Bizchina

Business embraces World Cup

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-18 17:13

Editor's note:

The World Cup kicked off on June 11, and for some fans that means their lives will change to a different track for the next month. The great event, which is held every four years, is not only a celebration for sports fans, but also offers opportunities for businessmen. Let's look at who wins and who loses in the 2010 South Africa World Cup in terms of money.

Winners

Restaurant, hotel and?bar owners

World Cup 2010 boosts Chinese business

When fans around the world celebrate the World Cup soccer extravaganza in the greatest global party, Chinese merchants begin to embrace the sales boom brought by the World Cup.

As the World Cup has arrived, restaurants, bars and even the sidewalk snack booths in numerous Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and northeast Changchun opened overtime during the tournaments to profit more.

According to a survey launched by renren.com, one of the biggest SNS website in China, 67.2 percent of voters spent 50-100 yuan at pubs while watching the World Cup there, and over 70 percent of them will buy the World Cup souveniors or team jerseys.?[full story]

 

World cup fever spreads among bars, malls

Businesses and match providers in Hong Kong have dollar signs in their eyes and are looking to cash in on the South Africa World Cup.

For example,Street-side Cha chaan teng and penthouse bars alike are setting minimum charges in anticipation of brisk early morning business.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades Simon Wong Ka-wo is confident the city's Cha chaan tengs will stay open extra late, to broadcast the games, in the expectation of earning a collective HK$600 million. Operators aren't shy about paying the HK$4,000 a month premium for public airing of the games. [full story]

 

World Cup hotel in Wuhan woos soccer fans

A hotel in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province?prepares?special rooms to accommodate soccer fans during the South Africa World Cup. The hotel also provides uniform-shaped pillows and toys and quiz games for football fans in a bid to cash in on this one-month carnival.?[full story]

 

Vuvuzela manufacturers and sellers

A soccer fan blows the vuvuzela as she waits for the start of the 2010 World Cup Group D soccer match between Serbia and Ghana at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria June 13, 2010. [Agencies]

Vuvuzela sales pick up in China, noises too

Vuvuzelas have become one of the best-sellers on China's biggest online shopping platform, Taobao.com.

When Chinese merchants make money out of the trumpet, some Chinese citizens begin to complain about the noises it creates.??[full story]

China makes 90% of World Cup vuvuzelas

The vuvuzela, a long, plastic trumpet which has aroused much controversy for its huge noise-making ability, turns out to be an opportunity for Chinese manufacturers despite narrow profit margins.

About 90 percent of the vuvuzelas blown by soccer fans during the 2010 FIFA World Cup are made in China, the National Business Daily reported, citing Wu Yijuan, manager of the Ninghai Jiying Plastics Manufacturing Company in Zhejiang province.[full story]

'Vuvuzela' resellers eye World Cup gold in Europe

World Cup fans may be split on South Africa's vuvuzela, either merry fanfare or deafening din, but two German entrepreneurs who bought the resale rights for Europe hope the horn will spell gold.

Frank Urbas and Gerd Kehrberg - who acquired the resale rights for the European Union from the vuvuzela's South African maker Masincedane Sport in March last year, are betting business will be brisk despite the controversy. [full story]

Fan or employee?

Employers fear the World Cup

Zhang Huiquan, an editor of a Wuhan-based sports website, demonstrates his passion for soccer by holding up a sign that reads: "I will quit my job to watch the World Cup." [ZHOU SHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY]

Chinese football fans may be excited about the FIFA World Cup, but their employers are not.

A?number of employers fear that the month-long football gala will have an impact on their employees' productivity.

"A lot of my employees are football zealots. When the World Cup begins, they will be completely distracted. I am really anxious about their performance at work and my business during the coming month," a Beijing-based advertising agency owner, surnamed Wang, told China Daily. [full story]

World Cup survey shows fans plan to work, watch and quit

As many as 45 percent of the Zhaopin.com survey's Beijing participants are putting soccer ahead of work during the month-long competition.

Zhaopin.com, one of China's largest human resources service providers, received responses from 2,357 employees in Beijing concerning their work/play attitudes. It recorded that nearly three-quarters of respondents intend to watch the matches.

It also showed that 23.8 percent said they would take short holidays during the period, from June 11 to July 12, and 2.8 percent even claimed to be ready to quit their jobs.?[full story]?

Football craze proves a tough nut to crack for HR managers

The ongoing FIFA World Cup is posing a tough challenge to human resource managers in China as they grapple with leaves, late arrivals and fluctuations in work quality.

While it is still early days and there have not been too many concerns, the problem is likely to aggravate as the tournament enters the knockout stages.[full story]

Smart ideas

Elephants play soccer to promote tourism in Bangkok

An event of elephants playing soccer?is organized in Thailand to promote tourism during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Thai people and foreign tourists gather to see the event at Bangkok's Khao San road June 10, 2010. [more pictures]

 

Souvenir hunters pin hopes on Cup memorabilia

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) participation in the World Cup after 44 years is so amazing that team pins have become a hot item at souvenir shops in the Expo Garden.

The pins, priced 26 at yuan ($3.80) apiece, are reported to be a good souvenir for fans to remember the DPRK's second appearance at a World Expo, as well as its team qualifying for a World Cup for the first time since 1966.

"It is rare to have the DPRK participate in a World Cup and it performed so well that it is commemorative," said Wang Lu, who had just tried to purchase a pin from a souvenir shop following the team's brilliant match with Brazil, only to be disappointed because they had already sold out.[full story]

 

Fake trophies for sale online

The winner of the FIFA World Cup is allowed to keep the coveted trophy for four years. But even you can own one - though fake - and keep it forever.

Replicas of the trophy are being sold online for as little as 6 yuan (less than $1) and as high as 2,000 yuan, depending on the size.

Cheap imitations of the trophy have become the most searched for items on Taobao.com, a major Chinese online trading platform. [full story]

10,000 fake World Cup goods detected

Local customs authorities in Yiwu city in eastern China's Zhejiang province have detected more than 10,000 small commodities violating intellectual property rights (IPRs) related to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. [full story]