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LeTV Sports, a unit of China's major online video company LeTV Holdings Co Ltd, is setting up a 5 billion yuan ($780 million) fund in partnership with Beijing Bird's Nest Culture & Creative Center to focus on sports industry projects.
The Bird's Nest-LeTV Sports Cultural Industry Fund will particularly help startups that work on ways of integrating traditional sports with activities falling under the government's flagship Internet Plus strategy.
LeTV Sports is believed to have the copyright to more than 10,000 events, while the Bird's Nest Center has organized about 200 conferences, workshops and exhibitions related to sports, creating a strong joint platform from which to incubate new startups and sports projects.
The two sides said in a statement that there are already 15 potential projects under discussion.
"We have witnessed plenty of sports startups launched with great potential this year, which have brought the industry great vitality, especially against the backdrop of Internet Plus," said Lei Zhenjian, CEO of LeTV Sports.
"Their future often faces challenges, however, from a lack of resources and capital - so we have come up with a creative platform that covers the whole sports industry."
The fund will also prioritize sports that encourage public participation, and in the long term, it hopes to become the country's biggest sports foundation, said Lei.
Its first phase will provide financial services for national sports products and events, then a second stage will add a US dollar-denominated fund to seek new sports technology, products and skills internationally that can accelerate the sector at home.
LeTV Sports has shown considerable commitment to China's sports development.
It has already signed broadcast partnerships with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which regulates student athletes in the United States, English Premier League soccer club Manchester City and top Dutch club Ajax, with the latter two also involved in youth soccer training programs in China.
The State Council, China's cabinet, has set a target of creating a sports industry worth more than 5 trillion yuan by 2025.
Wu Xiaonan, vice-president of Beijing's State-owned Assets Management Co Ltd, said the new fund should certainly help accelerate sports cultural development in China.
