Dear readers: I am allowing my column this week to be written by Matt Beyer, who is based in Beijing and is an Associate Director for North Head (www.northheadcomms.com) in Beijing. Matt is the first and only foreigner allowed to take the Chinese sports agent exam. He also was Yi Jianlian’s interpreter during Yi’s rookie season with the Milwaukee Bucks. Matt is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and president of the Wisconsin Alumni Association Beijing chapter. I think the readers of BizTimes will find his message insightful.
Regards, Einar Tangen.
Recently I had the honor of accompanying a 17 member delegation of senior Chinese sports administrators from the Beijing Sports University (BSU), China’s preeminent Olympic athletic training institution, on their first visit to Madison.
They were in town to take a closer look at the university’s training facilities and educational programs as part of the Chinese Champions Program. The program is a collaboration between BSU and UW-Madison, which started in 2009.
BSU, after conducting an extensive search, selected UWM to be its partner; in large part due to the efforts of UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and several other key Wisconsinites.
The first part of the three-year program began in 2010. It brought a group of Chinese Olympic athletes to Madison, for six months, to learn about how UW-Madison athletes balance sports and studies. Keep in mind at a sports university in China most of the day is spent in rigorous training with little time left for studies. Students are isolated and trips home are few and far between. Until recently little attention was paid to what these athletes could or would do after their playing days ended. For most the only options were to secure a job within the sports system or do menial labor. It should then come as no surprise that both students and administrators were anxious to learn about how the U.S.’s $414 billion a year (2009) sports industry works and the roles athletes and others in the industry can play on and off the field.
Why is this good for Wisconsin? In addition to producing Olympic athletes, BSU is a key player in China’s sports industry research and policy decisions. Through this collaboration Chinese athletes and sports officials are learning from us about the sports industry, their roles in it and how to prepare for their lives afterwards. Our students and administrators therefore have front row seats to a potentially blockbuster market, still in its infancy.
With over four times as many people, China’s sports industry contributed only $23 billion to the Gross Domestic Product last year; extremely anemic for a county where most 16-year-old boys can name the rosters and statistics of most NBA and world soccer teams. Basketball is a major interest, but baseball and football are also trying to find their way into China; a fact evidenced by Bud Selig’s willingness to meet with the sports delegation while they were in Milwaukee. Everyone in sports realizes that as disposable income rises, China’s potential market could easily dwarf ours.
The UW has the opportunity to be a player in this emerging market. It is not only about friendship and goodwill, as U.S. educational institutions vie for a share of China’s foreign students this will be an important draw. Keep in mind that overseas students pay roughly twice as much as in-state. Their contributions to the coffers make it possible to keep tuition lower while adding to the diversity of the experience.
Access to Chinese athletes is also a strong possibility and with the kind of numbers involved it could be a critical factor in the UW’s athletic program. It will also help Madison’s image as a leader, by being part of the process China is using to redefine its sports industry, the school’s reputation globally will be enhanced.
For the Chinese students who participate they receive a broad perspective of the American sports industry and ideas on how to develop their professional and post-playing careers. For the administrators they saw firsthand how the system can work for everyone and what the potential could be as China moves forward.
I am sure a lot of people were wondering who the groups of very fit Chinese students were, sharing the field with Bucky and the band, as the Badgers football team took the field last fall; now they know.
Members of the inaugural Chinese Champions group in 2010, included Gold medalist swimmer Luo Xuejuan, silver medalist gymnast Sui Jianshuang and bronze medalist curler Wang Bingyu. The upcoming Champions group, which will arrive in Madison in April, includes Zhang Yining, the defending women’s ping pong gold medalist.
In terms of reaction, both the Chinese students and administrators had a terrific time and after debriefing them it is clear that this is a collaboration which has legs.
In addition to face-to-face meetings at the Baseball Commissioner’s office, the delegation was treated to a tour of Miller Park, courtside seats at a Bucks’ game and chats with John Anderson, formerly with the Green Bay Packers, and former Badger Stan Davis about their experiences transitioning from sports to career. An additional treat was a tour of Brookfield Academy’s athletics facilities (full disclosure my father’s firm built them and I graduated and am an alum).
China is a country of carefully laid plans and quick implementation. China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for economic and social development, being passed this year, includes a large section on its intention to quickly reform the sports industry; part of which focuses on “international collaboration.” If you are a U.S. educational institution, sports businesses, consumer brand or athlete you should find a way to ride the wave.
