Sponsors scramble

On June 13, two big companies, JD.com and dairy giant Yili, almost simultaneously announced their sponsorship of the 2025 Jiangsu Football City League.

While sponsorship of sports events wasn't particularly vibrant this year, the Jiangsu league's spark defied the trend.

The sponsorship threshold set by the organizers was relatively low, with the Bank of Jiangsu securing the entire season's sponsorship for just 8 million yuan.

But as the event's popularity soared, the league initiated a second round of sponsorship, with an official sponsor's fee surging from 500,000 yuan to 3 million yuan.

"Money alone won't get you in now — just like during the hottest times in the real estate market, you have to draw lots," one Jiangsu media insider noted.

At the start of the event, the six sponsors were mostly local enterprises in Jiangsu.

However, existing avenues weren't enough to meet the demands of more potential partners. Some enterprises have taken alternative routes by sponsoring the divisions and the 13 football teams.

In the Nanjing division, for example, the advertising boards on the sidelines have all been filled, even after the matches were moved to a bigger venue, with an additional 14 boards.

On June 19, Ping An Insurance became the official partner of the Nantong division. The insurance giant sponsored the Chinese Super League for many years, but did not renew the deal in 2024.

Despite Suchao being an amateur league and the players coming from various backgrounds, the sponsors include a variety of listed companies, with some selling luxury items.

Jiangsu Jinshiyuan Liquor Co, headquartered in Huai'an, was one of the earliest sponsors of the league with its Guoyuan V3, a premium baijiu.

"The popularity of the event has exceeded our expectations. At that time, we only became a sponsor because football has a great influence and a wide base of followers in Jiangsu," said Zhang Tao, a deputy director of the company.

Jinshiyuan Liquor is also a sponsor of the Huai'an division.

Another giant in the liquor industry, Yanghe Co, sponsored its hometown team of Suqian.

The jerseys of many of the teams in the amateur league prominently display the logos of local enterprises, most of which are major industries in their respective cities.

Xuzhou's jersey features soy milk producer VV Food & Beverage Co; Wuxi's bears CITIC Pacific Special Steel's logo; while Zhenjiang's showcases flooring leader Power Dekor.

According to the official account of the Yangzhou Sports Bureau by June 11, the Yangzhou team had 15 sponsors. They were headed by local enterprises including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's Yangzhou branch, construction company Jiangsu Hanjian Group, and Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology.

Netizens believe that the participation of JD.com may be related to its founder Liu Qiangdong being from Suqian; while the entry of Li Auto might be because its production base is located in Changzhou.