MADRID - Faced with a widespread boycott in China following the controversy sparked by Kylian Mbappe’s comments about Mao Zedong, Real Madrid added its own apology on Oct 27.

The move was widely viewed as a move by the Spanish giants and 15-time European champions to protect their commercial interests in China.

The furore was unleashed after a short video clip showed a meme depicting Mbappe as Mao Zedong, whom he calls a “Chinese dictator.”

Three sponsors have dropped Mbappe and Chinese state TV has suspended the broadcast of Spanish league matches, jeopardising La Liga’s international development strategy.

Key market for La Liga

The apologies from La Liga and its president, Javier Tebas, as well as by Mbappe and Real Madrid, have so far failed to calm the situation.

They have though served to highlight the crucial importance of the Chinese market for Spanish football.

A source within La Liga told AFP that China and the United States alone finance the “majority” of the international broadcasting rights, which were valued at €748 million (S$1 billion) for the 2024-25 season.

According to La Liga, the matches broadcast on state-run CCTV are among the most-watched sporting events in the country.

Since 2016, La Liga has even adapted its schedule to Asian time zones, which has allowed it to significantly increase its viewership and, consequently, the value of its international TV rights.

On Aug 3, La Liga announced a new agreement with digital giant Migu, a subsidiary of China Mobile, to broadcast 380 matches a season until 2030, saying it confirmed “the league’s long-term commitment to developing its fan base in China”.

Jerseys and sponsors

In addition to these global contracts, the two giants of Spanish football, Real Madrid and Barcelona, each have multi-million-euro investments in China.

According to the Real Madrid-affiliated newspaper Marca, the Madrid club generates between 10% and 15% of its sales of jerseys and merchandise in China.

Real Madrid also counts Chinese companies among its main sponsors with Hisense, sports betting firm Kaiyun Sports and Linglong Tire all featuring prominently.

Real Madrid’s veteran president Florentino Perez, who made his fortune in construction through his publicly traded ACS group, owns several subsidiaries in China and Hong Kong.

As part of a development agreement between La Liga and Chinese sports institutions, Real Madrid and Barcelona have played several pre-season friendlies in Asia against Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean teams in recent years.

In a statement to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Barcelona, which has opened several football academies in the country, estimated that it had more supporters in Asia “than in Europe and America combined”. AFP