中國媒體大亨黎瑞剛巨資押注中國足球

Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang is paying a record-breaking $1.3bn for the five-year broadcast rights to China's football league, in a big bet that young people will pay for content on mobile devices and the beautiful game will become big business on the mainland.

中國媒體大亨黎瑞剛將支付創紀錄的13億美元購入中國足球協會超級聯賽（CSL，簡稱：中超）5年轉播權，這場豪賭是在押注年輕人將在移動設備上付費觀看內容、以及足球將成爲中國內地的一個重要產業。

The Rmb8bn ($1.3bn) deal he agreed after seeing off state broadcaster CCTV and other competitors is a huge leap from the Rmb50m per year that is currently being paid to show a league whose top clubs are attracting investment from tycoons including Alibaba's Jack Ma.

黎瑞剛一舉擊敗官方的中國中央電視臺(CCTV)及其他競爭對手，斬獲了這筆價值80億元人民幣（合13億美元）的交易，這個數字遠遠超過目前中超每個賽季5000萬元人民幣的轉播費用。中超的頂級俱樂部吸引了大亨們的投資，包括阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的馬雲。

But it is still way behind the $2.6bn per year that Sky and British Telecom are paying for the rights for England's Premier League, the world's most watched domestic league.

但這仍遠遠不及英國天空電視臺(Sky)與英國電信(British Telecom)爲英格蘭足球超級聯賽（Premier League，簡稱：英超）支付的每賽季26億美元轉播費。英超是全球觀看人數最多的國內足球聯賽。

"Compared with international sports properties like the EPL, the National Basketball Association and La Liga , it is still small," Mr Li told the Financial Times. "But the value of local sports leagues has not been fully discovered."

“與英超、美國職業籃球聯賽(NBA)以及西班牙足球甲級聯賽(La Liga)等國際體育資產相比，這個數字還很低，”黎瑞剛告訴英國《金融時報》，“不過，我們本土體育聯賽的價值還沒有被充分發現。”

Having recently set up a Chinese film studio with Warner Brothers and agreed to bring Legoland to Shanghai, Mr Li said his China Media Capital had more international sporting acquisitions in its sights as well as other entertainment deals.

黎瑞剛最近與華納兄弟(Warner Brothers)共同成立了一家中國電影製作公司，並達成協議將樂高樂園(Legoland)引入上海。他表示，他的華人文化產業投資基金（China Media Capital，簡稱CMC）還考慮進行更多國際體育產業收購、並達成其他娛樂業交易。

"At the moment we are reviewing many opportunities, some of them quite high-profile," he said. "We just try to figure out a China angle which means we can bring those leagues or expertise of operating those leagues back to China."

“目前我們正在評估很多機會，其中一些備受關注。”他表示，“我們只是試圖找到一種中國視角，這意味着我們能夠將這些聯賽或者經營這些聯賽的專業技能帶回中國。”

While he declined to reveal any particular targets, he referred to recent reports that CMC is a leading investor in a possible $8.5bn consortium bid to buy control of the Formula One motorsport from private equity group CVC.

他拒絕透露具體的收購目標，但他提到了最近的報道，即CMC將牽頭一個財團，以85億美元從私人股本集團CVC手中收購一級方程式賽車(F1)的控股權。

"Probably you have heard the rumours in the market about Formula One," the CMC chairman said with a laugh. "I cannot comment at the moment."

“你八成聽過市場上有關F1的傳聞，”這位CMC董事長笑着說，“我目前不能發表評論。”

Mr Li is hoping to ride a football revolution in China that is being pushed by President Xi Jinping, whom he accompanied on a trip to Manchester City football club during his recent state visit to the United Kingdom.

中國國家主席習近平正在推動中國足球革命，黎瑞剛希望抓住這場革命帶來的機會。習近平最近在對英國進行國事訪問期間訪問了曼城足球俱樂部(MCFC)，黎瑞剛在陪同人員之列。

Although football is popular in China, lacklustre performances by the national side and most domestic clubs have long been a source of embarrassment. China's national team ranks 79th in the world behind the likes of Haiti, Togo and the United Arab Emirates.

儘管足球在中國很受歡迎，但長期以來，國家隊以及多數國內俱樂部的黯淡表現令中國人尷尬不已。中國國家隊在世界排名第79位，排在海地、多哥和阿聯酋這樣的國家之後。

But Chinese tycoons have rushed to invest in football at home and abroad to ingratiate themselves with President Xi, who has released a national plan to transform China's footballing reputation.

但中國大亨已開始競相投資國內外足球業，以討好國家主席習近平——在習近平的指示下，中國已公佈了一項提升中國足球聲譽的國家級方案。

In 2014 Mr Ma's Alibaba bought half of China's best club, Guangzhou Evergrande, which is managed by former Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and has recruited a series of Brazilian star players.

2014年，馬雲旗下的阿里巴巴購入中國最優秀俱樂部廣州恆大(Guangzhou Evergrande)半數股權，該俱樂部由前巴西國家隊教練路易斯·費利佩·斯科拉里(Luiz Felipe Scolari)擔任主教練，聘用了很多巴西明星球員。

As domestic football improves CMC believes it can convince Chinese consumers to pay for content on their smartphones that they are used to getting for free through TV or illegal streaming websites.

隨着國內足球事業的好轉，CMC相信，它能夠說服中國消費者付費在智能手機上觀看他們習慣於在電視或非法流媒體網站上免費觀看的內容。

Speaking at a media conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Mr Li said that while Chinese viewers do not have a history of paying for premium content, mobile broadcasting was "the best solution for the paid model" because young people were much more focused on getting a "good user experience".

黎瑞剛週二在香港的一個媒體會議上發表講話時表示，中國觀衆過去不爲觀看優質內容付費，但移動播放是“付費模式的最佳解決方案”，因爲年輕人對獲得“良好的用戶體驗”要重視得多。