LeEco, a Chinese Internet corporation, initially called LeTV Holdings Co. Ltd., signed a cooperation deal with Beijing Guoan Football on Jan. 19, a move to expand its operations in China’s sports industry.
The chief executive officer of Le Sports (a branch of LeEco), Lei Zhenjian, said, "Le Sports will support the innovation-driven marketization of the club."
Lei said that avid fans will have a close relationship with Guoan's players because of the LeEco's Internet ecosystem. He added that fans can find tickets and souvenirs at shelves of LeMall, the e-commerce platform of the company. Live streaming of the games will also be available on LeEco's variety of branded smart hardware items, including TVs, smartphones and vehicles.
While there were no details about the acquisition, previous reports had revealed that LeEco was in talks with CITIC Group, initially the China International Trust and Investment Corporation, to purchase the latter's 50 percent share in Beijing Guoan, China Daily reported.
Reports indicated that CITIC Group agreed to move 50 percent of its stake in Beijing Guoan in late December as long as LeEco does not change the team's colors, name or logo.
Beijing Guoan is valued at approximately 4 billion yuan ($613 million). The implication is that LeEco has to shell out about 2 billion yuan to acquire the 50-percent stake.
Before the contract, LeEco has indicated its interest in soccer by acquiring a 20-percent share in World Sport Group in Sept. 2015. Following the acquisition, LeEco became one of the three key shareholders of the company that holds exclusive copyright and development rights for all sports organized by the Asian Football Confederation, according to China Sports Beat.
The newly appointed Italian head Coach Alberto Zaccheroni and four international players also attended the event.
Established in 1992, Beijing Guoan is the only team that has never changed ownership since China created its professional soccer league in 1993. The team also became the first one to hold the Chinese Football Association Cup title three times.
According to the deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports of China, Feng Jianzhong, "China's sports industry is expected to account for 0.7 percent of GDP with an added value of 400 billion yuan ($62 billion) in 2015."
Feng added that by 2020, the total scale of the industry will exceed 3 trillion yuan, and the added value of the sports industry will account for 1 percent of GDP.
Feng added, "The sports industry has grabbed huge social attention, forming a good momentum characterized by active government drive and capital input."