
12月一過,整個足球世界都將目光投向各大聯賽的冬季轉會窗,而有關中超的轉會尤為引人矚目。有意思的是,人們對中超轉會的興趣往往跟轉會球員本身沒有太大關系,討論主要集中在中國俱樂部又開出了怎樣離譜的價格。我知道,在中國,能為某個球員開出40萬英鎊(約340萬人民幣)周薪是俱樂部不差錢的表現。但對于世界上其他地方的人們來說,第一,為任何人開出這樣離譜的周薪都是愚蠢的;第二,這些球員真的不值這么多錢,頂級歐洲聯賽沒有人會為他們開出這樣的價格。
當我看到中超屢屢為海外球員開出天價時,我想,為什么他們不把這些錢花在提升中國足球的娛樂性上呢?我的意思是,中超應該提升比賽的整體體驗,因為目前我只能用“差勁”來形容我個人觀看中超比賽的感受。
我們暫且不談中國足球比賽的技術水準,因為說實話現場觀看中國足球實在很無聊,比賽踢得沒什么創造力、沒有風格,也不夠激情。不過,如果到現場觀賽能使我感覺自己像一個真正的球隊支持者,場上球員踢得多令人失望就不那么重要了——然而,我并沒能從現場獲得那種感覺。
如果去到歐洲哪怕一支非常小的球隊的非常小的體育場看球,從踏進體育場那一刻起,那種熱烈的氣氛會一直在你周圍,到處人聲鼎沸,讓你有種參與其中的感覺。無論體育場內外的球迷們都在互相交流著,他們喝著飲料吃著零食,討論著自家球隊,以及他們甚至都不知道名字的對手。他們來到球場是因為對足球共同的熱愛,這份熱愛是無法被制造出來的,無論俱樂部花多少錢引進球員也不行。

我理解并欣賞中國球場內警察對食品和飲料售賣的嚴格限制,但我認為中國俱樂部并沒有努力試著與警方溝通,爭取哪怕放開一場比賽的食品飲料銷售限制以看看效果,他們只想著多一事不如少一事。而且球迷的參與度對俱樂部來說似乎并不重要,俱樂部關心的只是球隊能不能贏球。贏球當然是好的,但只有把贏球之外的事做好,球場上的勝利才會更甘甜,所以,請考慮一下球迷們吧!
足球俱樂部實際上身處娛樂產業,因為人們買票到現場觀看比賽其實是為了獲得娛樂。觀賽體驗的娛樂性越強,俱樂部賣出的門票和周邊商品就越多,很簡單的道理。俱樂部應該牢記這個道理,并思考如何提升整個比賽日觀賽體驗的娛樂性。花下天價引進一名外國球星或許確實能在其出戰的第一場比賽吸引眾多目光,但在中國,大眾的注意力轉變的非常快,天價球員的熱度持續不了太久,很快就會有別人代替。從天價轉會費中受益的只有經紀人和球員,俱樂部從中得不到持續性的資產,而球迷也沒有享受到更好的服務。
中國足球俱樂部最好將花在引進海外球員上的巨資分出一部分用于提升球迷觀賽體驗,因為球迷體驗和足球青訓一樣,都是建設中國足球未來的基石。(當然,青訓是一項更加重大的長期投資,這個話題我們改日再聊。)

作者簡介:Ken Grant 鴻俊,MSc, DipM, MCIM, Chartered Marketer
體育業內人士、投資人和觀察家;國際主席俱樂部(IPC)及亞英體育俱樂部(AASC)董事;The English Football League中國區官方商務開發代表。在足球、高爾夫、馬球等體育領域擁有廣泛的國際關系。
英文原文:
It's the end of December and naturally the footballing world is focused on the transfer window and in particular the transfer window for China. The funny thing is that the interest in the Chinese transfers for most people isn’t much to do with the players themselves but the ridiculous amounts of money some clubs are paying for them. I am sure in China it looks great to pay someone £400K a week, but to the rest of the world that is 1/ that's a silly weekly salary for anyone and 2/ these players really aren’t worth that much money because the top European leagues wouldn’t pay these sums
When I look at these figures I think; ‘why don’t you spend the money on making football more entertaining’ by which I mean the entire experience of engaging with a club and attending a match, because currently ‘poor’ is the only way I could use to describe the experience myself. Lets put the quality of the football display out of the discussion for the moment because quite honestly Chinese football is boring to watch in the stadium; its not creative or stylish, or gladiatorial.
But if attending a match made me feel like a real supporter it would make up for the on-pitch disappointment; but it doesn’t. If I attend a match in Europe even in a very small stadium belonging to a small club, there is atmosphere from the moment I arrive; there is a buzz and a feeling of anticipation. Fans socialise outside the stadium and continue inside, they drink and eat, they discuss the team and the opposition with people they don’t even know because they are joined by the common love of the game, and you cannot manufacture this no matter how much money you pay for players.
I understand and appreciate that in most stadiums in China police regulations restrict the sale of food and drink, but it appears to me that the clubs don’t really try to work with the police to ease up on the rules for at least one match to see how they work, they want an easy life and fan engagement isn’t really what counts, its winning the game. Winning is great, but its even more exciting when you do it with others, so bring the fans on-board!
Football clubs are actually in the entertainment industry because that's what people buy a ticket for a match to do……..be entertained. The more entertaining the experience is, the more tickets and merchandise can be sold, its very simple. Clubs need to remember this and think how the entire match-day experience can be much more entertaining. One super expensive player on the pitch may draw the crowds for the first game or to, but this is China and attention spans are very short, soon that player will pass through the revolving door and another will replace him. The only people who benefitted from the huge transfer fee are the agent and the player; the club gets nothing to hold onto and the fans are no better served.
It would be so good to see a Chinese club invest a fraction of the silly money it pays for foreign players into the fan experience because this is what will be part of the building blocks of Chinese football for the future together with youth development programmes (but the latter is a major long term investment and a story for another day).
聲明:文中觀點僅代表作者本人觀點,不代表懶熊體育。










