- New experiences and exclusive original content to feature on Weibo
- FPF says Portugal soccer team has around 20m fans in China
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has signed a strategic partnership with Chinese social media platform Weibo, a first for a soccer federation.
The agreement will provide fans in China with new experiences and exclusive original content on Sina-owned Weibo, with a particular focus on this summer’s rescheduled Uefa European Championship, when Portugal will bid to defend their title.
The FPF says the Portuguese national team has around 20 million fans in China, largely thanks to the appeal of its superstar captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
The partnership with Weibo marks the soccer body’s latest effort to grow its presence in the country following the launch of Portugal’s official online shop on Alibaba’s Tmall at the beginning of the year.
“We hope that our team can inspire a new generation of young Chinese footballers to reach their full potential and continue to delight our millions of fans in China who, despite the distance, are constantly showing their support which our players value so deeply,” said Nuno Moura, the FPF’s chief marketing officer.
“With the strategic collaboration with Weibo in China, we will be able to be even closer to our fans and provide premium and original content and experiences, custom-made specifically to them. We are extremely grateful to these fans for their continued support to team Portugal, and with the Euros coming up this summer we hope to see them once again proudly wearing our colours. It means a lot to the team.”
Zhan Sheng, general manager of Sina Sports, added: “In the future, the two parties will carry out more in-depth cooperation in content distribution, event operation and commercial development.
“Weibo will collaborate actively with the Portuguese team to expand the volume of online communication and accumulate social media assets. Weibo will work with the Portuguese team to develop the official fan community and super topic to create a new ‘online home stadium’ for fans to watch football.”
While the FPF claims to be the first soccer federation to pen a strategic partnership with Weibo, more and more clubs are turning to the platform to reach a wider Chinese audience. Last November, English top-flight side Chelsea became the first Premier League team to strike a strategic partnership with Weibo.
