iQIYI Sports, a market-leading online entertainment service in China, and Super Sports Media have entered into a strategic collaboration with FC Barcelona to create the first FC Barcelona Official Channel in China during the 2020/21 season.
At present iQIYI Sports has the rights to La Liga until 2021, the 2020 European Cup and other major sports properties.
As the first La Liga club to launch a channel on the Platform, Barҫa will deliver diverse exclusive and non-exclusive video content to its fans in China, including behind the scenes access, training sessions, player challenges, interviews and keep fans up to date on the latest developments at the Club. It will also give behind the scenes access to the Barҫa B team training.
iQIYI Sports and FC Barcelona will continue to develop an in-depth cooperation and continuously expand the offering for Chinese Barҫa fans to bring them closer to Club.
Regarding this strategic cooperation with iQIYI Sports, Didac Lee, member of the board of directors of FC Barcelona and head of the Digital Area, said: “The Club is excited to be working with industry leader iQIYI Sports to adapt FC Barcelona content and give fans access to footage that was previously unavailable in China. This collaboration represents a step forward in our digital strategy as we become the first LaLiga club to launch a channel on the platform. The FC Barcelona Official Channel joins our existing social networks in China as we continuously strive to deliver engaging content and bring our Club closer to our fans in the region.”
Yu Lingxiao, CEO of iQIYI Sports, said: “Barça is one of the most popular and successful football clubs in the world. It has many loyal and enthusiastic fans in China. Together, it demonstrates iQIYI Sports’ determination to deepen content and market development around the world’s top football club’s IP.
“It also hopes to push FC Barcelona’s brand influence in China to a new height through cooperation. We will cooperate with the Club through technology and a variety of methods such as content operation, etc., and create more customized content for Chinese users, so that fans can learn about the latest developments of the team anytime and anywhere, and have a full range of content immersion experience.”
