The claims are part of a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by golf club developer Mission Hills China, looking at the business of basketball, football, golf and tennis in the country.
Among the reports findings are: that commercialisation is taking root in sport, for example with some teams in the national basketball league (the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)) having come under private control; more investment in public sports facilities is required; sports marketing is in its infancy in China, with few federations focusing on branding and marketing, few Chinese athletes having agents, and consumers yet to share the Western obsession with teams, players, and buying team or player-related apparel; Chinese sport lacks local heroes; and the dominance of broadcasting by the state broadcaster CCTV was restricting the money that could flow to sport in China from a competitive television market.
The report is available to download at www.eiu.com/sponsor/missionhills/sport.
