The Bundesliga has announced the launch of its platform on Jinri Toutiao on the back of news that the ‘Football As It’s Meant To Be’ hashtag was used more than 400 million times last year in China, eclipsing all other foreign leagues.
SUMMARY
- ‘Football As It’s Meant To Be’ hashtag shared over 400 million times
- Platform launched on Jinri Toutiao
- Bundesliga named among top leagues for fifth consecutive year at Red Card Awards
The Bundesliga’s hashtag was shared 20 million times more than England’s Premier League slogan on China’s SINA Weibo platform, and over 70 million times more than La Liga’s according to a Mailman report.
The Bundesliga’s dominance in China was further underlined at Mailman’s Red Card Awards last week when it was voted China’s second most popular foreign league on social media, having won the award in each of the four years preceding.
The launch of the Bundesliga’s platform on Bytedance-owned content aggregator Jinri Toutiao marks the latest milestone for the league’s digital expansion in China. As one of the country’s fastest growing digital platforms, Jinri Toutiao is a service that offers users a tailored feed based on their interests and interactions. With over 700 million users, it will be a key channel for Chinese sports fans to engage with the Bundesliga.
This follows recent news that the Bundesliga will open an office in Beijing in March 2019 to deliver a long term, comprehensive strategy for China.
Speaking about these latest developments, Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein said: “The launch of our Jinri Toutiao platform and this latest evidence further strengthens Bundesliga’s position as football’s online market leader in China. This success is the result of tireless work by several stakeholders, in particular DFL Digital Sports, our local partners, clubs and most importantly Chinese fans who have established the Bundesliga as one of China’s favourite foreign leagues.”
He continued: “Our focus on creating localised content has helped forge strong rapport with Chinese fans, with their appreciation of pure, authentic football epitomised by our ‘Football As It’s Meant To Be’ mantra, an asset that’s shared and celebrated by our fans across the world. We’re excited to build on this success and grow our Chinese fanbase further over the coming seasons.”
