THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES
The notion that China can be plundered by European clubs for a swift buck has been shown to be flawed. "It's been a dash for cash but with little strategic thought," said Dr Simon Chadwick, the co-director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, which has conducted research in China on the subject, including during Manchester United's tour last summer.
"Teams have landed in China thinking, 'There's pots of cash to be made here', and then not found it. Outside the hot spots like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, it's still a fairly agrarian society. A lot of people have low or no disposable income and even in the hot spots there's massive competition for that income."
"Teams have landed in China thinking, 'There's pots of cash to be made here', and then not found it. Outside the hot spots like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, it's still a fairly agrarian society. A lot of people have low or no disposable income and even in the hot spots there's massive competition for that income."
Dan Fletcher is a director of FMM International, a consultancy that seeks to aid grass-roots development, and advises clubs, leagues and companies on how to develop links between football's established and developing markets.
"British clubs should have benefited from first-mover advantage," he says, "but some lost interest very quickly when they realised there weren't going to be huge shirt sales."
"In China, it's quite normal to follow Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester United equally," says Richard Li, FMM's man in Beijing. "It's hard to comprehend for English clubs that your allegiance can be spread, but it's often the case. It makes it all the more difficult to turn 'support' into money."
It's harder still when fake merchandise can be bought for a pittance. One sample price for four full kits (Man Utd home and away, Chelsea home, Real home) was £20 combined - before the bartering began. With a bit of haggling, a shirt alone, albeit not of superior quality, can be yours for £1.50.
It's harder still when fake merchandise can be bought for a pittance. One sample price for four full kits (Man Utd home and away, Chelsea home, Real home) was £20 combined - before the bartering began. With a bit of haggling, a shirt alone, albeit not of superior quality, can be yours for £1.50.
So making a killing on merchandise is currently a myth, as is the idea that English football is No 1 here or that English clubs are on the verge of an internet-led windfall. Serie A and the Bundesliga vie for TV ratings supremacy, with matches averaging between 13 million and 15 million. The Premiership is not far behind, with Spain's La Liga trailing, hindered by evening kick-offs in Europe (the middle of the night here).
Local sources also point to European clubs' struggling Chinese-language websites as evidence that there is little will to pay for content, with or without live action. Manchester United and others, have been paid a flat fee by a website provider - China.com in United's case - to allow that provider to run their Chinese site.
United will earn an estimated £300,000-£400,000 over three years. The theory is that the provider will profit from subscriptions but even as internet use expands - 130 million Chinese now use it - this is not happening. United's site was launched last year amid claims that they have 20 million Chinese fans and 94 million globally.
That is actually a "name recognition" stat, not an allegiance as western football knows it. Local sources say China.com and other providers doubt they will recoup their outlay.
Western clubs can make some money from one-off tours, exclusive signed merchandise and possibly through franchising academies - but not, it seems, from restaurants, with all but one of Manchester United's "red cafés" now shut down.