Alibaba this morning announced a new departure from its conventional ecommerce roots – it’s getting into sports.
Alibaba has teamed up with Sina and Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital in a bid to “transform China’s sports industry” using tech, according to a statement released earlier today. While the company’s precise plans and products have not been announced, the newly-created Alibaba Sports Group aims to make waves in sports copywriting, media, events, and ticketing. It may potentially be involved in bringing sporting events to China and streaming video as well.
While Alibaba Sports Group may be a new creation, this isn’t the company’s first flirtation with the world of sports. Back in May, Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma invested in Letv Sports, the online video portal’s sports-streaming service.
Alibaba also owns a 50 percent stake in Guangzhou Evergrande, one of China’s highest-profile football clubs. The company has partnerships with football clubs Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, as well as with NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Moving into media
These latest moves show that Alibaba, not content with dominating China’s ecommerce market, is looking to expand into the media and service sectors in a big way. In the past few months alone, it has launched a Netflix-like service, invested heavily in food and beverage delivery, and has even invested in the latest Mission Impossible movie. Indeed, Alibaba’s foray into sports resembles its ventures into movies, where it’s also involved in distribution, content, and ticketing.
Alibaba Sports is majority-owned by Alibaba Group and will be headed by CEO Zhang Dazhong. China’s sports fans surely wait with bated breath and large foam hands at the ready to see what comes of this service.
Editing by Steven Millward, image by See-Ming Lee
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