different countries of Asia so it could
get better recognition (Chadwick, Gibson and Jiang 2019). The NFL committee must be set up in
China by American professional NFL association and look to improvise their strategies by
exprinced managers and former players who are quite popular in this part of the world. These
people can be traced from the social media comments from the people of China. The enthusiasm
about the sports can thus be found out. After all these discussions, it can be identified that there
are only two professional training centers for American football in China. These two centers are
Great Stone Gridiron (GSG) and Skyway. In the mean time, the number of these American
football training centers must be increased so better training facilities could be provided to young
lads who are interested in the sports (Cowser 2017).
The big corporate houses of China and USA should come forward to invest into this
sport. The advertisers of the American football have found out the fact that American football
has impressed the Chinese parents because it has a new essence and it will probably suit their
luxurious lifestyles. The broadcast partner of NFL in China is Tencent (Flannery 2019). They

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should broadcast more games and show Chinese people about all the past events and related
interviews of the legends of the game. The social media posts on Facebook and Instagram can
also contribute to the success of the tournament in China. Virtual fan clubs can be dedicated for
different teams in NFL and for top players (Wang and Matsuoka 2014). This will cater to the
development of the scenario. Some top players can also contribute in this cause if they come to
China to play charity matches.
In the closing section of the paper, it should be mentioned that the NFL authorities must
make some decisions through which they could expand into China judging it as the top priority
market. The utilization has to be made of the Chinese market in all perspectives. The timing of
broadcast should be adjusted according to Asian time and inviting NFL celebrities to the give
expert commentary on the NFL matches to be played in China.

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References
Chadwick, S., Gibson, I. and Jiang, T., 2019. China: emerging football nation, emerging
governance issues. In Research Handbook on Sport Governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Cowser, J.P., 2017. Now You're Speaking My Language: An Internship to NFL China. Southern
Utah University.
Flannery, R., 2019. The NFL Is A Sleeping Giant In China. [online] Forbes. Available at:
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2019/02/01/the-nfl-is-a-sleeping-giant-in-china/
#1d9e9dbf5a42> [Accessed 18 March 2020].
Malott, T., 2015. The NBA in China: How to Maximize International Profits.
Wang, C. and Matsuoka, H., 2014. Motives of sport spectators in China: a case study of the
Chinese Super League. International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 15(1-2),
pp.57-74.