Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang makes big bet on paid content Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang is paying a record-breaking $1.3bn for the five-year…

Chinese media mogul Li Ruigang makes big bet on paid content 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

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

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

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

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

“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.” “

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

“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.” “

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

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

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

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

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

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”