The sports arm of Chinese tech giant Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp (LeTV) has raised an additional $128.8-million fund for its goal to expand its presence in the country’s growing sports industry.
In a press release published by LeTV Sports Culture Develop (Beijing) Co., the fundraising was largely supported by the Dalian Wanda Group's Wanda Investment and private equity company, Yunfeng Capital, which is partly owned by Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma Yun.
Lei Zhenjian, CEO of LeTV Sports, remarked during a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the money raised "will be mainly used to purchase more sports broadcasting rights."
The new pool of financial resources is also expected to "help the company further improve its technological basis as well as seek new sports-related businesses," Lei added.
LeTV Sports claims to currently have an approximated value of around 2.8 billion yuan. Though the firm is open for another fundraising round, its executives refused to say whether they will consider an IPO.
According to iiMedia Research CEO Zhang Yi, the Chinese startup must focus on the accumulation of its content if it wants to get the attention of the market.
Zhang also predicted that "burning money to buy costly content will be common in the online sports streaming industry in the coming years," adding that Tencent is a potential strong rival for LeTV Sports.
Earlier this year, the Internet giant Tencent has inked a five-year deal with the NBA, getting the rights to broadcast its programs and games through Tencent's various Web-based and mobile-based portals.
Amid the tough competition, LeTV has been showing its determination to conquer the market. The company hired former NBA senior executive Qiu Zhiwei as its vice president for sports event operations and popular "Soccer Night" commentator Liu Jianhong as its head of content operations.
During the press conference, Liu revealed that it has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast FIFA's seven major events in China through its online platform.
The company also eyes to establish a sports ecosystem or a sports event management-themed business paradigm, sports-linked gadget development, content streaming platform, and other value-added services such as online games distribution and sports lottery.