A Premier League (EPL) creates a large audience Chinawhich has 15% of its population of 1.5 billion interested in the league. Knowing this, the English organization will open an office in Beijing, the capital of the Asian country.
According to the SportBusiness website, the league has hired Jay Lee, a former director of WWEto lead its expansion into China. The CEO is expected to work on the business development and day-to-day operations of the country, the same role he played in the wrestling organization.
With the establishment of the China office, the league intends to embark on new, more lucrative tours throughout Asia. Until 2017, the EPL had a biennial pre-season competition in Hong Kong, the Premier League Asia Trophy.
The tournament, held in a stadium with approximately 40 thousand fans, sold out quickly. In Beijing, for example, there are three stadiums with a capacity of more than 80,000 seats, which allows more people to follow all kinds of Premier League events.
The league management believes that organizing new pre- and post-season competitions in Chinese territory has the potential to generate more business for the Premier League in Asia and increase the championship’s international revenue.
