Sponsors line up for entry into booming 'Suchao' soccer league

The Jiangsu Football City League, dubbed the "Suchao" or "Jiangsu Super League", a national sensation for birthing viral memes, has unleashed an unlikely sponsorship frenzy across one of China's wealthiest provinces.

This grassroots tournament, made up of 13 teams competing in East China's Jiangsu province, is transforming the amateur league into a commercial powerhouse.

Just six sponsors backed the league during its first three rounds after it opened on May 10.

With jokes and witty slogans like "The match comes first, friendship fourteenth" and "No match-fixing, no biased referees, only long-standing rivalries" sweeping Chinese social media, hashtags related to the league exploded past 11 billion views on short-video platforms by June 21.

As of Friday, the league had attracted 27 official sponsors — plus two charity partners — spanning finance, retail, e-commerce, food items and automotive giants.

When premium international beer brand Heineken erected pitch-side billboards, fans hailed it a "Champions League-level sponsorship", noting even the Chinese Super League hadn't secured such a prestigious brand.