鴻俊專欄：天空體育買中超看中了什么，誰會在英國看中超？

2016-11-11 職業體育Ken Grant

中超賽場終落幕，回顧整個賽季，首先想到的便是80億的版權，千萬歐元的外援，超溢價的戶口本，不斷下課的名帥，法英轉播中超等等，不可否認的是中超的影響力更大了，中超賽場的一舉一動都受到世界足壇的關注。

我們采訪了在中國從事體育產業5年的英國體育業內人士Ken Grant 鴻俊先生，看看他對中超商業發展的獨到見解。

Q1：應該如何來分析天空體育轉播中超的背景原因？天空電視臺是出于怎樣的考慮？是否是為了吸引中國投資？

KEN：天空體育投資購買中超的電視版權，可能不只是這一個賽季的事，不過這并不是說中超突然間在天空體育的用戶中變得有多火爆，而是因為全世界的足球迷很想看一看中超究竟是什么樣子，為什么那些大牌球星選擇去中國踢球。我個人認為，天空體育之所以愿意花錢購買中超版權是出于一種戰略上的選擇，是為了確保在其他轉播商之前下手，以防萬一在未來中超真的變的流行起來而他們沒有機會染指。

實際上，中超的比賽轉播是直接播出的，這意味著天空體育僅僅是把他們接收的內容呈現出來，沒有安排專家進行解說或評論。我覺得這暗示了天空體育對中超的收視率并沒有足夠的信心，但正像我之前說過的，他們就是感覺他們需要買下中超版權。

與全世界轉播商一樣，天空體育對內容感興趣，購買中超版權能填補播出節目單，還有潛在的可能會帶來更多來自中國的廣告贊助。中超版權值不值這個價格，這可能很難評價，但我感覺這筆版權交易是一樁“賠本賺吆喝”的買賣，天空體育對這筆投資能帶來回報沒有太多期待。著只有時間才能告訴我們答案了。

Q2：按照您了解到的信息，天空體育（ 2016后11輪+2017+2018賽季）的中超轉播合同價值多少錢？

KEN：很遺憾，我也不知道天空體育在這筆版權交易中花了多少錢，但我猜可能不會花的太多。正如我之前提到的原因，天空體育不會為中超版權給出過高的價格，對于轉播商來說中超版權的真實價值確實是比較小的。情況很有可能是，中超方面的顧問建議他們與天空體育合作，拿出轉播版權以在國際上打造中超的品牌，這樣一來，一家非中國的轉播商就很可能不會為中超投入過多的資金，因為實事求是地說，中超品牌的變現能力是很小的。

我推測，這筆交易對中超和天空體育來說是雙贏的，是一項即基于商業又基于政治的合作。

Q3：中超的電視制作品質，跟天空體育轉播的其他聯賽相比，有多大差距？

KEN：天空體育是直接將中超的電視信號轉播出去的，因此轉播質量直接取決于中超的電視信號制作團隊。

與天空體育轉播的英超電視信號相比，中超的電視信號在鏡頭數量和與觀眾的互動上明顯質量要低一些，可能與天空體育自己制作的其他國際聯賽轉播水平差不多，但還是比不上德國和西班牙的比賽電視轉播。

天空體育的觀眾看到的中超，與我們在中國的電視和網絡上看到的是完全一樣的。

Q4：訂閱中超轉播的英國家庭多么？英國球迷又是如何看待天空體育轉播中超的？

KEN：實事求是的講，中超的比賽在天空體育的頻道中只是作為一個填缺補漏的存在，而且由于時差問題，中超比賽的時間正是大部分球迷睡覺的時間。在這個階段，我不認為國際球迷對中超有很大的期待或很深的了解，他們可能會出于好奇去收看中超比賽，但不會是中超某一球隊或中超足球風格的粉絲。

可能會有一些中國學生和工作者希望能在歐洲看到家鄉球隊的比賽，但還是要提到時差的問題，這對收視率可沒有任何幫助。像我之前所說，中超建立品牌的機會要比天空體育在商業上的機會要大得多。

Q5：2015年，中超版權收入不到8000萬元人民幣。但是從2016-2020年，中超的媒體版權卻高達5年80億人民幣。對此，應該怎么解讀？

KEN：我認為中超版權費的巨大增長更多是由文化驅動而非由商業驅動。足球是一種“娛樂”，能夠吸引觀眾的有趣的東西越多，它就越值錢。中超的足球是不是足夠有趣，這對每個人都是個問題，而答案只有“是”或“否”兩種。我猜大多數觀眾的答案不會是“是”，所以天空體育的大筆資金不是用來保證中超現在的娛樂性，而是可能為了幾年之后的將來中超能夠產生娛樂性。

放眼全球，電視轉播商投資和競標電視版權，基于的是他們認為哪個版權更值錢，這是因為實際上沒有一種真正科學的方法去衡量版權的價值。電視轉播商還會為了確保將某項版權收入囊中而揮灑重金，以防其他競爭對手得到它們，這就是為什么會有版權爭奪戰。從個人角度，我認為天空體育為中超版權開出的價錢與其真實價值完全不成比例，但是在中國，有些時候金融常識是抵不過情感驅動的。看看最近中國球隊為那些海外球員開出的巨額轉會費和薪金吧。

Q6：這2年，中超在引進高水平外援方面投入巨資，可是本國足球水平依然很低，世預賽亞洲區12強賽4場才拿了一分，怎么看這個現象？

KEN：很遺憾地講，中超花在外國球員身上的錢并沒有使中國足球產生實質性的進展，這是因為文化層面和教練方面的原因。除非中國的教練系統發生徹底的改變，像人們經常說的，“如果你一直重復過去做過的事情，那么你將只會獲得已經擁有的東西。”中國教練們教的東西就是他們一直以來學到的東西，而這些東西是需要改變的。

在一個競爭的環境，比如說中超的比賽中，如果球員沒有付出足夠的努力去重新學習一些東西，那么無論他們在訓練中被怎樣指導，一旦到了球場上他們就只能靠本能去踢球。而且，中國的文化習慣是先考慮自己再考慮他人，這可能意味著很難培養出團隊思考和團隊行動。中超球隊往往過于依賴外援創造進攻機會和進球，那么當國家隊完全由中國自己的球員組成時，球隊里沒有了領袖，只是這個國家的11個個體在場上踢球，不是一支球隊。

里皮在恒大的執教非常成功，這可能是由于他擁有很好的外援，能夠創造出比其他中超球隊更好的團隊。但在國家隊層面，他的挑戰變成了中國的文化和球員們相同的態度。如果他能把那些渴望贏球充滿激情的球員聚集在一起，他是有可能成功的，但我個人認為他成功的機會只有50%。只有時間才能告訴我們答案，也許他今天還是英雄，明天就全部清零。

Q7：中超如果要真正的全球化，必須做好哪幾方面？

KEN：在大多數行業中光靠金錢是買不到地位的，足球行業也是如此。關鍵的是要傳遞出品質和娛樂性，作為回報你會獲得這個行業里的最佳天賦。過去1年或過去的18個月來，中超用高昂的球員轉會費吸引了全世界的目光，但并沒有為自己的品牌建立良好的聲譽。

作為一個品牌，中超需要做的與其它行業做過的一樣，就是在中國之外建立一個有品質、有娛樂性的形象，然后在此基礎之上進行發展。無論是球場上還是球場外，中超都面臨很大的挑戰，它需要面對那些非常完善的競爭對手，比如英超、德甲、意甲，中國足球必須要具有娛樂性。

很多年前，中國有一些球員在幾家歐洲優秀的俱樂部踢球，由于他們的存在，中國足球的形象進入了歐洲球迷的視線。如今，歐洲已經沒有比較出名的中國球員，用他們優秀的個人素質“推銷”中國足球，而這正是中超所需要的。中超必須要在中國以及世界投入資金和大量時間打造品牌，這個過程不會很快，需要制定策略，并且要正確地實施策略以達到想要的結果。

如果中超想要成為一項全球足球資產，那么它必須要想一個全球品牌一樣思考和行動，而這和某家中國俱樂部在球員身上花多少錢沒有直接聯系，這關乎觀念的發展和轉變。

英文原文：

Q1：How to analysis of the background and the reasons for SKY purchase the rights to broadcast CSL? What is SKY’s purpose? Is it to attract Chinese investment?

KEN: The sky investment in the CSL TV rights, maybe for more than one reason, it's not because the CSL has suddenly become famous to the Sky viewers but could be because international football fans want to see what the CSL is like and why some big name player have chosen to come to play in China. I personally also think that their decision to pay for the CSL rights is a tactical decision to ensure that they have them before any other broadcaster which will protect them just in case the CSL really does become popular.

In fact, the CSL matches are broadcast straight to air, which means they are just shown as they are received with no experts commentating or giving their opinions on the matches. This indicates to me that Sky aren't that confident many people will watch them, but as I have already said, they feel they should have these rights.

Like all broadcasters around the world, Sky are interested in content, and the CSL rights fill the schedule and may potentially bring additional Chinese sponsorship in the form of advertising to the broadcaster. Whether they were worth the money that they cost will be very difficult to assess, my feeling is that these rights are what in English we call 'a loss leader' and they are there as an investment made with little expectation of them bringing a return. Only time will tell.

Q2：According to the information you know, how much is the CSL broadcast contract cost (the last 11 games of 2016 season + 2017 season + 2018 season)?

KEN: Unfortunately I don't know what Sky paid for these rights, but my guess would be that the cost was not very high. Sky wouldn't overpay for CSL rights because as I pointed out earlier, the real value of them to the broadcaster is realistically small. It's quite possible that the advisors to the CSL suggested to them that they approach Sky and offer the rights as a means of building the CSL brand internationally and made it clear that a non-Chinese broadcaster was unlikely to pay huge amounts of money for the rights as the CSL honestly has little brand value to monetize.

I suspects, this was a win-win for the CSL and Sky and an agreement suited both on a commercial/political basis.

Q3：How much difference is the TV broadcast production quality of CSL compared to sky when it broadcasting other leagues?

KEN: Sky takes the CSL broadcasts directly and puts them on air, therefore the quality is whatever is set by the CSL production team.

Compared to an EPL match broadcast by Sky, the CSL quality is clearly lower in terms of camera numbers and viewer interaction, probably no different to the process when Sky works with other international leagues, although those in Germany or Spain may have a higher quality of TV production.

Sky viewers will see exactly what we see on TV or the Internet in China.

Q4：How many people in UK subscribe to watch CSL? What’s the UK football fans view about sky broadcasting CSL?

KEN: To be honest, the CSL coverage is a filler on one of the Sky channels and due to time differences is likely to be shown when most fans are sleeping. I don't think at this stage, international football fans have a great deal of expectation or knowledge about the CSL so they may watch out of curiosity, but not because they are fans of the clubs or the style of play.

There may be Chinese students and workers based in Europe who want to watch their local teams play, but again the time difference may not help the viewing figures. As I mentioned before, this is a brand building opportunity for the CSL rather than a commercial opportunity for Sky.

Q5：In 2015, the revenue of CSL TV rights is less than 80 million RMB, but from 2016-2020, the right increased to 8 billion RMB for 5 years. How to interpret this?

KEN: The huge increase in TV rights money for the CSL is very much a cultural decision rather than an economic one, I feel. Football is 'entertainment' and the more entertaining something is in terms of attracting an audience the more money it is argued to be worth. Is CSL football entertaining is a question for every individual and it is a yes or no answer. I suspect most viewers would not say yes and so the big money was not paid to secure entertainment now, but perhaps in the hope of entertainment in a few years.

Around the globe, TV broadcasters bid and pay for TV rights based on what they think the value is because there is not a real science to measuring this. They also make big offers to secure the rights to something to prevent others from having them which is why there are bidding wars. Personally, I consider the money paid for the CSL rights to be completely disproportionate to their value, but in China sometimes financial common sense is overridden by emotional drive; just look at the transfer fees and salaries being paid in recent times to some overseas players.

Q6：In the last 2 years, CSL clubs spent huge amount of money bringing foreign players, but the level of local football is still very poor. In the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers (totally 12 teams) China only got 1 point after 4 matches, how to look at this phenomenon?

KEN: Unfortunately, the money the CSL is spending on foreign players does not improve the quality of Chinese football because this is a cultural and coaching problem. Until the coaching systems change from those of the past to something completely new, as the saying goes 'if you keep on doing what you always so, you'll get what you always got'. Chinese coaches teach the way they were taught and this needs to change.

In a competitive situation like a CSL match, players revert to what comes naturally to them no matter what they were told in training if they haven't worked hard enough to relearn something. And also in China the cultural habit of thinking of oneself first and others afterwards, if at all means that team thinking and acting fails to happen. CSL teams often rely too much on foreign players to create good play and to score goals which means when you have a national team made up of only Chinese players, there are no leaders and the country has 11 individuals on the pitch and not one team.

Lippi has been very successful at Evergrande perhaps because he has had good foreign players to create a better functioning team and other CSL clubs, but his challenge with the national squad will be cultural and equally player attitude. If he can bring together players who want to win and have passion, he maybe successful but personally I think his chances of success are 50/50. Only time will tell; he could go from hero to zero very quickly!

Q7：If the CSL want a real globalization, what must be done? In what kind of ways?

KEN: It is not possible to buy status in most industries and certainly not in football, it's about delivering quality and entertainment, which in return attract the best talents to that business. The CSL is known globally for the massive transfer fee's it has paid for player in the past year or 18 months and not for being a good reputable football brand in its own rights.

As a brand, the CSL needs to do what any other business has to do which is to establish its name outside China for quality and entertainment, and then build on this. It has many challenges both on and off the pitch; it is competing with some very well established competitors in terms of the EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga and Chinese football has to be entertaining on the pitch to name just two things.

Many years ago, there were a small number of Chinese players playing for good clubs in Europe, and due to this, the profile of Chinese football rose in the eyes of fans there. Today there are no notable players with good personalities to 'sell' Chinese football and the CSL needs them. The league must invest in brand building in China and internationally over some long period of time, nothing will happen quickly, it needs a strategy and it must follow that strategy correctly in order to see positive results.

If the CSL wants to become a global football asset it has to think and act like and international brand, and this is not directly linked to how much money a club pays for a player, it's about developing and changing perceptions.

鴻俊專欄：天空體育買中超看中了什么，誰會在英國看中超？