China Sports Media (CSM)

The China Sports Media agency has struck a five-year extension to its rights deal for the Chinese Super League, the top division of domestic club football.

Streaming platform PPTV’s acquisition of Bundesliga digital rights in China last month secures its position as the country’s pre-eminent football broadcaster.

Chinese retail giant Suning’s sporting subsidiaries are filling gaps in the country’s media-rights market left by the retreat of streaming operator LeSports.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky picked up Chinese Super League rights last week for a fairly small rights-fee over the next two-and-a-half years.

Behind Le Sports’s huge Chinese Super League deal is a partnership that could shift the competitive balance of the Chinese digital market.

China Sports Media’s huge deal with the Chinese Super League is a gamble on the expansion of the country’s digital rights market and the government’s plans to build football into a major national sport.