Bayern Munich are pleased to announce the launch of their Chinese language website today. The site hosted and developed by Chinese sports internet company SportsCN was launched today with a joint ceremony in Beijing and Munich.

The deal, brokered by Asia specialist football consultancy FMMInternational, sees SportsCN.com, one of the world’s highest traffic sports websites launching the Chinese language official club website for the first time.

‘The website is not simply a direct mirror translation of the German version of our official website’, explained Stefan Mennerich, Head of Department of Media Rights and New Media at FC Bayern. ‘It was important for us to have an offering that was tailored precisely to the needs of our Chinese fan-base and through the expertise and experience offered by SportsCN we have been able to achieve that’. We have been working on the development of this project for over a year and today we see the fruits of that labour. This is just the beginning for us in our Chinese adventure’.

William Mao, Sports Affairs Director at SportsCN, expressed his delight at the successful launch, ‘FC Bayern is one of the most popular clubs in China. The heritage associated with the club is difficult to match and the culture of the club is one that appeals to Chinese fans. We are confident that this website will attract high traffic and we look forward to our continued, successful cooperation with FC Bayern Munich.

Uli Hoeness, Deputy Chairman of FC Bayern also expressed his delight following the launch, ‘our approach is not a short term one, explained Mr Hoeness, we aim to proceed carefully in this market and do things the right way. We are aware of the adverse publicity that can follow clubs in the Chinese market that are perceived to be too money-focused. This is really not the way of FC Bayern and we go to China to develop long term relationships and to assist in the development of the game in this wonderful country.’

Dan Fletcher of FMMInternational commented, ‘Bayern’s approach to the Chinese market has been refreshing, there is a desire to do things the correct way, the club understand that the rewards will come later, the emphasis has been on communicating with their Chinese supporters and developing a long term presence in this important market’.

SportsCN.com is a Shanghai based internet company that provides sports information and related services to the Chinese market. The company is also the premier provider of  broadband product and services to the Chinese market. SportsCN’s major shareholder is MIH group part of NASDAQ listed Naspers media group.

FMMInternational is a football consultancy with specific expertise in Asia. FMMInternational work with a number of Europe’s top clubs and have a presence in China, Japan and India.

For further information contact:

Dan Fletcher – +44 (0)7950 952054
Stefan Mennerich – + 49 89 6993 17250