Friday, July 13, 2018

"Sponsorships from Chinese companies increasingly fund world soccer’s governing body"

NYT:
Fans in Paris and Zagreb, long-accustomed to watching the world’s biggest soccer matches in prime time, will instead have to flip on their televisions for a 5 p.m. start. The match begins at 6 p.m. in Moscow and 11 a.m. on the East Coast of the United States because, after decades of prioritizing Western Europe, FIFA’s compass has begun to shift east in recent years.

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FIFA isn’t the only soccer governing body setting start times with Asia in mind. La Liga, the Spanish league, is already holding matches in earlier time slots to attract Asian viewers

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the Premier League has considered selling a package of early games that would appeal to Asia. Top clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have also opened commercial offices in China.