March 29, Bangalore: At the 2016 China (Shenzhen) IT Summit, Jia Yueting, founder, chairman and CEO of Le Holdings announced that LeSports raised RMB 8 billion in its Series B financing, boosting the company’s valuation to RMB 21.5 billion. The Series B financing attracted over 30 investors including HNA Capital.
On March 22, 2014, LeSports became independent from le.com and started distributing its businesses across the whole sports industry based on “events operation + content platform + smart devices + Internet service”. In the past two years, especially after its Series A financing was completed in May 2015, the four business sectors have been developing at full speed. LeSports has quickly become to the No. 1 platform in China’s Internet sports industry.
Winning the exclusive new media partnership rights of the Chinese Super League (CSL) for the next two years in February 2016, LeSports now boasts copyrights to 310 of the world’s top sporting events on its content platform, with 72% of them exclusive. These premium resources will provide the most extensive user entry for the company.
On the basis of events operation, LeSports has also distributed valuable resources including venue, club and personnel in the upstream of the sports industry. At the end of 2015, LeSports won title sponsorship of the Wukesong Stadium. In addition to renaming it the LeSports Center, the company also conducted comprehensive smart venue upgrades to the stadium. In January 2016, LeSports and Beijing Guoan Football Club reached in-depth strategic cooperation, and the club is now competing in this year’s CSL games under the new name of Beijing Guoan LeEco team. In March 2016, LeSports Agency was officially set up. Liu Yuxi, a famous sports host, also joined the company as a partner. In March 2016, LeSports announced the teams participating in this year’s ICC China, a self-operated event by LeSports. In the tournament, Manchester United and Manchester City will play the first ever Manchester derby to take place outside of Great Britain in their long-standing rivalry.
In the user service area, LeSports is advancing in businesses like sports e-commerce, sports gaming, sports ticketing and sports lottery. LeSports Mall has already become the largest vertical e-commerce platform in the sports industry with exclusive licensed products from MLB and other parties. LeSports’ gaming platform has also developed into the largest sports gaming distribution platform. Going forward, LeSports will march into the area of gaming R&D. Regarding ticketing, LeSports is actively distributing ticketing businesses by registering a relevant joint venture. In the future, the JV will integrate top ticketing products from China and abroad to provide comprehensive service for on-site viewing. In March 2016, LeSports’ CSL guessing game was launched along with the opening of the new season. LeSports is ready to explore its sports lottery businesses if permitted by government policies.
Regarding smart devices, LeSports’ Superbike entered into the market in 2015, winning extensive recognition from users and the media. In 2016, LeSports plans to launch an updated Le Superbike and other UGC-based smart devices.
In the past 6 months, LeSports invested in and acquired a series of businesses, providing new highlights to its products across its sports ecosystem. By becoming the largest shareholder of SodaSoccer, LeSports aims to make its content products more data-based so that users can access sports data while watching the games. By acquiring Zhangyu TV, LeSports has entered fully into the sports UGC platform to nurture the best anchors in the sports industry. Becoming a shareholder of Zhangyu Lottery also allows LeSports to provide the users with more entertainment through lottery services and guessing games.
After completing its Series B financing, LeSports will continue to move forward at full speed. The company aims to expand its user base by enhancing its content platform, providing better content for users and acquiring more resources from the industry upstream. LeSports will also deliver new sporting experiences to users by developing premium smart devices and allowing for better user participation in every area by quickly expanding the number of products in the industry downstream.
In addition to institutions like HNA Capital, LeSports’ Series B financing also attracted celebrity investors like Sun Honglei, Jia Nailiang and Liu Tao. The complete list of investors and other information on the Series B financing will be announced at LeSports’ press conference in mid-April.
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