Deutsche Welle: German National League Football Live via Internet for Chinese Fans

When Jiayi Shao, the Chinese player with the number 8 shirt in the 1860 München side is announced over the stadium loudspeakers on 2 August, 2003, many of his fans in China will be listening in live – via Deutsche Welle. DW-WORLD.DE, the multi-language online service of Germany’s international broadcaster, is to be the exclusive Internet partner for coverage of German National League (Bundesliga) football in the Chinese language – at the address www.german-football.cn. Cooperation between Deutsche Welle and the German Football League (DFL) will begin at the start of the new season.

DW-WORLD.DE will provide coverage of National League games in Chinese, both as live audio streaming and as “audio on demand”. This service will also be provided via Chinese partner web sites. In the first round, Deutsche Welle will broadcast one game per day of play with commentary from a Chinese reporter. This will be the first time that Chinese-speaking sports fans will be able to follow National League games live via audio streaming anywhere in the world.

“The German National League has been greatly interested in Chinese football and football fans for some time and not just since the World Cup in Korea and Japan. We are therefore all more delighted that we can bring German professional football to China via the Internet. This joint project with Deutsche Welle is a very promising step,” says Wilfried Straub, managing chairman of the DFL.

“China is a rapidly growing Internet market. Analysts are forecasting that Chinese will be the most widely used language online by 2005,” says DW's Director General Erik Bettermann. This, he says, is the reason why Germany’s international radio station is focusing so intensively on the Internet and expanding its services in this area. Bettermann acknowledges that Chinese users primarily want news, and says “this will remain the core element of our service.” “But,” he goes on, “the demand for sports coverage is growing and football is booming. This presents enormous opportunities, especially for German companies, because we offer an attractive platform for advertising and sponsoring.”

Extensive background information and service

The live coverage will be accompanied by a ticker reporting the most important events as text. The German National League section on the Chinese pages at DW-WORLD.DE provides football fans with a host of services connected with Germany’s top football division: previews and game reports, the current league table, and summaries of the day’s games. It is also possible to call up information on the history of the National League, as well as portraits of clubs and players. In the interactive area, fans can take part in a National League quiz and surveys.

“China is an up-and-coming football nation. People are very enthusiastic about what’s happening in European leagues as well, and not least about football in Germany. The world championships in Japan and South Korea set off a real trend,” says Jiayi Shao, who has been playing for the TSV 1860 München for six months.

The agreement between DW and the DFL will initially last for one year. Other languages could be added to scheme at a later date.

29 July 2003
153/03

The German National League packet in Chinese
under www.german-football.cn

More on DW’s Chinese-language services
under www.dw-world.de/chinese