On September 16, Weibo announced that it has become the exclusive new media partner of the LIV Golf Invitational Series. Sina Golf will broadcast all events of the season live. By cooperating with the copyright of the leading events and creating an operation model of “live broadcast + e-commerce”, Sina Golf will further strengthen its leading position in the industry and promote the popularity of events in the Chinese market.
The super high prize money and the participation of a large number of stars have made the LIV Golf Invitational attract huge attention since its birth. The first three games of the season were broadcast live on Sina Golf through Weibo, Sina.com, and WeChat video accounts. Although the time difference caused some games to be broadcast in the middle of the night in China, the average number of viewers per game exceeded 100,000. A large number of fans participated in the discussion of the content of the event on the Weibo platform.
LIV Golf Invitational is mainly backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund PIF (Public Investment Fund), with legendary star Greg Norman as CEO. The first race of the event will be held in London, England in June 2022. A total of 8 races are planned throughout the year, with a single race prize of up to 25 million US dollars and a total annual prize of 255 million US dollars.
From September 17th to 19th, Beijing time, the next race will be held in Chicago. In addition to the newly joined current world No. 3 and 2022 British Open champion Cameron Smith and PGA Tour champion Joaquin Niemann, former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson ), “golf scientist” Bryson DeChambeau (Bryson DeChambeau), and the legendary Phil Mickelson (Phil Mickelson) will compete.
Covering 3 million pan-usersSina Golf broadcasts thousands of hours of live events every year
Opened in 2002, Sina Golf Channel is the most authoritative Chinese golf professional media platform, tracking and reporting weekly international events such as the PGA Tour, European Tour, Asian Tour and LPGA Tour. Official partner of amateur events. Sina Golf has built a complete communication channel including portal, Weibo, WeChat official account, and video account, covering nearly 3 million golf users on the entire network, and the average daily traffic of information content is leading in the industry.
Taking the DP World Tour live broadcast for five consecutive years as an example, Sina Golf has accumulated more than 1,000 hours of live broadcast throughout the year, and more than 300,000 people watched a single game. Not only that, in the process of copyright operation, Sina Golf has gradually explored the revenue conversion model of “live broadcast + e-commerce”, and the annual e-commerce GMV based on the DP World Tour has exceeded 30 million yuan. Brand owners such as HONMA, FILA, McCarran, and Samsung have successively launched content marketing cooperation with Sina Golf to expand brand exposure around the event and generate brand influence in the golf enthusiast community.
In addition to the online operation of tournament copyrights, Sina Golf has also created a series of its own IP tournaments. The “Sina Cup Pro-Amateur Match Play” started in 2020 has become the IP of the top golf team event in China, attracting not only the participation of professional stars, but also the participation of general-interest enthusiasts. Led by two stars, Feng Shanshan and Liang Wenchong, and cross-border stars such as Ren Dahua and Shi Xiaolong, the topic of a single match has increased by more than 500 million on the Weibo platform.
While continuing to operate its own event IP, Sina Golf has launched the “China Top 100 Course Selection” campaign in cooperation with “Golf Master” magazine under the Sports Media Group, which comprehensively covers the golf user group and brings together top domestic course managers and vertical users in the industry. , Combined with the content of experts and KOLs, it is a benchmark for the industry selection, and also provides practical travel guides for fans, and promotes the dissemination of golf.
Based on the social media platform attributes of Weibo, Sina Golf has formed a three-dimensional golf ecological community such as “event IP + content live broadcast + vertical e-commerce + industry ranking”. Weibo data shows that in addition to the high stickiness of users in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, golf is also gradually exploring emerging markets, and user content and consumer demand are increasing year by year. In the past few years, top golf players such as Li Haotong, Wu Ashun, and Lin Xiyu have frequently shared their personal dynamics on Weibo, and the discussion atmosphere has become increasingly strong.
golfPopularization of sports accelerates 100 Weibo VsPost original eventscontent
Weibo will help LIV Invitational achieve a cold start on Chinese social media platforms. The relevant person in charge said that the cooperation between the two parties will be expected to achieve cross-border linkage in multiple dimensions, including gathering voices through massive copyrighted content such as live event live broadcast and wonderful short video distribution, as well as through vertical industries such as well-known players, commentators and professional managers. Authoritative figures guide the audience’s attention, form greater influence, and realize commercial benefits through the business cooperation model of single-station events.
With the gradual development of the competition, the content related to the LIV series of events is becoming the focus of discussion among golf-interested users on the Weibo platform, and local original content has been released one after another. sparked a lot of discussion. Not only that, more than 100 golf Vs have published original content related to the event on the Weibo platform to popularize the knowledge of the event for users, thereby promoting the attention of pan-sports users.
In the past few years, with the enrichment and development of related supporting industries, golf and its industry have entered a new stage of development in the Chinese market. After 2017, the golf industry has gradually become more popular and younger, and many sports fashion brands are also actively expanding the golf category, and the track prosperity has improved. After the new crown epidemic, golf has become a new trend. Some insiders pointed out that the participation of golf in many parts of the world has increased significantly, especially outdoor sports can be played more safely.
Not only that, but with a lot of content about golf on social media, the sport is also becoming more popular among young people. The relevant person in charge said that considering that more than 75% of the active users of Weibo are users of the Z generation, through more event reports and more exciting shots, golf is expected to attract the attention of this group of users. Produce the next generation of golfers. In fact, the surge of young players has made this group another important driving force for the popularity of golf in addition to high-net-worth middle-aged users.
As China’s leading social media platform, Weibo will, with its complete coverage of the industry chain and its advantages of 582 million monthly active users, demonstrate the great value of the leading social media platform in the IP incubation of sports events, and will help the LIV Golf Invitational Tournament to precipitate social media assets, and further enhance brand influence in the Chinese market. The fixed action of “swiping Weibo every event” will also continue in this emerging event.