A few seconds of video are sometimes enough to trigger an international crisis. Real Madrid and the Spanish Football League are currently having the bitter experience of this after a joke by Kylian Mbappé about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
In this sequence, the French superstar reacts to a humorous montage representing him in the guise of Mao, whom he describes as a “Chinese dictator”. A remark which caused a wave of indignation in China, where the former communist leader remains a particularly sensitive historical figure.
The economic consequences were not long in coming. Three sponsors have severed their commercial ties and Chinese channels have interrupted broadcasts of the Spanish championship until further notice.
China, a booming market
Faced with the scale of the controversy, Mbappé, Real Madrid and La Liga successively apologized. The president of the Spanish League, Javier Tebas, also intervened to try to defuse the crisis. But these steps have, for the moment, not made it possible to restore commercial relations.
The affair above all reveals the growing dependence of Spanish football on the Chinese market. According to an internal La Liga source consulted by AFP, China and the United States together represent the majority of international revenues from television rights.
These revenues reached 748 million euros for the 2024-2025 season. The Spanish League does not, however, specify what share comes directly from the Chinese market.
Since 2016, La Liga has adapted certain schedules of its matches to reach Asian viewers. This strategy has made it possible to considerably develop its audience in the region.
On August 3, it again announced a major agreement with Migu, a subsidiary of the giant China Mobile, relating to the broadcast of 380 matches per season until 2030. The current suspension of broadcasts therefore threatens a commercial strategy built for several years.
Real Madrid and Barça very exposed
The Madrid club also has significant interests in China. According to the Spanish sports daily “Marca”, between 10% and 15% of sales of Real Madrid jerseys and related products are made on the Chinese market. Several Chinese companies are also among its business partners, including Hisense, Kaiyun Sports and Linglong Tire.
The president of Real, Florentino Pérez, also maintains economic ties with China through his construction group ACS, which has subsidiaries in the country and in Hong Kong.
FC Barcelona is no less dependent on its international influence. The Catalan club has opened several football academies in China and participated, like Real Madrid, in promotional tours in Asia.
In a communication published on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, Barça even claimed to have more supporters in Asia than in Europe and the American continent combined.
